What are some common features that we often use in every Apple products?
- Find My iPhone
- iTunes Store
- Photos Syncing (between Mac and iOS device)
- and much more
All of these features are powered by your Apple ID and iCloud. This is why you always have to type in your password before making changes to these settings.
Everything from the App Store to Find My iPhone, you are required to enter your login credentials to proceed further.
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I can’t activate my Apple Watch
It’s become a bit complicated when some users are having trouble using their Apple ID to activate the Apple Watch. This has happened before on the iPhone and iPad as well.
To be more specific, the issue occurred after pairing your watch and iPhone together. A lot of people noticed that the device no longer accept their Apple ID.
So how do we come about solving this problem? After several hours, we were able to find some possible solutions.
Close All Running Apps on iPhone
The first thing you want to do is make sure that the Apple Watch app on your iPhone is cooperating. There is no way to check this, and so I recommend that you just go ahead and force quit it.
To kill an iOS app, double-press on the Home button and then swipe up on the application. When done, tap on the home screen and launch the Watch app again.
Removing iCloud account
This is a bit odd, but we found that this method also works as well.
- From your iPhone, go to Settings > iCloud > Sign out (at the bottom).
- Activate your Apple Watch with the new password.
- Once you’re signed out, log back in using your email address and new credential.
This can actually resolve the problem.
Restart both iPhone & Apple Watch
This is my favorite solution of all time, and it work for most of the problem I’ve encountered with my Apple Watch.
Restart your iPhone first and then your Apple Watch after.
Reset to Factory Settings
Before we begin with this, be sure to backup your Apple Watch.
- Go to Settings > General > Reset (on your watch).
- Choose “Erase All Content and Settings”.
- Enter the passcode of your device to continue.
That will allow you to put your watch back to its default settings.
File a Claim on eBay
If you happen to buy a stolen Apple Watch on eBay and the seller doesn’t respond back or can’t give you the right Apple ID and password, then your best bet is to file a claim and hopefully get your money back.
Again, the activation lock feature is On to ensure that thief doesn’t setup and use someone’s else watch. I hope that at least one of these solutions will help you fix the Apple ID problems when activating your Apple Watch.
Here’s what happen to one of our readers, Steve:
I just purchased a used Apple Watch online (Craiglist). I met up with the guy, and he seems real friendly. I asked him if the watch is in good condition and he said yes. I took it home and find out that it has some kind of activation errors. What should I do?
Thanks,
Let us know in the comment issue if you have a better way to solve the issue.
How to Turn Off iCloud Settings After Selling your Apple Watch
Selling and buying Apple Watch will always be easy for buyer and seller if both parties do it properly, especially the seller. A lot of users have mistakenly left their iCloud account on after selling the watch. As a result, the buyer is now stuck in Activation Lock and not knowing what to do with the Watch.
We just talked about this feature earlier and what customers need to do when the previous owner hasn’t turned off their iCloud account. The first thing you must do is contacting the seller and request them to log out of their iCloud entirely. This will ensure that you as the new owner have full control over your Apple Watch.
For the seller, if you received a request or something similar from the person you sold the Watch to but don’t know how to do it. See the instructions below.
Removing Activation Lock and iCloud
- Go on your computer and open Safari or any browser you want
- Visit the iCloud web page and sign in with your Apple credentials
- Click on Settings > My Devices > Apple Watch > Choose the “X” button > click on Remove
This should remove the entire iCloud account from your Apple Watch.
If you just want to turn off individual Settings such as Find My iPhone, select the device and go to its dedicated page then click on “Remove from Account” option.
It’s crucial not to share your iCloud ID to anyone or any features related to the service as it can always be turned off remotely through a computer.
Forgetting your Apple ID & Password
When you first purchase an iOS device, be it an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, you will be required to enter your Apple ID (email address and password) to setup the device. If you don’t have it, you can create one for free.
One beautiful morning woke up and decided to forget either one credentials. So far, I have seen more people forgetting their Apple password than their ID. But that’s okay because you can always reset them.
How to Reset your Apple Password
- Click here to go to the Manage my Apple account page
- Select “Forgot Apple ID or password?”
- You will be asked to the email address associated with your Apple ID
- Click Continue and choose how you want to recover your Apple ID’s password
If you wish to reset it via an Email, the new password will be sent to the email address on your Apple ID.
What If I Forgot my Apple ID?
Well, you can still reset it, but the process will be a bit harder.
Go back to the Forgot Apple ID page then click on Forgot Apple ID? It will ask for the first name, last name, and email address. If one of the field aka answer is incorrect, it will say:
No Apple ID Found
We can’t find an Apple ID matching the information provided.
So yeah, finding your password is not that hard but if you forgot your Apple’s email address, it would require a bit more thinking to recovery it.
Removing the iCloud account step worked for me. Thank You.
Hello Frank,
Thank you for letting me know.
Which method did you use for it to work?
I already purchased one and now cant find the person to make them remove ther icloud what do i do
Did you find any solution
please let me know if you find a solution.. Im having the same issues…tried to save a few buck but now I think I just lost it all
Hey. I forgot my password of Apple ID. My id is in recovery mode since last one month. I got a confirmation email from Apple on 19th April that I confirmed. But still one month has been passed but I am unable to have an access to my Apple ID. Help needed.
Is something wrong in apple’s server. I am trying to login in appstore with my apple id and password but it’s showing wrong password. But i am using right password. Help me guys
I bought an Apple Watch series 2 a while back and I had it paired with my work phone. I no longer have my work phone. I walked out on my job and they locked the phone. I also had it paired at one point with my own iphone but now that I am trying to pair it back up it says I have a invalid Apple ID. I am logged into Apple ID account on my lap top and under devices it shows my Apple watch and my iphone. I removed my Apple Watch from the list hoping that would work but I didn’t .. I am hoping that somehow my old work phone and the Apple ID attached to it, is not what I need. I have no way of getting that info .. can anyone help?
Try unpairing and resetting both devices. Let me know if that helps.
I unpaired it several time and I don’t know how to reset the Apple Watch I can’t get past the choosing a language and United States, then it askes for my Apple ID which it won’t accept. How can I reset the watch? And if I reset my iPhone do I lose all my content? It’s an older 5s and I don’t want to lose anything. I just had to do the update through iTunes cause it’s older I guess.
Make sure you backup your iPhone before resetting. As for getting past the Apple ID and password, you may have to look into Activation Lock (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205009)
I just bought my Apple Watch off EBay. It is iCloud locked with the previous owners ID and passcode. How can I remove it? I have tried to contact the person but no response.
As far as I know, this problem is quite complicated if you don’t have access to the old Apple ID or you can’t get in touch with the previous owner. Give Apple a call and see if they can do anything about it.
Do you have the phone number or link to Apple?
https://www.apple.com/contact/
Unfortunately Apple will NOT get assist in anyway to connect the new owner and owner of record with apple. Not even to pass on a message. I have recently asked the exact same question to apple and this what I was told. This applies to ALL iOS devices , Apple Watch, iPad, iPod.
I bought an Apple Watch series 2 from someone in OfferUp and was told everything works fine, no issues, once I got home and got it charged, Apple Watch pairs fine but stuck on activation lock with someone else’s iCloud, I have reached the previous owner and no responses for a couple days now. What can I do ?
same What in the world? and why hasn’t apple created something to stop all this. or even a page where people have gotten dupped and the original owner can reach out to each other? How about we try to / or act “as if” to care about their customers?
Thanks so much! I’m glad I found your suggestion to log out of iCloud in my phone, that did the trick!