Sync fix
Why is my Apple Watch workout not showing on iPhone?
Updated · 5 min read
- Steps
- Cardio
- Heart
- Sleep
Short answer
Your Apple Watch and iPhone may not be syncing. Find where the workout is missing, check the connection and Fitness Tracking, then restart both devices.
If your Apple Watch workout is not on your iPhone, the two devices may not have synced, and Apple's setup page says to keep them close together so that they can continue syncing in the background. Check first where the workout is missing, then check that the watch is connected and that Fitness Tracking is on, and restart both devices.
Find where the workout is missing
| Where | How to see your workouts |
|---|---|
| Apple Watch | Open the Activity app. Scroll to the bottom of the screen. |
| Fitness app on iPhone | Open the Fitness app. Tap Summary. Tap the Sessions area, which shows your workout and meditation history. |
| Health app on iPhone | Open the Health app. Tap Browse then Activity then Workouts. |
If the workout is on your watch but in neither app on your iPhone, or in Fitness but not in Health, follow the steps below. If it is in Health but not in Fitness, came from another app or was never started on your watch, see "If it still doesn't work".
Steps
After each step, look for the workout again in Health.
- On your Apple Watch, press the side button to open Control Center. Make sure that Airplane Mode is off. Then look at the iPhone icon. A red iPhone icon or a red X means that the watch and iPhone are not connected. If the iPhone icon is green, they are connected: go to step 4.
- Bring your Apple Watch and iPhone close together, so that they are in range.
- On your iPhone, swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen to open Control Center. Make sure that Airplane Mode is off, and that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are on.
- Open the Health app on your iPhone. Tap the Profile button in the upper corner. Tap Devices. Tap your Apple Watch. Tap Privacy Settings. Turn on Fitness Tracking: the setting that Apple says to turn on when Health doesn't track steps or other information.
- Restart your Apple Watch. Then restart your iPhone.
If the iPhone icon is still red or the red X still shows, go to "If your watch still can't connect". If the iPhone icon is green and the workout is still missing, go to "If it still doesn't work".
If your watch still can't connect
Read this before you unpair your watch. Unpairing erases your Apple Watch and restores it to factory settings. Apple says that the watch is backed up to your iPhone when you unpair it, Health and Fitness data included. To back up Health and Fitness data, you need iCloud or an encrypted backup on your computer. One member of the Apple Support Community reported in a 2020 thread that workouts that had not synced to the phone were no longer on the watch and seem to be lost.
- Keep your Apple Watch and iPhone close together.
- On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app. Go to the My Watch tab. Open the list of your watches.
- Tap the info button next to your watch. Tap Unpair Apple Watch. Tap the button that reads Unpair and the name of your watch.
- Type your Apple Account password. Tap Unpair.
- Pair your Apple Watch and iPhone again. When you pair the watch with the same iPhone, choose Restore from Backup, then select a stored backup on your iPhone.
If it still doesn't work
Your watch is connected, and the workout is on your watch but in neither app, or in Fitness but not in Health. Keep your Apple Watch and iPhone close together, as in step 2 of Steps. The Apple pages that this guide cites give no other fix for this case. Apple's steps to unpair are for a watch that still can't connect, so they do not cover this case.
The workout is in Health, or the rings update, but it is not in Fitness. The red Move ring shows your active calories, and the green Exercise ring shows your minutes of brisk activity. Restart both devices, as in step 5 of Steps. A reply in the January 2023 thread below suggests this first. The Apple pages that this guide cites give no fix for this case.
In a January 2023 thread, one member reported that the calories, the rings and Health all updated, but the workouts did not show in the iPhone app that the member called the activity app. A member in that thread said that a restart did not help, and the thread is closed. In a thread from 2020, one member said that unpairing the watch, then erasing the iPhone and restoring it from the cloud, fixed it. The report of lost workouts in "If your watch still can't connect" comes from the same thread. Another member in that 2020 thread said that unpairing and restarting the devices did not help.
A workout from another app is missing. In the Health app, tap the Profile button in the upper corner. Under Privacy, tap Apps. If you don't see the app there, it might not be compatible with Health. Tap the app. Turn on the health categories that you want it to track. You might need to open the app and adjust its settings to allow it to share data with Health.
You forgot to start the workout on your watch. Add it by hand. In the Health app, tap Browse then Activity then Workouts. Tap the Add button in the upper corner. Enter the total calories burned to earn Move credit. Enter the start and end times to earn Exercise credit. Tap Done.
Why this happens
After you pair your iPhone with your Apple Watch, the watch sends periodic heart rate measurements to Health automatically. You can set up the watch to send exercise minutes and other activity metrics to Health, where they show in the Activity category. The Apple pages that this guide cites name no single cause for a missing workout, so the steps above check the connection and the Fitness Tracking setting.
Questions
Will I lose my workouts if I unpair my Apple Watch?
You might. Apple says that the watch is backed up to your iPhone when you unpair it, but one member of the Apple Support Community reported that workouts that had not synced to the phone were no longer on the watch and seem to be lost.
Do workouts from other apps count toward my Activity rings?
Yes, from compatible apps. Apple says that workouts you complete in compatible third-party apps add to the progress of your Activity rings. The Activity app on Apple Watch also lists workouts from compatible third-party apps.
Sources
- 1If your Apple Watch isn't connected or paired with your iPhone, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
- 2Manage Health data on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
- 3See your activity summary in Fitness on iPhone, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
- 4Track daily activity with Apple Watch, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
- 5How to manually add a workout in the Health app, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
- 6Intro to Health data on iPhone, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
- 7Set up your Apple Watch, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
- 8Back up your Apple Watch, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
- 9Unpair and erase your Apple Watch, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
- 10Restore Apple Watch from a backup, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
- 11Apple Watch Workouts not showing on Activity App, Apple Support Communitydiscussions.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
- 12Workouts Not Showing up in Fitness app on iPhone, Apple Support Communitydiscussions.apple.com (opens in a new tab)