If your Apple Watch storage is full
Learn what to do if your Apple Watch storage is full or if you need more available storage to install a watchOS update.
How to free up storage on your Apple Watch
You can free up storage on your Apple Watch by removing any music or removing any photos that you've synced to your watch. You can also remove some apps to free up more space.
To check how much available storage your watch has, open the Settings app, then tap General > Storage.
If you don't have enough storage to update your Apple Watch
Your Apple Watch might say that you need more available storage to install a watchOS update.
If you have Apple Watch Series 4 or later, or Apple Watch SE, try each of the steps below.
If you have Apple Watch Series 3, skip directly to the steps to unpair and update your Apple Watch.
Learn how to identify your Apple Watch model.
Restart your watch
Restart your Apple Watch, then try updating it again.
If you still see the error, follow the steps in the next section.
Remove media and apps
Try to free up storage on your Apple Watch, then try to install the watchOS update.
If you can't update after deleting media and apps, follow the steps in the next section.
Unpair and update your Apple Watch
Keep your Apple Watch and iPhone close together as you unpair them.
Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Go to the My Watch tab and tap All Watches at the top of the screen.
Tap the info button
next to the watch that you want to unpair. Tap Unpair Apple Watch.
For GPS + Cellular models, choose to keep your cellular plan.
Tap again to confirm. You might need to enter your Apple Account password to disable Activation Lock. Before erasing all content and settings on your Apple Watch, your iPhone creates a new backup of your Apple Watch. You can use the backup to restore a new Apple Watch.
Next, set up your Apple Watch with your iPhone. When asked whether you want to set up as new or restore from a backup, choose to set up as new. Then follow the onscreen instructions to finish setup.
If you want to update to the watchOS beta, reinstall the beta profile after setup is complete.
Finally, update your Apple Watch.
Restore from backup
If you want to restore your Apple Watch from its latest backup, follow the steps in the previous section to unpair it again. Then set up your watch once more with your iPhone. This time, choose to restore from backup rather than set up as new.
