How to Backup and Restore Apple Watch Data

On an hourly basis, the information coming into, and leaving, your iPhone and Apple Watch is changing. On a grander scale, Apple is releasing new devices, so it may be time to upgrade. Or maybe you end up accidentally breaking your Apple Watch and don’t want to be left without your information.

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That’s just one part of why it’s so important to keep your data and information backed up. Thankfully, Apple makes life pretty easy for its users, as your data is backed up to the iCloud.

How to backup Apple Watch data

So if you are just trying to do your due diligence and want to make sure your Apple Watch data is always backed up, it’s pretty easy. In fact, there’s nothing that you need to do on your Watch or with the Watch app. Instead, you’ll need to perform an iPhone backup.

Apple has made it so that every time your iPhone is backed up to iCloud, your Watch backs up at the same time. Here’s how you can backup your iPhone, and in-turn, backup your Apple Watch data.

1. Make sure your iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi.
2. Open the  app on your iPhone.
3. Tap Your Name at the top of the Settings page.
4. Tap on iCloud.
5. Scroll down and select iCloud Backup.
6. Tap Backup Now.

After the backup has completed, both your iPhone’s and Apple Watch data will be backed up to the iCloud.

What data is included with an Apple Watch backup

Before continuing on, it’s important to make note of what Apple Watch data is actually backed up. It’s not everything you would expect, while including some information that you may not expect. Here’s the full list:

• App-specific data (for built-in apps) and settings (for built-in and third-party apps). For example, Maps, distance, units, and your settings for Mail, Calendar, Stocks, and weather.
• App layout on the Home screen
• Clock face settings, including your current watch face, customizations, and order
• Dock settings, including the order, whether you sort by favorites or recents, and available apps
• General system settings, such as brightness, sound, and haptic settings
• Health and Fitness data, such as history, awards, Workout and Activity calibration data from your Apple Watch, and user-entered data (To back up Health and Fitness data, you need to use iCloud or an encrypted backup on your computer.)
• Notification settings
• Playlists, albums, and mixes that are synced to your Apple Watch, and your Music settings
• The Siri Voice Feedback setting that controls when Siri speaks
• Synced photo album (To see which album syncs, open the Apple Watch app, tap the My Watch tab, then tap Photos > Synced Album.)
• Time Zone

What data is not included

As we mentioned, Apple does things a bit different and includes various bits of information in its backups. Here are the different pieces of Apple Watch data that are not backed up.

• Bluetooth pairings
• Credit or debit cards that are used for Apple Pay on your Apple Watch
• Passcode for your Apple Watch
• Messages

How to restore Apple Watch data

Whether you are dealing with an issue with your Watch and need to reset it, or if you happen to pick up a new Watch, it’s easy to restore your Apple Watch data. While going through the setup process, you’ll have the ability to option to restore from a backup. Here are the necessary steps to take to get all of your Apple Watch data back.

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. With the Watch nearby, tap Start Pairing.
3. During the setup process, tap Restore from Backup.