If your Apple Watch won’t turn on or won’t charge

Find out what to do if your Apple Watch screen shows a red lightning bolt or is blank.

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If a red lightning boltnull appears on your Apple Watch screen, it means your watch doesn’t have enough battery power to turn on. When you connect your watch to its charging cable, the red lightning bolt will change to a red lightning bolt inside a ring.

If your screen stays blank even when you press the side button, or if the charging cable icon appears, you may need to charge your watch for up to 30 minutes before it will turn on.

If your Apple Watch won’t charge

If you connect your Apple Watch to its charging cable and you can’t see a lightning bolt on your watch:

  • Make sure you’re using the Apple Magnetic Charging Cable or USB-C Magnetic Fast Charging Cable that came with your watch.

  • Make sure you plug the charging cable all the way into the USB Power Adapter, then plug the adapter all the way into a plug socket.

  • Reposition the back of your watch on the charger. When the charger’s magnets align correctly with your watch, a lightning bolt should appear on the watch face.

  • Make sure the back of your watch and the magnetic charger are clean. Completely remove any plastic wrapping from both sides of the charger.

  • Try a different Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Cable or USB-C Magnetic Fast Charging Cable, and a different USB Power Adapter.

  • Leave your watch connected to its charger for a while. If your watch is out of power, you may need to wait up to 30 minutes for the lightning bolt to appear.

  • If your watch still won’t charge, force it to restart: press and hold both the side button and Digital Crown for at least 10 seconds, or until the Apple logo appears.

If you use the Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock or the Apple MagSafe Duo Charger with a larger Apple Watch model (44 mm, 45 mm or 49 mm), you may need to adjust the charger to a different angle, or lay it completely flat, to make sure its magnets align with the magnets in your watch. If you have Apple Watch Ultra or later and it won’t connect reliably with these charging devices even when they’re lying flat, try removing the watch’s band before placing the watch on the charger.

If you use a WPT-compliant charger purchased in China or Indonesia with an incompatible Apple Watch, you’ll receive a message: β€œUnable to charge. This is a country-specific charger. It is incompatible with this Apple Watch.” Find out more about WPT-compliant Apple Watch charging.

Find out more

If your Apple Watch still isn’t working, you may need to get a service.

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