How To Fix Apple Watch 4 Not Charging Or Slowly Charging

Ideally, when you’ve been using your Apple Watch you will also receive a low battery warning.Of course, the next thing to do is to charge it right. But when you’ve attached it to its magnetic charging cable, you noticed that it is slowly charging and for some it is not charging at all. You might think that it’s normal for a brand-new watch for the first charging, but then after a few minutes the status is still the same, slowly charging or not charging at all. The first impression would be to think that the battery may be broken. Without knowing for sure, you can take a few steps to help fix problem with your Apple watch 4 not charging.

Before you take the steps on how to fix it, you first have to know if your Apple watch is indeed nor charging or not. Once you’ve attached your Apple Watch series 4 to its magnetic charging cable, it’s pretty easy to check if it charging or if the electric circuit is going through. You will see a green bolt that looks like a lighting on the screen of your watch, but if the device battery is already drained or completely run out of battery, you will see a red lightning bolt instead. Everything is working just fine as long as either of the icons are shown on the display.

You can also swipe up from the bottom of your Apple watch face to see if the battery has leveled up or not. But if after a few minutes of charging and those icons are not appearing, then something may not be properly functioning hence your Apple Watch Series 4 may slowly charge or not charging at all.

Basically, the charging process involves four components. These components should work together to be able to charge your Apple Watch. If any one of these components is not functioning or stops working, technically your Apple Watch will not charge.

Four components of Apple Watch Charging process:

  1. Software
  2. Magnetic Charging cable
  3. Back of the Apple watch where the sensors are located, it connects to the magnetic charging cable.
  4. Charging port power source i.e. Wall Charger or computer

Important checks before Fixing  not charging or slowly charging on your Apple watch:

  1. REMOVE PROTECTIVE PLASTIC WRAP

For recently purchased Apple Watch, make sure that you’ve removed the protective plastic wrap that goes with it when you bought it. It is located at the sides of the charger. There are instances wherein the plastic wrap if not removed often interferes with the connection between the watch and the magnetic charging cable.

  1. USE THE PRESCRIBED CHARGER

To avoid problems with charging of your device, make to use the prescribed charging cable and adapter. For this case, make sure you only use the Apple Magnetic Charging cable and USB power adapter that comes along with your Apple Watch Series 4.

There are a lot of chargers available in the market nowadays, they are not only cheap but of low quality. These are not approved by Apple chargers, or not MFI certified. This means that the cables are not part of the licensing program of Apple. Most of the time, not MFI certified cables does pose a potential risk such as it easily heats up the Apple watch and can damage the device if prolonged use.

If your magnetic charger is damaged, make sure to buy an MFI certified charger to avoid problems with your device in the future. Also, when you’ve signed up for AppleCare+, you can have the magnetic charging cable replaced by bringing it to your local Apple Store and they sometimes replaced it for free.

Aside from using the prescribed charger, make sure to try different charging cables. You can borrow from a friend if you do not have an extra charger. If you Apple watch charges with only one charging cable and not the other one, then the problem is probably caused by the charging cable and not on your Apple Watch.

  1. TRY DIFFERENT WAYS TO CHARGE

Make sure that all cables are correctly and securely plugged into both the electrical source and between the USB cable and adapter. There are 3 different ways to charge your Apple Watch: on your personal computer, wall charge and car charger. Try to charge your Apple watch via the different ways to charge to know whether or not the problem is with your charging cable or the Apple watch itself.

Try to charge your Apple watch using the USB port of your personal computer and check if it is charging. If not, try to charge it using your wall charger. We are used to charging our devices using the wall charger most of the time as it can be convenient for us. If when plugged into a power source and Apple Watch charging is in progress, the problem is most likely caused by the charger that may not be functioning and not your Apple Watch.

But if your Apple watch isn’t charging even if you’re tried all the different ways to charge, move on to the next solution below.

  1. CHECK MAGNETIC CHARGING CABLE

Make sure to check if the back of the Apple Watch and magnetic charger are clean, if not wipe it with a microfiber cloth to remove dirt. Presence of debris and dirt on your magnetic charging cable as well as on your Apple watch prevents them both from creating a good charging connection.

Also, check the USB end of the charging cable for any dirt that may have stuck inside. If upon checking that there is, you may use a brand-new toothbrush with soft bristles or an anti-static brush to wipe dirt out. If you happen to see some discolorations or dingy with the charging cable, it’s probably time to replace them as it may be the cause of problems with charging of your Apple watch.

FIX APPLE WATCH 4 SLOWLY OR NOT CHARGING

After all the above checks have been carried out and yet Apple watch charging problem still exists, let us now proceed with the troubleshooting of your device.

SOLUTION 1:  RESTART APPLE WATCH

This should be the first solution to try which is basically just turning off and turning back on again your Apple watch. This solution is pretty helpful in cases such as when an app or your device is not responding but in this case, Apple watch is not charging. Before you restart your device, make sure that you disconnect it first from the magnetic charging cable. You will not be able to restart an Apple watch if it is charging or connected to a charging cable.

HOW TO RESTART:

  1. Press and hold the Side button of your Apple watch
  2. Wait until “Power Off” slider appears on the screen
  3. Drag the “Power Off” command from the left to right, Apple watch turns OFF.
  4. After about 1-2 minutes, press and hold Side Button again to turn if ON. wait until Apple Logo appears.

SOLUTION 2: UPDATE TO THE LATEST SOFTWARE

Just like with any Apple devices, Apple watch also has its own software that needs to be updated from time to time. Whenever there is an available update for your Apple Watch, it is recommended to update it. New updates tend to fix bugs that may have caused problems with your devices.

You can update your Apple Watch to the latest software in 2 different ways: Using your Apple watch and Using your iPhone.

Update using your iPhone:

We are all aware that Apple Watch are linked to your iPhone device, so is their updates too. Before you update your Apple watch, you have to make sure that your iPhone is also updated.

To update your iPhone:

  1. Go to Settings from the home screen of your iPhone
  2. Tap on General
  3. Then tap on Software update. Apple servers will not check for available updates. Tap on Download and Install if there is an available update. If not, it means your software is up to date.

Update Apple Watch Software using your iPhone:

  1. Open Watch App on your iPhone
  2. Tap on General
  3. Then tap on Software Update, Apple will now check for available updates.
  4. If there is an available update, tap on Install.

To install an update, make sure that your Apple Watch is connected to its charger and within range from your iPhone that is connected to a Wi-Fi connection.

Update installation will start when Apple Watch is charged or the battery level is at 50%. Never remove the Apple Watch from its charging cable whenever the update has started until the update completes.

  1. Enter Passcode when prompt to confirm action.
  2. Installation process will now begin.

Update Software using Apple Watch:

  1. Press the Digital Crown of your Apple watch series 4. It is located at the right side of your watch. Pressing it open the Apps screen.
  2. Locate and tap on Settings
  3. Tap on General
  4. Next, tap on Software Update. It will now check for available updates,
  5. When there is an available software, scroll down on your Apple watch screen and tap on Install.

Again, make sure that Apple Watch is connected to its magnetic charger and within range from your iPhone that is connected to a Wi-Fi or cellular connection.

When the battery of your Apple watch is at least 50%, update installation will start. Do not remove Apple watch from the magnetic charger during the installation process.

  1. Apple server will now verify the available update
  2. Installation process will now commenced
  3. Try to charge again to check if problem is resolved

SOLUTION 3: FORCE RESTART APPLE WATCH

If the simple turning off and turning on your Apple watch still did not help fix charging issues with your Apple watch, you may now do a Force restart on your device. These does not only refresh your Apple watch but also a test to check whether there is a software related problem existing.

How to force restart:

  1. Simultaneously press and hold Digital crown and side button on your Apple watch.
  2. When Apple Logo appears on the screen, release the buttons.
  3. Wait for Apple Watch to finish rebooting and restarting.

SOLUTION 4: HARD RESET APPLE WATCH

As mentioned, since the software is one of the components of the charging process of your Apple watch and restarting as well as force restarting your Apple watch did not fix the problem, it is likely possible that it is not charging probably because of an issue with its software.

In order to fix software issues, you may need to do a hard reset your Apple watch to factory settings. It basically means erasing all its contents and settings. Contents such as photos, music and downloaded apps restoring its settings to default as well.

How to hard reset:

  1. Tap on the Digital crown of your Apple watch to reveal apps
  2. Then tap on Settings
  3. Tap on General
  4. Next, scroll down from the list of options and tap on Reset
  5. Tap on Erase All Contents and Settings
  6. Restart Apple Watch
  7. Try to charge again to check if problem is resolved
  8. Prompt message appears: All Media, Data and settings will be erased, but erasing will not remove activation lock. Etc. Are you sure you want to continue.
  9. Tap on Erase All to continue, or tap on Cancel
  10. Enter Apple Watch passcode to confirm action
  11. Apple watch will now reset.

Note: Erasing does not remove the activation lock. Activation lock is used to prevent unauthorized usage of your Apple watch whenever it is stolen or lost. In order to remove activation lock, Apple watch must be unpaired from iPhone first.

When reset completes, Apple watch will now restart. And you need to pair it with your iPhone.

If all else fails, and still the problem is not fixed. Then perhaps the problem is with its battery especially those Apple watch you’ve been using for quite some time. Battery problem is not common for newly purchased Apple Watch, although there are a few reports about it. In order to fix this, you can have your battery replaced. Go to your nearest Apple Store and have it replaced for a fee of course.


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