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Scott Lansing 3842
Original Poster
Oct 14, 2022

Watch won't download software update

Works fine. Went to download software update and it been saying it downloading the update for like 4 hours.
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Sam Gomm
Oct 14, 2022
I was experiencing a similar issue with downloading updates on my Pixel Watch. In my case this was caused by the watch attempting to download the update over Bluetooth which is super slow compared to downloading over WiFi directly on your watch.

If you follow the below steps the update should start downloading within a few minutes.

Make sure your watch is connected to WiFi before starting the update.
Turn off Bluetooth on your watch.
Start the update from System Settings on your watch.

The update should now be downloaded and your watch will restart to install. You can enable Bluetooth again once the update process has completed and your watch has rebooted itself.
Last edited Oct 14, 2022
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John Haley
Oct 14, 2022
Sam Gomm's instructions were spot-on.  Here's what I did to get the Pixel Watch to update:

(Follow these steps in order for simplicity)

The Pixel watch doesn't connect to 5G WiFi, so you'll need to enter the WiFi passcode for your 2G network.  On the watch, go to connectivity and add your 2G network, use your phone to type in the passphrase (the watch will prompt you for this option - Bluetooth must be connected).

When the watch shows connected to WiFi, DISABLE Bluetooth on the watch.

Go to the watch settings and update the software.

My phone kept chatting with the watch and I could tell it was slowing it down, so I shut my phone off during the update process.  Now it all works together, like it should.

Thanks Sam!
Last edited Oct 14, 2022
Platinum Product Expert justIvan recommended this
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justIvan
Platinum Product Expert
Oct 14, 2022
Thanks for the tips Sam and John! For everyone else having the same issues, please try their tips if you're having issues downloading updates.
Original Poster Scott Lansing 3842 marked this as an answer
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All Replies (13)
justIvan
Platinum Product Expert
Oct 14, 2022
It might just there area some heavy internet traffic right now, either due to your current connection, or the server serving the update. I had to wait for quite a while as well and just left my watch charging while I did some work.

I suggest maybe leave it for another 1-2 hours and see if it updates. If still stuck on downloading, try to reboot the watch and restart the update.
Benjamin
Platinum Product Expert
Jan 19, 2023
@user you're welcome
Brad Evans 4
Jan 19, 2023
Finally got it to reboot. Thank you all!
Sam Gomm
Recommended Answer
Oct 14, 2022
I was experiencing a similar issue with downloading updates on my Pixel Watch. In my case this was caused by the watch attempting to download the update over Bluetooth which is super slow compared to downloading over WiFi directly on your watch.

If you follow the below steps the update should start downloading within a few minutes.

Make sure your watch is connected to WiFi before starting the update.
Turn off Bluetooth on your watch.
Start the update from System Settings on your watch.

The update should now be downloaded and your watch will restart to install. You can enable Bluetooth again once the update process has completed and your watch has rebooted itself.
Last edited Oct 14, 2022
Platinum Product Expert justIvan recommended this
Original Poster Scott Lansing 3842 marked this as an answer
Kudos awarded by Scott Lansing 3842:
Accurate
justIvan
Platinum Product Expert
Dec 26, 2022
David - you need to turn off Bluetooth on your watch, go to Settings under Connectivity I believe (don't have my watch right now but should be similar to that at least) you'll see an option to disable bluetooth
David Parker Dell
Jan 3, 2023
Performing a factory reset resolved the not updating issue and then on reboot everything worked smoothly
John Haley
Recommended Answer
Oct 14, 2022
Sam Gomm's instructions were spot-on.  Here's what I did to get the Pixel Watch to update:

(Follow these steps in order for simplicity)

The Pixel watch doesn't connect to 5G WiFi, so you'll need to enter the WiFi passcode for your 2G network.  On the watch, go to connectivity and add your 2G network, use your phone to type in the passphrase (the watch will prompt you for this option - Bluetooth must be connected).

When the watch shows connected to WiFi, DISABLE Bluetooth on the watch.

Go to the watch settings and update the software.

My phone kept chatting with the watch and I could tell it was slowing it down, so I shut my phone off during the update process.  Now it all works together, like it should.

Thanks Sam!
Last edited Oct 14, 2022
Platinum Product Expert justIvan recommended this
Kathleen Bell 9501
Feb 17, 2023
My watch screen is stuck on the update so I am not able to do any of these suggestions.  Any ideas as to what I should do? It's been this way for 5 hours.
justIvan
Platinum Product Expert
Feb 17, 2023
Hold the crown and button next to it (Assistant button) and don't let go until the watch restart itself. After that, try the update again. Try disabling bluetooth and connect your watch to WiFi, as some users have reported the update is faster that way.
justIvan
Platinum Product Expert
Recommended Answer
Oct 14, 2022
Thanks for the tips Sam and John! For everyone else having the same issues, please try their tips if you're having issues downloading updates.
Original Poster Scott Lansing 3842 marked this as an answer
Gerald Exstein
Oct 14, 2022
Hello.  THANKS TO ALL.  I just got my Pixel watch today (stupid UPS had a delay in shipment).  My previous watch was an old Sammy Galaxy watch so it took me a little while to get used to the Pixel.  I started the system update and it seemed like nothing was happening.  No progress bar - nothing.  So I did a Google search which brought me here and I turned off Bluetooth and let it connect over Wi Fi and the update finished downloading reasonably quickly although there was still no progress bar.  The install still seemed kind of slow but at least it DID finish!

MUCH THANKS!!!
Benjamin
Platinum Product Expert
Oct 14, 2022
Awesome! Enjoy the watch!
Chad Rohland
Oct 15, 2022
My pixel watch continues to say completing setup, installing 8 out of 11 applications. I have turned off Bluetooth I have tried the above steps but nothing works. Really annoyed
Shane Salrin
Oct 15, 2022
I'm having same issue.  I might need to start from beginning.  Pretty disappointing. I thought this would be as simple as the phone to set up.
joanna Warhold
Jan 17, 2023
I can't even download google play because they keep saying "it will download soon".  
Benjamin
Platinum Product Expert
Jan 17, 2023
Connect to wifi (disable BT) on the watch and the downloads will happen a lot faster.
Benjamin
Platinum Product Expert
Oct 15, 2022
Hopefully it goes smoothly next time
Mlabrador
Community Specialist
Oct 20, 2022
Hi folks, 

Thanks for posting in the Pixel Watch Community. 

@SamGomm @justivan & @benjamin, thanks for the help! 

@ShaneSalrin, chiming in — I would like to check if you were able to try SamGomm's steps above? 

Keep me posted. 


Best, 
Nikki 
thelyneea
Dec 10, 2022
Mine freezes as well! I can only go the the screen with the options for Power off, Restart, or Emergency SOS. It's won't allow me to choose either of these options. 
Last edited Dec 10, 2022
Benjamin
Platinum Product Expert
Dec 10, 2022
Have you tried holding both buttons together? See the post below
Drew G 9493
Oct 27, 2022
Just thought I'd add one more potential fix: While I do think it's because it was trying to download through the phone/over BT (so I turned the phone off), the above fixes didn't work initially, so I opened up the Play Store on the watch and saw there were quite a few Google and Pixel apps that weren't auto-updating (they were stuck in the "Installing" phase), so I had to manually go in and update them individually. A bit of a pain, but after that it seemed to clear things up and the Pixel automatically started the system update shortly after :)
Aleksandr Sirenko
Jan 3, 2023
​​​
Make sure your watch is connected to WiFi before starting the update.
Turn off Bluetooth on your watch.
Start the update from System Settings on your watch.
--> yes

The Pixel watch doesn't connect to 5G WiFi, so you'll need to enter the WiFi passcode for your 2G network.  On the watch, go to connectivity and add your 2G network, use your phone to type in the passphrase (the watch will prompt you for this option - Bluetooth must be connected).

When the watch shows connected to WiFi, DISABLE Bluetooth on the watch.

Go to the watch settings and update the software.

My phone kept chatting with the watch and I could tell it was slowing it down, so I shut my phone off during the update process.  Now it all works together, like it should.
--> yes


David Parker Dell
Jan 3, 2023
For me, performing a factory reset resolved my issue of updates hanging 
Rosalyn Lorimer
Dec 9, 2022
Hi same problem but the watch is stuck on preparing to update screen and I can't get to other functions on the watch. It won't even let me shut down
User 13503709923713913915
Dec 13, 2022
@BENJAMIN. Thank you for sharing the tip. It has finally worked. Only that now i need to set it up again. 
Benjamin
Platinum Product Expert
Dec 13, 2022
I'm glad that helped
Archie Atienza
Community Specialist
Jan 10, 2023
Hey folks,

I'm chiming in to check if you have more questions about this. Feel free to let us know by replying back.

I appreciate the help, Benjamin and justIvan.

Thanks,
Archie
Kathleen Bell 9501
Feb 18, 2023
Thank you!  I finally ended up doing that and all is well!  For a split second, an error message popped up on the screen. It was red with an exclamation point, but it went away and now everything is good.  Thank you Pixel community.
Joe Ellett
Gold Product Expert
Feb 20, 2023
Glad to hear you're up and running, Kathleen. 
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