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Can you edit a workout on Apple Watch?

Updated · 4 min read

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Data from Apple Watch stops on its way to Apple Health until the steps below fix it. Biomon reads Apple Health.

Short answer

Apple gives steps to change only a saved workout's effort rating. To fix its time or type, log it again in the Fitness app on iPhone, then delete the old one.

Apple's guides give steps to change only the effort rating of a cardio-focused Apple Watch workout: on the watch when the workout ends, or later in the Fitness app on iPhone. To fix its start time, length or type, log the workout again in Fitness, then delete the wrong one and choose whether its health data goes with it.

See the 3 steps

Change the effort rating

Apple says that after a cardio-focused workout, you can adjust the estimated rating of how hard you exercised.

On Apple Watch, when you end the workout:

  1. Swipe right. Tap End.
  2. Turn the Digital Crown to set your effort. Tap the Done button.
  3. Turn the Digital Crown to scroll through the workout summary. Tap Effort. Change your rating.

On iPhone, after the workout:

  1. Open the Fitness app. Tap Summary then Sessions: your workout and meditation history.

    Step 1

    Where to tap

    1. Summary
    2. Sessions
  2. Tap the workout. Tap Effort.
  3. Drag the slider to change your rating. Tap Update.

Fix the time, length or type

Log the workout again with the right details first. Then delete the wrong one.

  1. Open the Fitness app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap Workout. Tap the Compose button.
  3. Tap Select. Scroll to the workout type that you did. Tap it.
  4. Next to Start, tap the date and time. Set the time that the workout began.
  5. Next to Duration, tap the time. Set how long the workout lasted.
  6. To add an estimate of active calories, tap Active Calories. Choose an option.
  7. To rate your effort, tap Effort. Move the slider to a number. Tap the Done button. Apple says that this needs an Apple Watch. Apple says that you can also add metrics like distance.
  8. When you're finished, tap the Selected button. Fitness adds the workout to the Sessions card of your summary.
  9. Tap Summary then Sessions. Find the wrong workout.

    Step 9

    Where to tap

    1. Summary
    2. Sessions
  10. Swipe left on the wrong workout. Tap the Delete button.
  11. Tap Delete Workout & Data or Delete Workout Only. The table below gives what each one deletes.

What each delete removes

Choice What Apple says it deletes
Delete Workout & Data The wrong workout and its health data
Delete Workout Only The wrong workout

Apple says that Delete Workout Only deletes the workout, and does not say that it deletes the health data. Apple's page does not say whether that data still counts toward your Activity rings.

Apple's page does not list which health data comes with a workout. Apple's developer documentation says that a workout can hold samples, such as heart rate, energy burned, distance and steps.

If you forgot to end the workout

The steps above replace the workout. One member of Apple Community, Apple's support forum, posted another fix in April 2024. The post has no replies. The member says that you can remove the extra Exercise minutes in the Health app. Apple says that the green Exercise ring shows how many minutes of brisk activity you did.

  1. Open the Health app on your iPhone. Tap Browse.
  2. Search for Exercise Minutes. Tap Exercise Minutes.
  3. Scroll to the bottom. Tap Show All Data.
  4. Tap the entry that you want to change. Tap Edit.
  5. Remove the extra minutes. The member says that you can edit only one minute at a time.

The member does not say that this changes the length of the saved workout. To fix the length, use the steps in "Fix the time, length or type".

Apple Watch can remind you to end a workout, in case you get distracted when you're cooling down. Apple says that workout reminders are on by default. To check the reminder, open the Settings app on your Apple Watch. Tap Workout. Find the End Workout reminder setting. You can also open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and tap My Watch then Workout.

If it still doesn't work

  • You don't see Sessions in Summary

    Apple says that you may need to add the Sessions card. In the Fitness app, tap Summary. Scroll down, then tap Edit Summary. Tap the Add button. Scroll to Sessions, then tap it. Swipe through the options, then tap Add Card.

  • You want to delete the workout in Health instead

    Open the Health app. Tap Browse then Activity then Workouts. Below Options, tap Show All Data. Swipe left on the workout, then tap Delete. You can also tap Edit in the upper corner. Tap the Delete button next to the workout, then tap Done. Apple's pages that this guide cites do not say whether this also deletes the workout's health data.

Why this happens

HealthKit is Apple's central store for health and fitness data on iPhone and Apple Watch. A workout in it records a summary, such as the duration, total distance and total energy burned. Apple's developer documentation says that workouts are mostly immutable: their properties are set when the workout is created, and they can't change. Apps can still add samples to a workout. Apple does not say that this is why Fitness has no edit for times or type.

Questions

Can you change the workout type during a workout on Apple Watch?

You can start the right type without ending the workout. Swipe right, tap New, then choose the workout. Apple says that this combines the activities into a single workout. Apple does not say that it changes the type of the part that you already did.

Does a workout that you log again count toward your Activity rings?

Apple's page on logging a workout in Fitness does not say. Apple says that a workout you add by hand in the Health app (Browse > Activity > Workouts, then the Add button) earns Activity credit, which is progress on your Activity rings. Enter the total calories for Move credit, and the start and end time for Exercise credit. One member of Apple Community says that it counts for your rings when you add it within 24 hours of the workout.

Does deleting a workout remove the award that it earned?

One member of Apple Community says that you can remove the workout data but not the award. The Apple pages that this guide cites do not cover awards.

Does deleting a workout on iPhone delete it on your other devices?

It can. Apple says that if your Health data syncs over iCloud, deleting data on one device removes it from all synced devices connected to the same iCloud account.

Why does my Exercise ring still show a deleted workout?

Apple's pages that this guide cites do not say. One member of Apple Community reported in 2022 that the ring still showed a 6-hour workout after the member deleted it in Health, with its Exercise minutes. Another member suggested a force restart of the watch and the iPhone. The member who asked said that a restart did not help.

Sources

  1. 1Log a workout in Fitness on iPhone, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2Start a workout on Apple Watch, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3Combine multiple workouts on Apple Watch, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
  4. 4Change settings in Workout on Apple Watch, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
  5. 5See your activity summary in Fitness on iPhone, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
  6. 6View your data in Health on iPhone, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
  7. 7Manage Health data on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
  8. 8How to manually add a workout in the Health app, Apple Supportsupport.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
  9. 9HealthKit, Apple Developer Documentationdeveloper.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
  10. 10HKWorkout, Apple Developer Documentationdeveloper.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
  11. 11Edit workout minutes on an apple watch workout that I forgot to stop, Apple Communitydiscussions.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
  12. 12How can I edit the end time of a forgotten Apple Fitness workout?, Apple Communitydiscussions.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
  13. 13Exercise ring on watch not correcting even after removing workout, Apple Communitydiscussions.apple.com (opens in a new tab)
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