Fix issues with your cellular watch

Get calls and text messages

Make sure you have the following:

• A cellular watch.
• SIM card for your watch or eSIM compatibility.
• Cellular service for your watch. For more info about getting service for your watch, check with your carrier.

To find out if you have a cellular watch:

• Wear OS: Go to Settings   Connectivity . Find Cellular.
• All other watches: Go to Settings . Find Cellular.

If you don't find a Cellular setting, your watch doesn’t support cellular service.

If you're still having trouble, try the steps below:

Step 1: Make sure you have a cellular connection

1. On your watch, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. In the pull-down settings, check Signal .

Step 2: Make sure cloud sync is on in the Wear OS app

Important: This feature isn't available on iPhones.

Cloud sync shares data between your phone and your watch over the Internet. Data is stored on the cloud sync server. To use Wi-Fi or cellular data on your watch, turn on cloud sync in the Wear OS app.

1. On your phone, open the Wear OS app .
2. Tap Settings   Privacy & Personal data  Cloud sync.
3. Turn it on.

Step 3: Restart your watch and phone

1. To restart your watch, touch and hold the Power button. If your watch has 3 buttons, touch and hold the center button.
2. Restart your phone.

Step 4: Contact your cell service provider

Contact your carrier and make sure your watch's SIM is properly activated.

Step 5: Unpair your watch & reset to factory settings

Note: When you reset your watch to factory settings, all apps, settings, and data on your watch are erased.

You'll need to re-pair your watch and phone after a factory reset.

1. If your screen is dim, tap it to wake up the watch.
2. Swipe down from the top of the screen.
   • Wear OS: Tap Settings .
   • All other watches: Swipe left and tap Settings .
3. Scroll and:
   • Wear OS: Scroll to System  Disconnect & reset.
   • All other watches: Scroll and tap Unpair from phone  Factory reset and unpair.
4. After you reset your watch to factory settings, you need to pair your watch with your phone again.

Get notifications on your watch

If your watch doesn't vibrate when you get a notification or you don’t get notifications at all:

• Check whether your watch is using cellular. Learn what works over cellular.
• Try these troubleshooting steps.

Send messages from your watch number

To send messages from your watch number or over your watch's sim card, your watch must not be connected to your phone over Bluetooth. By default, your mobile network is off when you use Bluetooth to connect your watch to your phone.

You can choose to always use your watch's mobile network to send messages. 

1. ​On your watch, if your screen is dim, tap your screen to wake up the watch.
2. Swipe down from the top of the screen.
3. Tap Settings    Connections  Mobile network.
4. Turn on Always on.

Tip: To extend the battery life of your watch, don't use your mobile network on your watch continuously.

Find out what works over cellular

Even if your phone is off or out of range, you can still use some features while your watch is connected to a cellular network. Some of these features include voice calls, emergency 911 calls, and Google Assistant. Other features like SMS messaging, phone notifications, and some third-party apps will only work when your phone is on, but not nearby.

Turn cellular or roaming data off

Your watch automatically connects to the cellular network when the Bluetooth connection is turned off. 

To turn cellular or roaming data off manually:

1. If your screen is dim, tap it to wake up the watch.
2. Swipe down from the top of the screen.
3. Tap Settings   Connectivity.
4. Tap Mobile.
5. Toggle Mobile or Roaming data off.

If you still need help, contact your carrier.

Switch your car’s Bluetooth connection from your watch to your phone

When you wear a watch that can make Bluetooth calls, your car kit may not automatically connect to your phone. This can happen because your phone doesn't know which Bluetooth device you want to use for calls (your watch or your car kit).

To force your phone to connect to your car kit for calls:

1. On your phone, open Settings  Bluetooth.
2. To select your car, choose your car kit from the device list.

Travel internationally with your cellular watch

International roaming isn’t fully supported. For more info, contact your carrier.

Connect your watch to a new cellular plan

If you’ve recently switched mobile carriers, you might need to set up your watch again. Learn how to set up your watch.

If you still need help, contact your carrier.

Transfer your cellular plan to a new watch

When you get a new watch, you can connect to your cellular plan during setup. Learn how to set up your watch.

If you still need help, contact your carrier.

Remove your cellular plan from your watch

1. If your screen is dim, tap it to wake up the watch.
2. Swipe down from the top of the screen.
3. Tap Settings  Connectivity.
4. Tap Mobile  tap your carrier.
5. Tap Delete carrier.
6. When prompted to delete the carrier, tap the check mark.

If you still need help, or if you want to cancel your cellular plan, contact your carrier.