Use Control Center on Apple Watch

: June 7, 2024
: Apple

Table of Contents

Use Control Center on Apple Watch

Use Control Center on Apple Watch

Control Center gives you an easy way to check your battery, silence your watch, turn on Do Not Disturb, 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.

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Description

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For more information

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| Turn cellular on or off—Apple Watch models with cellular only.| See Use Apple Watch with a cellular network.
| Disconnect from Wi-Fi.| See Disconnect from Wi- Fi.
| Turn on Schooltime—managed Apple Watch models only.| See Set up Schooltime.
| Ping your iPhone.| See Locate your iPhone.
| Check your battery percentage.| See Charge Apple Watch.
| Silence Apple Watch.| See Turn on silent mode.
| Lock your watch with a passcode.| See Turn on and wake Apple Watch.
| Turn on Do Not Disturb.| See Turn on Do Not Disturb.
| Turn on sleep mode.| See Track your sleep with Apple Watch.
| Make yourself available for Walkie-Talkie.| See Use Walkie-Talkie on Apple Watch.
| Turn on theater mode.| See Use theater mode on Apple Watch.
| Turn on Water Lock.| See Go for a swim with Apple Watch.
| Turn on the flashlight.| See Use the flashlight on Apple Watch.
| Turn on airplane mode.| See Turn on airplane mode.
| Choose audio output.| See Connect Apple Watch to Bluetooth headphones or speakers.
| Turn Announce Messages on or off.| See Temporarily turn off Announce Messages.

Rearrange Control Center

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

Touch and hold the bottom of the screen, then swipe up to open Control Center.
Scroll to the bottom of Control Center, then tap Edit.
Drag a button to a new location.
Tap Done when you’re finished.

Remove Control Center buttons

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

Touch and hold the bottom of the screen, then swipe up to open Control Center.
Scroll to the bottom of Control Center, then tap Edit.
Tap in the corner of the button you want to remove.
Tap Done when you’re finished.

To restore a button you’ve removed, open Control Center, tap Edit, then tap 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 .

Ask 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, you see 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 . 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 , then tap Theater Mode.

When theater mode is on, you see 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 in Control Center.

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.

Turn on silent mode

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

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

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 in the Apple Watch app on your iPhone—tap My Watch, then go to Sounds & Haptics.

Turn on Do Not Disturb

Use Do Not Disturb to keep calls and alerts (except for alarms and heart rate notifications) from making sounds or lighting up the screen.

You can turn on Do Not Disturb for a specified amount of time, until you leave your current location, or until the end of a calendar event. Just touch and hold the bottom of the screen, swipe up to open Control Center, tap , then choose an option: On, On for 1 hour, On until this evening, On until I leave, and On until end of event.

You can also open the Settings app on your Apple Watch, tap Do Not Disturb, then turn on Do Not Disturb.

To turn on Do Not Disturb automatically when you start a workout, open the Settings app on your Apple Watch, tap Do Not Disturb, then turn on Workout Do Not Disturb. You can also open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, go to General > Do Not Disturb, then turn on Workout Do Not Disturb.

When Do Not Disturb is on, you see at the top of the screen.

Tip: To silence both your Apple Watch and iPhone, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap My Watch, go to General > Do Not Disturb, then turn on Mirror iPhone. Then, any time you change Do Not Disturb on one, the other changes to match.

Turn sleep mode on or off

Sleep mode displays a simplified watch face and turns on Do Not Disturb. Normally, sleep mode turns on and off automatically based on the sleep schedule you’ve created, but you can control it in Control Center. Just touch and hold the bottom of the screen, swipe up to open Control Center, then tap . You can temporarily exit sleep mode by turning the Digital Crown to unlock. See Track your sleep with Apple Watch for more information about sleep mode.

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 .

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.

Find your Apple Watch

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

Open the Find My app on your iPhone.
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.