How to back up Apple Watch settings & data

Backing up Apple Watch doesn’t work exactly like your iOS device, and some of the data on the watch— like Workout and Activity calibration data, for example— won’t be included in your backup. Head below to learn exactly how to back up your Apple Watch, what to expect when doing so, and how to access the data if need be.

There’s a couple ways to initiate a back up of your Apple Watch, but so far the process is tied to the iPhone back up process.

• In order to back up your Watch, you need to initiate a back up of your connected iPhone through iCloud or iTunes.
• Alternatively, your iPhone will automatically create a backup when you unpair it from your iPhone.
• When it comes time, you can restore from the back up during the pairing process.

And here’s what the backup will include:

• General system settings, such as your watch face, known Wi-Fi networks, brightness, sound, and haptic settings
• Language
• Time Zone
• Settings for Mail, Calendar, Stocks, and Weather
• App-specific data and settings, such as Maps, distance, and units
• Health and Fitness data, such as history, achievements, and user-entered data

However, Apple warns that “to back up Health and Fitness data, you need to use iCloud or an encrypted iTunes backup.)”

But don’t just assume that will make all of your Watch data safe, there will be a few things not included in the back up…

Your back up won’t include:

• Workout and Activity calibration data for Apple Watch
• Any playlists synced to your Watch
• Credit or debit card info for Apple Pay
• The passcode for your Watch.

That means if you restore from a back up, you’ll probably want to follow the steps necessary for calibrating the device again, and you’ll also have to re-sync your playlists and reset your Apple Pay and passcode info.