What I find most convenient about my Apple Watch is that I get all these notifications right at my wrist without pulling out my phone.
Although convenient, at times, the text notifications don’t show up on my Apple Watch, and here are a few ways to fix that issue.
Reasons & Fixes of Why Your Apple Watch Is Not Showing Texts
There are a few things, such as a glitchy update or not wearing your watch properly, that could lead to the watch not notifying you about text messages.
Similarly, accidentally turning on settings such as the Theater Mode or the Do Not Disturb mode could also lead to the same.
- Disable Airplane Mode, Theater Mode, or Do Not Disturb
Press the side button once to access the Control Center on the Apple Watch running watchOS 10 and above. For watchOS 9 and below, swipe up from the bottom of the watch face to access the Control Center.
Check if the Airplane Mode, Theater Mode, or Do Not Disturb mode is turned on. If yes, this could be the reason the Apple Watch is not notifying you about the text messages.
- Check connection
Check if the Wi-Fi or cellular connection is working on both your iPhone and your Apple Watch. If not, turn them off and on again to re-establish a connection.
- Check notification settings
Check if text messages are turned on for mirroring notifications to your Apple Watch. To do this, open the Watch app on your iPhone and tap Notifications. Head to Messages and check if ‘Mirror my iPhone’ has a tick mark next to it.
- Make sure you’re signed into the same Apple ID
Not that this will suddenly happen, but check if you’re signed in to the same Apple ID on both your iPhone and your Apple Watch. To check this, head to the Watch app on your iPhone and tap General > Apple ID. If you see the same Apple ID, that means you’re signed in.
- Check wrist detection
Disable the wrist detection to bypass the watch sensors and send notifications regardless of whether you are wearing the watch. To do this, open Passcode on the Settings menu of your Apple Watch and toggle off Wrist Detection.
- Disable Cover to Mute
If you rest your palm on the display of your watch, this gesture might block notifications from ringing. Although this is not a reason enough for the message notifications not to be displayed, it is worth disabling this setting to check if it works.
You can simply disable it by visiting Settings on your Apple Watch and heading to Gestures. Toggle off the Cover To Mute option.
- Restart the watch
Your Apple Watch might not be showing texts due to a minor software glitch. This can be solved by simply restarting your Apple Watch.
- Drain and charge your Apple Watch battery
A few synchronising errors can be fixed by completely draining your Apple Watch’s battery till it shuts down and then charging it again. This has worked for me in the past and could be a great way to resolve the issue of your Apple Watch not displaying text messages.
- Update your iPhone and your Apple Watch
Make sure that your iPhone and Apple Watch are up to date. Outdated software is the biggest reason for technical glitches. You can check if both of your devices are up-to-date by heading to General in Settings and checking for any software updates.
- Re-pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone
If the issue still persists, unpair and re-pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone to reestablish the connection. To unpair, head to the Watch app on your iPhone > All Watches > the information icon in front of your watch > Unpair Apple Watch.
To re-pair, keep the two devices closer and follow the on-screen instructions.
- Reset Sync Data Settings
Resetting the data that syncs to your Apple Watch instead of resetting the entire watch is a great way to realign the watch to your iPhone. It is a very effective solution in case your text messages are not showing up. To do this, head over to the Watch app on your iPhone and tap on General. Scroll down to Reset > Reset Sync Data.
- Contact Apple Customer Care
If the methods given above didn’t work for you, your best bet would be to get help from Apple’s customer care.
Wrap Up
No matter what causes the Apple Watch to not display text messages, always try restarting your watch to begin with. In most cases, this will solve the issue. If not, the above-mentioned fixes will be of great help.
