Samsung watches integrate with Samsung phones and have a bunch of handy and cool features. Electronic devices like smartphones and smart watches can have issues and some of their functions can stop working all of a sudden. Today, I will explain how to troubleshoot a Samsung watch that isn’t working.
As a general rule, start by soft resetting your Samsung watch. To do that hold down the two buttons on the right hand side of your Samsung watch until it gives you an option to restart it on the touchscreen. After that, uninstall and reinstall the Wearables app on your phone, and restart your phone.
Provided you’ve done all of these steps, then you should check your Samsung charging bay is getting power, and is not dirty or dusty. And finally if it’s still not working you should contact Samsung support or take it to a Samsung service center. Below, I will provide troubleshooting steps for more specific issues, for example if it won’t turn on, or the touchscreen won’t work.
Samsung Watch Not Working
When you press the power button on your Samsung watch it can have an issue where it won’t turn on at all. Or, when you put it on the charging bay nothing happens and it won’t charge. Here’s an overview of the broad steps to do when your Samsung watch doesn’t work.
In general, check that the wall outlet the charging bay is plugged into is providing power by testing it with another device like your phone charger. After that do a soft reset on your Samsung watch, and if it’s still not working do a factory reset. How to do each of these steps is explained below.
To troubleshoot the charging bay refer to the instructions in the heading below titled ‘Samsung Watch Not Working’. To soft reset your Samsung watch, hold down the two buttons on the right hand side of your Samsung watch until it says ‘restart’ on the screen. Then tap the touchscreen to select it.
It will power cycle, and turn back on. The Samsung Wearables app has an app cache and data that can be causing a glitch. It’s easy to clear the app data and cache.
Go to Settings and then Apps. Find the app you want to clear the cache for. When inside the app, tap Storage and then tap Clear Cache.
After that close the Samsung Wearables app and open it again. Do that by pressing the three vertical bars icon on the bottom left hand side of the screen on your Samsung phone. Then swipe up on the Samsung wearables app to close it.
Doing a factory reset is a bit more involved. I’ve provided full step by step instructions for how to do that at the very end of this article.
Refer to the instructions there to factory reset your Samsung watch. And if it’s still not working then take it to a Samsung store, or contact Samsung support on the official Samsung website.
Samsung Watch Not Charging
A Samsung watch is designed so that it can be worn for long periods of time in between charges. To charge a Samsung watch you place it on the charging bay. If you place it on your charging bay and it won’t charge this is what you should do.
Overall, it’s either the charging bay is faulty, the power outlet is not working, and you should try soft and hard resetting your Samsung watch. First test the wall outlet, and clean the charging bay with a soft cloth. If it still won’t charge then soft and hard reset your Samsung watch.
The easiest way to test the wall outlet for your Samsung charging bay is to plug a different device into the same wall outlet, such as a phone charger plugged into your smartphone. If the wall outlet is supplying power then the charging bay may be faulty or dirty. There needs to be good contact between the charging bay and your Samsung watch.
If there is dust or grime on it, it can stop it from charging. After that when it still wont charge, take it to a Samsung store to test it on one of their charging bays.
Samsung Watch Not Tracking Steps
A really handy feature of a Samsung watch is that it will count your steps, that way you can track how far you are walking each day, and also set goals for yourself. It’s a common issue for the Samsung watch to have issues tracking your steps. Here’s how to fix this issue when it happens.
As a general rule, you should soft reset your Samsung watch, restart your Samsung phone, clear the app cache and data, and if it’s still not working, uninstall and reinstall the Galaxy wearable app. A work around is also to choose a watch face display that doesn’t have the step counter on it.
A factory reset can also work to fix this issue. However, people have found although the step counter works, sometimes it can be inaccurate, and not count your steps properly. But, if you change the watch face to one that doesn’t have the step counter displaying on it, the step counter works.
The one downside is you need to press a few more buttons to access the step counter. If you try all of the troubleshooting steps above and it’s still not counting your steps accurately or at all, then take it to your nearest Samsung store, or contact Samsung support.
Samsung Watch Not Recording Sleeping
A Samsung watch has a bio reader on the underside of the watch that can detect your biometrics and how long you sleep for. However, it can glitch out and not work properly. Here’s what to do if the sleep tracker on your Samsung watch doesn’t work properly.
In general, soft reset your Samsung watch and your smartphone. Then clear the Samsung wearable app cache and data. After that uninstall and reinstall the Samsung wearable app. If it still won’t work, factory reset your Samsung watch. Where that doesn’t work contact Samsung support.
The sensor on the underside of your Samsung watch that sits on your skin can also be slightly dirty. And because of that it can have a hard time reading your biometrics well enough to record your sleep. It should be wiped with a soft lint free cloth.
Here are the step by step instructions by Samsung for how to get your Samsung watch to work. It’s worth double checking is to make sure you’re setting it up correctly before you sleep:
Samsung Watch Not Ringing
A Samsung watch can be used to make and receive calls and is very handy because you can talk on the phone with people while doing other things with your hands. If the ringtone is set to on but it doesn’t ring you can easily miss an incoming call, which is an issue especially if it’s an important call. So, here’s what to do if your Samsung watch doesn’t ring even though the ringtone is set to on.
Overall, do a soft reset on your Samsung watch. If it still isn’t working then restart your Samsung phone. After that, force stop the Samsung Wearable app, then clear the app cache, and data. Finally, uninstall and reinstall the Samsung Wearable app.
This is provided you’ve checked that the volume is turned up and it’s not on silent mode. There is a volume up and down button on the right hand side of Samsung smartphones.
Press the up volume a few times to make sure it’s turned up enough. And go into Settings and look for notifications and ringtones, and make sure it’s not on silent mode.
Samsung Watch Not Connecting
A Samsung watch connects to a Samsung smartphone over Bluetooth, and is set up via the Samsung wearable app. But, it can also connect to the same mobile network that your Samsung smartphone is connected to by enabling a WiFi hotspot on your Samsung watch. It can also connect to a WiFi network by turning it on in the settings, but when it won’t connect to your smartphone then here’s what you should do.
As a general rule, soft restart your Samsung phone, and your Samsung watch. If it still doesn’t work then clear the app data and cache on the Samsung Wearable app on your phone. After that uninstall then reinstall the Samsung Wearable app. If it still doesn’t work, factory reset your Samsung watch.
If you’re trying to connect your Samsung watch to a WiFi network, and it won’t connect then restart your modem if possible. But, if it’s a public WiFi network then this isn’t possible. If it won’t connect to the data network on your smartphone then contact your sim card provider to make sure the proper settings are enabled for your sim card.
Samsung Watch Not Vibrating
When you get a notification on your Samsung watch it can be set to vibrate. This is very important if you’re waiting to hear back from someone regarding something important. When there’s a problem with your Samsung watch it can cause an issue where it won’t vibrate even though it’s set to. This is what you should do if your Samsung watch does not vibrate.
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on September 6, 2022.
In general, first soft reset your Samsung watch and your Samsung phone. Then force stop the Samsung Wearable app on your Samsung device, and clear the app cache and data. Then, uninstall and install the Samsung Wearable app, and if it’s still not working, factory reset your Samsung watch.
Your Samsung watch or your Samsung smartphone can have a glitch which causes them not to work, and restarting both devices can fix this issue. If you try all of the steps and it still won’t vibrate then take it to a Samsung store, or get in touch with Samsung support on their official website.
Samsung Watch Not Getting Notifications
When a Samsung watch is set up properly with your Samsung smartphone using the Samsung wearables app, it will show any notifications you get on your phone, on your Samsung watch. This makes it more convenient to see what the notification is because you don’t need to get your phone out of your pocket. However, if your Samsung watch is not getting notifications here’s how to troubleshoot this issue.
Overall, begin by soft resetting your Samsung phone and your Samsung smart watch. Then, delete the app cache and data on the Samsung Wearable app on your Samsung phone. Finally, factory reset your Samsung watch if it still wont get notifications.
If you try all of these steps and notifications aren’t going to your Samsung watch then contact Samsung support or take it to your nearest Samsung store. In general, provided your nearest Samsung store isn’t too busy then taking it to a Samsung store is a better option because they can help you test it and find what the issue is in person.
Samsung Watch Not Responding to Touch
The touch screen on a Samsung watch, and the rotating wheel – called the bezel – need to work so that you can use your Samsung watch. The touchscreen can all of sudden stop working or not work out of the box when there’s a problem with it. Here’s what you should do to fix your Samsung watch when it’s not responding to touch.
As a general rule, soft reset your Samsung watch. The rotating outer part of a Samsung watch, called the ‘bezel’ is not enabled by default. If this is not enabled check it’s enabled in the advanced settings on your Samsung watch if possible. Otherwise, do the steps below.
Do a factory reset of your Samsung watch. But note that this does wipe everything on your Samsung watch. So you should only do this if you’ve tried all of the options above.
To do a factory reset turn off your Samsung watch using the power button on the side of your Samsung watch. Then turn it back on again. The next step needs to be done very quickly, and if you don’t get the timing just right you will need to do it again.
After turning it back on, as soon as you see the Samsung logo keep holding down the power button on your Samsung watch. If you did it at the right time it will say ‘rebooting…’.
How To Reset Samsung Watch
An effective method for fixing a wide range of issues with a Samsung watch is to reset it. There are two types of resets: a factory reset, which wipes all the data, and a soft reset that closes all the open apps, shuts down your Samsung watch and starts it up again. Here’s instructions for how to soft reset and a factory reset on a Samsung watch.
In general, a Samsung watch can be reset in the Samsung Wearable app or on the Smart watch itself. To do a soft reset through the Samsung wearable app, open up the ‘general’ option in the Samsung wearable app, then select ‘reset’, and then select ‘reset’ again.
To do it from the Samsung watch hold down the two buttons on the right hand side of your Samsung watch. It will give you an option on the screen that says ‘reset’. Press the reset option using the touchscreen.
Also, when you do this if there’s a pending update to your Samsung watch it will ask you to apply the update. Apply the update using the touch screen. A factory reset is a bit more tricky, and requires very precise timing.
Refer to the video just above this section that is about how to fix a Samsung watch that isn’t charging. At about 2 minutes 10 seconds in it shows instructions for how to do a factory reset.
ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on September 6, 2022.
Overall, start by checking that it has charge but putting on your charging bay, to see that it has some battery. After that, do a soft reset by holding down both buttons on the right hand side and selecting ‘restart’ on the touchscreen. Then do the following steps.