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How to charge Apple Watch and check battery life

Whether you’ve just got your first Apple Watch or want to learn how to check battery life numerically while you’re powering up your wearable, follow along for how to charge Apple Watch and check battery life.

When it comes to Apple’s products, the induction wireless charging is a bit different on Apple Watch than the Qi-based wireless charging found on Apple’s latest iPhones. The Apple Watch uses a magnetic induction charger, and unfortunately doesn’t work with just any wireless charger.

In addition to using the official Apple Watch charging cable, there are great options like Ugreen’s MFiĀ power bank with an integrated watch charger (reviewed) that are perfect for traveling.

We’ve also seen the first third-party MFi (certified for Apple devices) Apple Watch chargers become available this year if you’d like to save some cash on a second or third one.

How to charge Apple Watch and check battery life

How to charge Apple Watch

  1. Plug in the Apple Watch charger to an outlet, computer or power bank
  2. With your Apple Watch facing up, place it down on the concave side of the charging puck
  3. All done šŸ˜„

When it’s charging you’ll see the animation with theĀ green lightning boltĀ and then the docked watch faceĀ .

How to see the numerical battery percentage while charging

You can tap theĀ green lightning boltĀ in the top left corner to reveal the battery percentage while it’s charging as shown below.

how to charge Apple Watch

How to check battery life on Apple Watch when not charging

  1. Swipe up from the bottom of your Apple Watch
  2. You’ll see the battery percentage
  3. Tap it to get the option to enterĀ Power ReserveĀ mode

Don’t forget you can also include battery life in most of the Apple Watch faces as a complication.

For more help getting the most out of your Apple devices, check out our how to guide as well as the following articles:


Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

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