About government and emergency alerts on Apple Watch

Find out how to turn on emergency, government and public safety alerts on your Apple Watch.

You can receive emergency, government and public safety alerts on your Apple Watch. In the event of an emergency, here's what you might see:

  • Alerts issued by your country or region's government

  • Alerts involving imminent threats to safety or life

  • Alerts for extreme weather conditions

  • AMBER alerts (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response)*

  • Public Safety Alerts*

* AMBER alerts and Public Safety Alerts aren't available in all countries or regions.

Turn Government Alerts on or off

By default, Government Alerts are turned on for your device.1 When you receive a government alert, you'll hear a special sound that's similar to an alarm. If you want to turn these alerts on or off, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Settings > Notifications on your iPhone.

  2. Scroll to the very bottom of the screen.

  3. Under Government Alerts, turn the type of alert on or off.2 When you turn on an alert for your iPhone, it will also be turned on for your Apple Watch.

1. Government Alerts are supported if you're using a SIM card from a supported network. Your Apple Watch can receive these alerts if your iPhone can receive them and is nearby, or your Apple Watch is on a Wi-Fi network. With a mobile data plan from a supported carrier, your Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + cellular) or later can receive these alerts without your iPhone nearby. For more information, contact your network provider.

2. In some countries or regions, you may not be able to disable Government Alerts.

Choose to receive Test Emergency Alerts on your Apple Watch in the United States

When your iPhone is connected to a network provider in the United States – either with a US SIM or while roaming in the US – you can enable Test Emergency Alerts, which can also appear on your Apple Watch. Your Apple Watch with GPS + Cellular can also receive these alerts when you're not near your iPhone.

By default, this is turned off. When you receive this type of alert, you'll hear a sound that's similar to an alarm, and the alert will mention that it's a test.

Government test alerts are available with US network providers, including in Puerto Rico. Your local government is responsible for the content and frequency of the test alerts. You can disable this feature at any time with the following steps. For more information, contact your network provider.

How to turn on Test Alerts on your Apple Watch

  1. Make sure your iPhone is running the latest version of iOS. To complete these steps, your device needs to be running iOS 15.6 or later.

  2. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Notifications.

  3. Turn on Test Alerts. This will also turn on Test Alerts for your Apple Watch.

Turn on Test Alerts for an Apple Watch you've set up for a family member

If you've set up an Apple Watch for a family member using Family Setup, you can use your iPhone to turn on Test Alerts for their Apple Watch:

  1. Make sure your family member's Apple Watch is running the latest version of watchOS. To complete these steps, your device needs to be running watchOS 8.4 or later.

  2. On the iPhone you used to set up your family member's Apple Watch, download the Test Alerts profile:

  3. Tap Allow. If you're asked to choose the device you want to install the profile on, choose Apple Watch.

  4. Open the Settings app and tap Profile Downloaded.

  5. Tap Install. Follow the onscreen instructions to finish installing the profile.

  6. After the profile has been installed, go to Settings > Notifications on your family member's Apple Watch.

  7. Turn on Test Alerts.

To turn Test Alerts off, either:

  • Go to Settings > Notifications and turn off Test Alerts.

  • Go to Settings > General > Device Management and remove the profile.

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