How to use your Apple Watch
Get to know your Apple Watch and learn more about some useful gestures and features. Here are some helpful tips.
Responds To a Massage
Did you just get an alert that your friend sent you a text message?
To respond right away, raise your wrist to see the message, then tap the app drawer to send an emoji or a Memoji, record a message with your voice, and more.
Or tap the iMessage field to enter a text reply.
View Notifications
If your notifications have been stacking up, you can see them all in one place in Notification Center, just swipe down from the top of your watch face and turn the Digital Crown. Or swipe your finger on the screen to scroll through them.
Clear Notifications
Once you’re all caught up, you can clear notifications from this list by selecting the notification you want to delete, swiping left across it, and tapping the X. To clear all of your notifications at once, scroll to the top and tap Clear All.
Open Control Center
Control Center gives you quick access to settings like Do Not Disturb, the Ping iPhone button, and more. To open Control Center, touch and hold the bottom edge of the display and then swipe up.
Close Control Center
You can close Control Center by swiping down from the top of the display or pressing the Digital Crown.
Use Apple Play
If you’ve set up Apple Pay on your iPhone, you can make purchases at participating locations by double-clicking
the side button and bringing your watch display near the contactless reader.
You’ll feel a gentle tap and hear a chime when the transition is complete.
Change Watch Face
Want a fresh look for your Apple Watch?
Swipe left or right from one edge of the screen to swap in a different watch face saved in your collection, or touch and hold the watch face and swipe left all the way to the end if you want to create something new.
Use Siri
Want to use Siri instead of tapping and swiping the screen?
- Press and hold the Digital Crown, then say something like, “Set a timer for five minutes.”
- Siri: Five minutes, counting down.
Return To Watch Face
To return to your watch face when you’re done using an app, press the Digital Crown.
Return To Last Use App
To quickly return to the last app you were using, just double-click the Digital Crown.
Open the Dock
To see all your recently used apps in the dock, press the side button on your Apple Watch from any screen.
Call for Help
If you need to make an emergency call, press and hold the side button and drag the EMERGENCY SOS slider to the right, which lets you quickly call for help and sends a message with your location to your emergency contacts.
Turn OFF Apple Watch
From here, you can also turn off your Apple Watch by dragging the POWER OFF slider to the right.
Turn ON Apple Watch
To turn it back on again, just press and hold the side button.
These are just some helpful ways to navigate your Apple Watch. Now you’re ready to explore more of what it has to offer. For more Apple Watch tips, subscribe to the Apple Support YouTube channel, or click another video to keep watching. Some sequences in this video were shortened.
