How to find your Apple Watch when you've misplaced it

How I ended up being a sonar bear

Posted by björn on

Background

I just misplaced my Apple Watch in my apartment. Walking around looking for it, and getting frustrated, I was thinking, “There ought to be a way to make it make some sound, then I can play Marco Polo with the watch”. But my Google-fu failed me: no obvious way to “ping my watch”. There’s functionality for pinging the phone from the watch though.

But there’s a way to make some noise: testing out the alert volume in the companion app on the phone.

Steps

  1. Verify that your Watch is paired:
    1. Settings
    2. Bluetooth
    3. My Devices should show your Watch: Bluetooth settings on an iPhone
  2. Open the Apple Watch app:
    1. Sounds & Haptics
    2. Drag the slider for alert volume to max
    3. Tap the knob on the slider.
      The watch will make a sound every time you tap the knob. Alert volume settings
  3. Don’t cry yourself to sleep over losing an expensive toy in the mess that is your own apartment.