How to unsync and Remove Photos from Apple Watch | How to Delete Photos from Apple Watch in 2024
Running out of storage space on your Apple Watch? Learn how to unsync and remove photos from Apple Watch to free up some space.
Apple Watch is easily one of the best smart wearables you can buy especially if you are already invested in the Apple ecosystem. For the price, the Apple Watch offers excellent specs including a large storage capacity.
Even with the storage being 32 GB for new Apple Watches, you can still run out of it pretty easily, thanks to photos, music, podcasts, and more. If you want to free up some storage then you can remove photos, music, and apps to free up space.
To quickly unsync and remove Photos on your Apple Watch, do this, Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone ->, Tap on My Watch ->, Tap on Photos ->, Toggle on Stop Syncing.
This article will explain in detail how to unsync and remove photos from Apple Watch along with other related tips on freeing up space on Apple Watch.
Related: How to Unpair and Reset Apple Watch
How to unsync and Remove Photos from Apple Watch
How to Check the Storage of Apple Watch?
First, let’s see how to check the storage of your Apple Watch. This will give you an idea of what is taking up space and how much free space is available. Depending on this you can unsync or remove photos from your Apple Watch if it is running low on space.
You can use both your iPhone and Apple Watch to check your Apple Watch's storage. Follow the below steps on the respective devices to check your Apple Watch’s storage space,
On iPhone
Step 1 Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2 Now, open the My Watch section in the app and then go to the General.
Step 3 Tap on the About section at the top of the screen.
Here you can find the total capacity and available storage of your Apple Watch.
On Apple Watch
Step 1 Go to Settings on your Apple Watch.
Step 2 Now, find the General section and tap on it.
Step 3 Now, go to the Usage section.
Here you will find details like available storage, used storage, and details about how much storage is taken up by music, photos, podcasts, and more.
After checking, if your Apple Watch is low on storage and a big reason for it is photos on your Apple Watch then move to the next section where I will explain how to unsync and remove photos from Apple Watch.
How to Unsync and Remove Photos from Apple Watch
So, now we know that photos on your Apple Watch are the culprit for low storage, we can free up some space by stopping syncing and removing them from your Apple Watch. If you are wondering how to unsync and remove photos from Apple Watch, don't worry, as you can follow the steps below.
One thing to remember is that Apple Watch only syncs photos from the iPhone and the only way to remove these photos is to unsync them and then limit the number of photos that can auto-sync. To do this follow the below steps,
Step 1 Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2 Now, go to the My Watch section in the app.
Step 3 Tap on Photos.
Step 4 Now, you need to select the album that you want to use from the Sync Album section. This can be any album from your iPhone, for example, wallpapers, pets, favorites, etc.
Step 5 Once you have selected an album, you will have to set a limit to the number of photos that you want to sync with your Apple Watch. You can set the limit for any number of photos, so let’s say you set the limit to 30.
Once you have set the limit, your Apple Watch will resync according to the new settings. Your Apple Watch will only retain the first 30 images of the album and will stop syncing and remove all the other photos.
Also note that the minimum number of photos that you can sync is 25, meaning you will have to set the limit above 25. The maximum number of photos you can sync to your Apple Watch is 500. So, if you haven't set any limits, your Apple Watch will sync up to 500 photos from your iPhone.
How to Remove Photos from Apple Watch Face
Apple Watch has a feature that allows users to use photos on Watch Faces. If you are someone who has done this and wants to revert then you can remove it.
To remove photos from Watch Face, follow these steps,
Step 1 Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2 Now, go to the My Faces section and then tap on Edit.
Step 3 Tap on the Minus icon and then select and remove the photos from Watch Faces.
Now, you won't see the photos on the watch face anymore.
How to Stop photo syncing on Apple Watch
You can stop syncing photos from your iPhone to your iPhone. Follow these steps to stop photo syncing on Apple Watch,
Step 1 Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2 Tap on My Watch.
Step 3 Now, tap on Photos.
Step 4 Now, toggle off Photo Syncing. ,
How to Show featured photos and Memories on Apple Watch
Apple Watch can automatically sync featured photos and Memories from your iPhone’s photo library. Follow these steps to turn on the feature,
Step 1 Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2 Now, tap on My Watch.
Step 3 Tap on Photos. ,
Step 4 Turn on Sync Memories and Sync Feaatrued Photos.
How to Limit photo storage on Apple Watch
You can limit the number of photos stored on your Apple Watch. This means less of your storage will be filled. And you can use the free space for other content like songs, contacts, etc. Follow these steps to limit photo storage on your Apple Watch,
Step 1 Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2 Tap on My Watch.
Step 3 Now, tap on Photos and then select Photos Limit to set a limit.
If you want to check the number of photos on your Apple Watch, then do this,
Step 1 Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch.
Step 2 Tap on General. ,
Step 3 Then select About. You will see the number of photos on your Apple Watch.
Step 4 You can also go to General ->, Storage to see space taken by photos on Apple Watch. ,
Alternatively, you can do this,
Step 1 Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2 Select My Watch.
Step 3 Tap on General and then select About to see the number of photos on your Apple Watch. ,
Step 4 You can also go to General ->, Storage to see space taken by photos on Apple Watch. ,
Why aren’t my Photos syncing from my iPhone to my Apple Watch
If your photos are not syncing from your iPhone to your Apple Watch then you can just unpair and pair your Apple Watch again to your iPhone. This should eliminate any glitches and sync the photos again without any issues.
How to Free Space on Apple Watch
In case you unsynced and removed photos from your Apple Watch but are still low on storage space then there are other ways to free space. You can delete music, apps, podcasts, and more to free up space on your Apple Watch.
Read on to know more about how to free space on your Apple Watch.
How to Remove Apps from Apple Watch
Step 1 Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2 Go to the My Watch section and then scroll down to the Installed on Apple Watch section. Tap on it.
Step 3 Open the apps which are installed on your Watch and then toggle off Show App on Apple Watch.
Using this you can remove any 3rd party apps from your Apple Watch.
How to Remove Music from Apple Watch
Step 1 Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2 Go to the My Watch section and tap on Music.
Step 3 Toggle off Recent Music to stop syncing.
Step 4 Now, tap on Edit and then tap the Delete icon next to each album to delete it from your Apple Watch.
How to Remove Audiobooks from Apple Watch
Step 1 Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2 Go to the My Watch section and tap on Audiobooks.
Step 3 You can find the Reading Now and Want to Read options toggled green, this means the Audiobooks are automatically getting saved on your Apple Watch, so switch off the toggle to stop the same.
Step 4 To delete existing Audiobooks, swipe left on the title of an Audiobook and tap on the delete icon.
How to Remove Podcasts from Apple Watch
Step 1 Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2 Go to the My Watch section and tap on Podcasts.
Step 3 Disable the toggles next to Up Next and Custom options. Disabling these will stop the automatic downloading of your top 10 podcasts and episodes of selected podcasts.
Step 4 To delete stored podcasts, find the podcast and toggle them in gray to remove them.
There are no Photos on my Apple Watch but it says otherwise - What to do?
Sometimes your Apple Watch might say that you have photos on the device even though you have unsynced and removed them. This may be caused by a bug or a glitch, which is rare, but regardless you can easily fix this issue by unpairing and pairing it again. To do this, follow the below steps,
Step 1 Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
Step 2 Now, go to the All Watch section located at the top of the app.
Step 3 Find the Apple Watch you want to unpair and then tap on the info icon.
Step 4 Now tap on the Unpair Apple Watch option and wait for the process to complete.
Step 5 Pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone again.
This should have fixed any glitches or issues on your Apple Watch. You will now find only the synced images.
How to Take screenshots on Apple Watch
Step 1 Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch. Go to General, then Screenshots, and then toggle on Enable Screenshots.
Step 2 Press the Digital Crown and the side button at the same time to take a screenshot of the Apple Watch.
Screenshots taken on Apple Watch will be saved in Photos on your iPhone.
How to Delete Photos from Apple Watch - Conclusion
So there you have it. You now know how to unsync and remove photos from Apple Watch. This will help you clear clutter along with helping you to free space on your Watch.
I have also explained how to remove music, podcasts, apps, and more which will let you free more space.
You also know how to fix issues when it comes to syncing photos and removing photos from watch faces.
All this allows you to have greater control over your Apple Watch and its storage. Hope you found this guide on how to unsync and remove photos from Apple Watch helpful.
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