Use Control Center on Apple Watch

Control Center gives you an easy way to check your battery, silence your watch, choose a Focus, turn your Apple Watch into a flashlight, put your Apple Watch in airplane mode, turn on theater mode, and more.

Open or close Control Center

  • Open Control Center: From the watch face, swipe up. From other screens, touch and hold the bottom of the screen, then swipe up.

    Note: You can’t open Control Center from the Home Screen on your Apple Watch. Instead, press the Digital Crown to go to the watch face or open an app, then open Control Center.

  • Close Control Center: Swipe down from the top of the screen, or press the Digital Crown.

    Two images: Apple Watch without cellular on the left, showing Control Center. The Wi-Fi button is at the top left, Ping iPhone button at the top right, Battery Percentage button at the center left, Silent Mode button at the center right, Theater mode at the bottom left, and Walkie-Talkie button at the bottom right. The right image shows Apple Watch with cellular. Its Control Center shows the Cellular button at the top left, Wi-Fi button at the top right, Ping iPhone button at the center left, Battery Percentage button at the center right, Silent Mode button at the bottom left, and Theater mode button at the bottom right.

Icon

Description

For more information

Cellular icon

Turn cellular on or off—Apple Watch models with cellular only.

See Use Apple Watch with a cellular network.

Wi-Fi icon

Disconnect from Wi-Fi.

See Disconnect from Wi-Fi.

Schooltime icon

Turn on Schooltime—managed Apple Watch models only.

See Set up Schooltime.

Ping iPhone icon

Ping your iPhone.

See Locate your iPhone.

Battery percentage showing 100%

Check your battery percentage.

See Charge Apple Watch.

Silent mode icon

Silence Apple Watch.

See Turn on silent mode.

Passcode lock icon

Lock your watch with a passcode.

See Lock or unlock Apple Watch.

Theater mode icon

Turn on theater mode.

See Use theater mode on Apple Watch.

Walkie-Talkie icon

Make yourself available for Walkie-Talkie.

See Use Walkie-Talkie on Apple Watch.

Do Not Disturb icon

Choose a Focus/Do Not Disturb.

See Create a Focus schedule.

Personal Focus icon

Turn off Personal Focus.

See Create a Focus schedule.

Work Focus icon

Turn off Work Focus.

See Create a Focus schedule.

Sleep Focus icon

Turn off Sleep Focus.

See Track your sleep with Apple Watch.

Flashlight icon

Turn on the flashlight.

See Use the flashlight on Apple Watch.

Airplane mode icon

Turn on airplane mode.

See Turn on airplane mode.

Water Lock icon

Turn on Water Lock.

See Go for a swim with Apple Watch.

Audio Output icon

Choose audio output.

See Connect Apple Watch to Bluetooth headphones or speakers.

Headphone Volume icon

Check headphone volume.

See Connect Apple Watch to Bluetooth headphones or speakers.

Text Size icon

Change text size.

See Adjust brightness and text on Apple Watch.

Accessibility Shortcuts icon.

Turn Accessibility Shortcuts on or off.

See Set the Accessibility Shortcut.

Announce Notifications icon

Turn Announce Notifications on or off.

See Listen and respond to incoming notifications with AirPods and Beats headphones on Apple Watch.

Check Control Center status

Icons at the top of Control Center give you information about the status of common settings on your Apple Watch. For example, a series of small icons may indicate that your Apple Watch is connected to your iPhone, Airplane mode is on, and your location has been requested by an app.

To get details, just tap the group of icons at the top of Control Center.

Rearrange Control Center

You can rearrange the buttons in Control Center by following these steps:

  1. Touch and hold the bottom of the screen, then swipe up to open Control Center.

  2. Scroll to the bottom of Control Center, then tap Edit.

  3. Touch and hold a button, then drag it to a new location.

  4. Tap Done when you’re finished.

Remove Control Center buttons

You can remove the buttons in Control Center by following these steps:

  1. Touch and hold the bottom of the screen, then swipe up to open Control Center.

  2. Scroll to the bottom of Control Center, then tap Edit.

  3. Tap the Delete button in the corner of the button you want to remove.

  4. Tap Done when you’re finished.

To restore a button you’ve removed, open Control Center, tap Edit, then tap the Add button in the corner of the button you want to restore. Tap Done when you’re finished.

Turn on airplane mode

Some airlines let you fly with your Apple Watch (and iPhone) turned on if you put them in airplane mode. By default, turning on airplane mode turns off Wi-Fi and cellular (on Apple Watch models with cellular) and keeps Bluetooth turned on. However, you can change which settings are turned on and off when you turn on airplane mode.

  • Turn on airplane mode on Apple Watch: Touch and hold the bottom of the screen, swipe up to open Control Center, then tap the airplane mode button.

    Control Center with airplane mode button highlighted to show airplane mode is on.

    Siri: Say something like: “Turn on airplane mode.”

  • Put both your Apple Watch and iPhone in airplane mode in one step: Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap My Watch, go to General > Airplane Mode, then turn on Mirror iPhone. When your iPhone and Apple Watch are within normal Bluetooth range of each other (about 33 feet or 10 meters), any time you switch to airplane mode on one device, the other switches to match.

  • Change which settings are turned on or off in airplane mode: On Apple Watch, open the Settings app, tap Airplane Mode, then choose whether to turn Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on or off by default when you turn on airplane mode.

    To turn Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on or off while your Apple Watch is in airplane mode, open the Settings app, then tap Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

When airplane mode is on, airplane mode icon appears at the top of the screen.

Note: Even with Mirror iPhone turned on, you must turn off airplane mode separately on your iPhone and Apple Watch.

Use the flashlight on Apple Watch

Use the flashlight to light a darkened door lock, alert others when you’re out for an evening run, or light nearby objects while preserving your night vision.

  • Turn on the flashlight: Touch and hold the bottom of the screen, swipe up to open Control Center, then tap the Flashlight button. Swipe left to choose a mode—steady white light, flashing white light, or steady red light.

  • Turn off the flashlight: Press the Digital Crown or side button, or swipe down from the top of the watch face.

Use theater mode on Apple Watch

Theater mode prevents the Apple Watch display from turning on when you raise your wrist, so it stays dark. It also turns on silent mode and makes your Walkie-Talkie status unavailable, but you still receive haptic notifications.

Touch and hold the bottom of the screen, swipe up to open Control Center, tap the theater mode button, then tap Theater Mode.

Control Center with theater mode and silent mode buttons highlighted to show theater mode is on.

When theater mode is on, you see the theater mode status icon at the top of the screen.

To wake Apple Watch when theater mode is on, tap the display, press the Digital Crown or side button, or turn the Digital Crown.

Disconnect from Wi-Fi

You can temporarily disconnect from a Wi-Fi network and, on Apple Watch models with cellular, use an available cellular connection instead—right from Control Center.

Touch and hold the bottom of the screen, swipe up to open Control Center, then tap the Wi-Fi button in Control Center.

Control Center on Apple Watch (GPS + Cellular), with Wi-Fi button at the top right. Callout reads “Tap to disconnect from Wi-Fi.”

Your Apple Watch temporarily disconnects from the Wi-Fi network. If you have an Apple Watch with cellular, the cellular connection activates if you have coverage. When you leave and later return to the place where you were connected to Wi-Fi, your Apple Watch automatically joins that network again unless you’ve forgotten it on your iPhone.

Tip: To quickly open Wi-Fi settings on your Apple Watch, touch and hold the Wi-Fi button in Control Center.

Turn on silent mode

Touch and hold the bottom of the screen, swipe up to open Control Center, then tap the silent mode button.

Note: If your Apple Watch is charging, alarms and timers will still sound even in silent mode.

Control Center with silent mode button selected.

You can also open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap My Watch, tap Sounds & Haptics, then turn on silent mode.

Tip: When you get a notification, you can quickly mute your Apple Watch by resting the palm of your hand on the watch display for at least three seconds. You’ll feel a tap to confirm that mute is on. Make sure you turn on Cover to Mute on your Apple Watch—open the Settings app, tap Sounds & Haptics, then turn on Cover to Mute.

Locate your iPhone

Your Apple Watch can help you find your iPhone if it’s nearby.

Touch and hold the bottom of the screen, swipe up to open Control Center, then tap the Ping iPhone button.

Your iPhone makes a tone so you can track it down.

Tip: In the dark? Touch and hold the Ping iPhone button and iPhone flashes as well.

If your iPhone isn’t in range of your Apple Watch, try using Find My from iCloud.com.

Control Center, with the Ping iPhone button shown at the center left.

Find your Apple Watch

If you lost your watch, use Find My to find it.

  1. Open the Find My app on your iPhone.

  2. Tap Devices, then tap your watch in the list.

You can play a sound on your watch, tap Directions to see directions to it in Maps, mark it as lost, or erase it.

You can also track your Apple Watch using Find My and iCloud. See Locate your Apple Watch and the Apple Support article If your Apple Watch is lost or stolen.

Download this guide: Apple Books | PDF

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