How To Find A Dead Apple Watch And Secure It

If your Apple Watch is dead, there is no way to trace it down. However, using the methods mentioned below you can get the last location of where your Apple Watch was before it died.

For these methods to work, your Apple Watch should be paired with an iCloud account as a device that you can of which you know the Apple ID and the password.

Moreover, your Apple Watch should have the Find My and Show Last Location settings enabled.

If you can’t find your Apple watch running on the Find My app, it is safe to assume that your Apple watch has run out of battery.

But this isn’t the end of the road. 

Today, I’ll show you 3 simple ways to find your dead Apple Watch, ways to prevent it from happening again, and securing your lost Apple Watch from unauthorized users.

Method #1 – Finding Your Dead Apple Watch Through A Computer

While you can easily trace a lost Apple Watch through the Find My app on your phone, if your watch is dead, your main iPhone or iPad will pretty much be a useless finder.

Since the watch isn’t turned on, the Find My app on your iPhone or iPad may assume that the watch is with you, and wouldn’t really help in tracing your watch.

However, a computer can help you better with a dead Apple Watch that is lost. 

Any computer that runs a browser will work, whether it’s Windows, iOS, or Linux.

  1. Open up a web browser and go to icloud.com/find, or click here.
  2. Log in to your iCloud by signing in with your Apple ID and password.
  3. Now that you’re logged in, go to Devices.
  4. You should now be seeing the location of all the devices that were paired with your iCloud Account.
  5. Click on the dot that labels your Apple Watch.

Is the dot moving? That could mean someone has picked up your device.

If it’s not, that’s the last location your Apple Watch was running at. 

Go around and try to find it near that location.

Method #2 – Finding Your Dead Apple Watch From A Friend’s iPhone

A friend’s iPhone or iPad can also help you trace down your dead Apple Watch.

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Simply borrow an iPhone or iPad from a friend and use the Help a Friend feature. 

Here’s how it works.

  1. Launch the Find My app on your friend’s device.
  2. Go the Me tab and scroll down to the Help a Friend option.
  3. Clicking on Help a Friend will open up Safari. Now log in to your iCloud account using your Apple ID and Password (this iCloud Account should be paired with the Apple Watch you’re looking for).
  4. If Touch ID  or Face ID is needed, tap Use Different ID.
  5. You should now be seeing a map with all the paired devices with the iCloud account and their respective locations.

Now just search for the dot that represents your Apple Watch’s location and use that to find it!

Method #3 – Finding Your Dead Apple Watch Through Your iPad or iPhone (By Being Patient…)

The only way to find your dead Apple Watch through your iPad or iPhone is to play the waiting game. 

If it’s dead, wait for someone to turn it on.

As soon as it’s up and running, you can trace it down using the Find My app on your iPhone or iPad.

To get notified as soon as your dead Apple Watch is turned on by someone, follow the steps below:

  1. Go to the Find My app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Now tap on Devices and then on your Apple Watch.
  3. You will now see two options: Mark As Lost and Notify When Found
  4. Tap on Mark As Lost and then enable Notify When Found.

As soon as your Apple Watch is now turned on by anyone, you will get a notification.

How To Enable Find Me and For An Apple Watch?

For the above-mentioned methods to work, Find I should be enabled for your Apple Watch beforehand.

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If it wasn’t, here’s how you can do it and help yourself find your devices easily in the future.

  1. Go to the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Click on your iCloud Account shown at the top.
  3. Now click on Find My.
  4. Enable the Find My iPhone toggle.
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All the devices that are associated with this iCloud Account, including an Apple Watch, can now be traced using the Find My app.

How To Enable See The Last Location Of Your Dead Apple Watch

If your Apple Watch is dead, Find I will not be able to trace it.

However, if you enable Offline Finding and Send Last Location for your Apple devices, you can see the last location for your Apple Watch if it gets lost and runs out of battery again.

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Here’s how to do that:

  1. Go to Settings on your iPhone or iPad
  2. Now click on your iCloud Account visible at the top.
  3. Click on Find My.
  4. Now enable the Offline Finding and Send Last Location toggles.

Should any device paired with this iCloud account get lost, your Find My app will display its last live location.

This should help you find the devices more easily.

How To Lock A Lost Apple Watch

If your Apple Watch is lost for a long while and you’re worried it will fall in the wrong hands, you can lock it up and mark it as lost.

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This not only helps you keep your data secure but can also leave a message for anyone who finds your Apple Watch with details on how to return it back.

  1. Open the Find My app on your iPad or iPhone.
  2. Head over to Devices and then select your Apple watch.
  3. Now tap Activate on Mark As Lost.
  4. You can now enter the message you wish to be displayed on your Apple Watch once it’s found by someone. This will include your contact details.

How To Reactivate An Apple Watched Marked Lost

If you marked your Apple Watch as lost but found it and got it back to yourself, congratulations!

But, the Apple Watch would be useless right now until it’s reactivated.

Here’s how you can reactivate it.

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  1. Go to Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Click on your Account and then on Find My.
  3. Now click on your Apple Watch.
  4. Turn off the Mark As Lost option.

Alternatively, typing in your Apple Watch passcode should also automatically reactivate it.

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Can A Lost Dead Apple Watch Play A Sound?

Unfortunately, a lost Apple Watch that has run out of its battery can no longer play a sound.

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The Play Sound feature for Apple devices can come in handy finding lost devices, but it only works as long as the device itself is running.

Sadly, Apple Watches don’t have a reserved battery that could enable them to play a sound even when they’re dead. 

So this feature can only help you if the Apple Watch is up and running.

How Long Does It Take For An Apple Watch To Die?

The Apple Watch runs for around 18 hours after a full charge.

That includes regular usage throughout the day.

How To Stop Losing Your Apple Watch

Apple Watch is a small device, prone to be lost if not kept responsibly.

Being one of those people who often lose their watches and earphones, the following tips helped me not lost my tiny devices (at least not as much).

1. Assigning A Safe Space

Assign a safe space for your Apple Watch. At home and your office.

If you have somewhere else you regularly go to, there as well.

If you make a habit of wearing your Apple Watch off only to keep it at its assigned safe space, you’ll be less likely to irresponsibly wear it off in a hurry at places where it could be lost.

2. Find My Apple Watch

As mentioned and shown above, Find I can help you track down your Apple Watch and it works amazingly well.

Losing an Apple Watch and having its battery die is the worst-case scenario.

Most of the time, your Apple Watch should have little charge left which could help it be easily traced by you using the Find My application.

The step-by-step guides on enabling Find My and Offline Finding options are mentioned above.

Conclusion

I hope one of the above methods did the trick and helped you regain your Apple Watch.

If not, make sure you follow the steps mentioned above to prevent this from happening again. Interested in other Apple products? Check out my blogs on Airpods charging and chargers.

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