Ever notice your Apple Watch losing a ton of battery unexpectedly? Seems like these watches were kind of infamous for draining faster than expected, especially before the Watch Ultra series. Even with newer models, if there’s a sudden dip in power, it’s annoying — not sure why it happens, but it does. Sometimes it feels like the watch just refuses to hold a charge and you’re left wondering what’s really going on behind the scenes. Well, there are a few things to try that might fix this stubborn drain.
How to Fix Battery Drain on Your Apple Watch
Fix 1: Close Out Those Background Apps
Apps running in the background can pour power into the abyss without you realizing it. You’ll want to manually shut them down, especially if you’ve had a ton open. It’s a quick way to cut down unnecessary battery hogging.
- How to do it: Double-tap the Digital Crown to bring up all open apps. Then, swipe left or right across the app previews and hit the ❌ button to close each one. Sometimes, just doing this once will make your battery last way longer — at least until the next app update or some glitch appears again.
On some setups, this seems to help immediately, but it’s not perfect — background apps can sneak back in. Still, worth doing if you noticed quick draining, especially after installing apps or watchOS updates.
Fix 2: Turn Off Background Features and Refresh
Background App Refresh, Always-On Display, notifications, all that jazz — it all eats battery. Turning some of this stuff off can give modest but noticeable improvements.
- On your watch: Tap the ⚙ icon to access Settings.
- Navigate to General > Background App Refresh and turn it off.
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone, then go to Display & Brightness.
- Switch off Wake on Wrist Raise. Honestly, this is one of those little things that helps since the watch doesn’t light up every time you move your wrist.
- In the same Display & Brightness menu, lower the brightness to minimum.
- Don’t forget to check the Noise app in the Watch app and disable Environmental Sound Measurements. On some watches, these can go unnoticed but still drain power.
Left these features enabled? It’s no surprise if battery drops fast. Turn ‘em off, and you might see better longevity.
Fix 3: Disable Always-On Display & Crank Down Brightness
The Always-On-Display (AOD) is pretty convenient but kind of a battery vampire. Pixels stay lit to show you info, and that adds up. Also, high brightness settings push power consumption through the roof.
- How: On your watch, tap the Digital Crown to access Settings. Go to Display & Brightness.
- Set the brightness all the way down. Seriously, this tiny tweak can extend your watch’s battery life dramatically.
- Then, disable the Always option if available — that’s the AOD feature. Some watches automatically turn it off when the battery gets low, but proactively disabling it can help prevent surprises.
Not sure why, but reducing brightness and turning off AOD is a classic power-saving trick, kind of like turning off your phone’s background stuff.
Fix 4: Force Restart the Watch
Sometimes, a simple reboot kicks out processes that got stuck, which could be causing battery drain. This isn’t always a guaranteed fix, but it’s easy and fast to do.
- To force restart: Hold down both the Digital Crown and the side button simultaneously. Keep holding for about 10-12 seconds.
- Release only when the Apple logo appears. If the watch was acting weird or draining fast, this refresh can clear out lingering hiccups.
Sometimes it feels like turning it off and on again on a tiny wrist computer, but works just as well.
Fix 5: Activate Low Power Mode
Low Power mode is basically the ‘hibernation’ setting for your watch — it strips out all the extras and keeps only core functions running, hopefully giving you more hours between charges.
- How to: Press the side button to open the Control Center.
- Tap the Battery icon, then select Low Power Mode. Confirm to turn it on.
This is especially useful if you’re out and about and see the battery is running low quicker than usual — just remember to turn it off later when you’re recharged.
Fix 6: Disable Cellular Data
If your watch supports LTE or cellular connectivity, constantly using that network eats batteries like crazy. Turning it off can squeeze some extra hours out of the battery.
- How: Tap the side button to bring up Control Center, then tap the Cellular icon.
- Switch off Mobile Service. If you don’t need internet on your watch all the time, this helps a lot.
On some days, I notice the difference with cellular off — the battery just lasts longer. Of course, if you rely on LTE, it’s a tradeoff.
All these tweaks can help track down what’s making your Apple Watch run out of juice faster than it should. Sometimes, it’s a mix of these fixes, or some software bug that gets fixed in subsequent updates. Either way, it’s worth testing out a few.
Summary
- Close background apps regularly
- Disable unnecessary features like Background App Refresh and Environmental Sound Measurements
- Lower display brightness and turn off Always-On display
- Force restart when weird issues crop up
- Activate Low Power Mode when needed
- Turn off cellular if not needed
Wrap-up
Battery issues can be tricky on the Apple Watch — sometimes it’s just a software glitch, other times it’s settings that are non-intuitive or apps draining in the background. These tips are basic but effective. The last thing to try, if nothing else works, is to back up and do a factory reset. Not always fun, but sometimes necessary. Hopefully, this shaves off a few hours here and there — it’s better than carrying around a portable charger 24/7.