How to Find an Apple Watch Using iOS
Apple provides a free app for iOS devices to locate lost Apple products. The Find My iPhone app (named the Find My app in iOS 13 and later) is available for all iOS devices. If the app is not currently installed on your smartphone or tablet, download it for free from the App Store.
In the Find My iPhone app, select Devices. Choose your Apple Watch from the list of connected iOS devices. The map will now show the location of your Apple Watch. Select Play Sound to have your Apple Watch emit a sound; if it is nearby, it should now be easy to locate.
How to Find an Apple Watch Using iCloud
If you don’t have access to another Apple device, you can locate your lost Apple Watch from any computer with a connection to the internet.
Visit iCloud. com and sign in with your Apple ID and password. From the icon grid, select Find iPhone. At the top of the screen select All Devices. Select your Apple Watch from the list. The map will now show the location of your Apple Watch. In the upper-right corner of the screen, select Play Sound.
Unable to Locate Apple Watch
You may have circumstances in which you can’t locate your Apple Watch via Find My iPhone or have it play a sound. One such example is that the smartwatch’s battery has died; in this case, the application may show you the last known location of the watch.
Apple Watches that run on Wi-Fi will only be able to report back its location when connected to a known Wi-Fi network. If you have a cellular Apple Watch, it should report back as long as it’s registered with your mobile carrier and has a sufficient signal.
In both cases, your only option is to locate the Apple Watch using the last known position as reported by Find My iPhone. If you are still unable to locate your watch, we recommend placing it in Lost Mode as detailed below.
Turn On Lost Mode For Apple Watch (From iPhone or iPad)
If you are unable to locate your Apple Watch, you may wish to place it into Lost Mode so that it can be locked down and alert any finders to its lost status. Here is how you go about the process from an iOS device:
At the bottom of the page, select Devices. Select your Apple Watch from the list of connected iOS devices. Under Mark As Lost, select Activate. Confirm that you wish to enable mark the device as lost. Enter a phone number that can be displayed upon your Apple Watch if someone finds it. This step is optional. Enter a custom message, or immediately select Done to use Apple’s default message.
Turn On Lost Mode For Apple Watch From a Mac
You can also turn on Lost Mode from any PC with an internet connection.
Visit iCloud. com and sign in with your Apple ID and password. From the icon grid, select Find iPhone. At the top of the screen, select All Devices. Pick your Apple Watch from the list. The map will now show the location (or the last known location) of your Apple Watch. In the upper-right corner of the screen, select Lost Mode. Enter a phone number to show on your Apple Watch if someone finds it. This step is optional. Enter a custom message to display on your Apple Watch, and then select Done to turn on Lost Mode.
Prevent Losing Your Apple Watch
While not much more than attentiveness can keep you from losing your Apple Watch, one security company is offering a solution to the problem. The folks at Lookout have introduced an Apple Watch app as a part of their standard Lookout security application for iOS.
Downloading and setting up the software will cause your iPhone to alert you as soon as it loses communication with your watch—one way to ensure that you don’t leave it behind.
