How to clear the cache on your Samsung Galaxy watch

If you find that your Samsung Galaxy Watch runs too slow, is laggy, or you can’t install or update apps due to memory issues, clearing your watch’s cache might just do the trick!

The cache on your watch contains temporary files from apps and your operating system that are non-essential to the watch’s function. So deleting them often helps your watch perform at its best by removing old cache files that your watch no longer needs (and might just be causing problems.)

Although Samsung offers ways to clear your watch’s cache, it’s not a featured function. Since you have to dig a little to find the option to clear your watch’s cache, this article shows you how step-by-step.

So let’s get to it!

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Clear your Samsung Galaxy Wear OS 3 watch’s cache

You clear your Wear OS Galaxy Watch (4 and above) slightly differently than the earlier models that run Samsung’s Tizen operating system (like the Galaxy 3 watch or Active 2.)

On a Wear OS Samsung Galaxy Watch, you clear the cache using a built-in function on the watch itself in the watch’s Reboot Mode menu. Here’s how:

1. Press and hold both the Power/Home and Back buttons on the watch, until you see the Rebooting message on your watch’s screen.
2. Release both buttons, then rapidly press just the Power/Home button multiple times until you see the Reboot Mode menu on your watch.
3. Swipe or use the Power/Home button to move down the list of options to highlight Recovery. Then, press and hold the Power/Home button until the screen goes black.
4. In a few moments, another menu appears. Use the Back button to highlight Wipe cache partition, then press and hold the Power/Home button to select it.
5. On the confirmation, use the Back button and select Yes to wipe the cache.
6. Your watch runs through the cache and clears it, showing you on-screen what it’s doing.
7. Once the cache clears, choose Reboot system now to restart your watch.

Clear your Samsung Galaxy watch’s cache for Tizen models

For Samsung watches that run Tizen, such as the Active 2 or Galaxy 3 watch, you can clear your watch’s cache using the Galaxy Wearable app on your paired phone.

1. Open the Galaxy Wearable app on your phone.
2. Scroll down and choose Watch settings.
   1. For some models, you skip this step.
3. Scroll down and tap About watch.
4. Tap Memory.
5. Choose the Clean now button, if available.
   1. The Wearable app stops all background apps on your watch and frees up memory.

If you instead see a button labeled Cleaned, you either already cleared your watch’s cache or your watch has plenty of memory available and does not allow you to clear it.

In that case, try rebooting your watch and see if that helps with any issues your watch may be experiencing. 

To reboot, press and hold the watch’s Power/Home until you see the message on its screen that your watch is rebooting.

You can also reboot by holding down both the Power/Home button and the Back button.

Clear the Galaxy Wearable app cache

If the Wearable app isn’t updating with the latest information from your watch or other issues, try clearing out the Wearable app’s cache on your phone.

1. Open the Settings app on your phone.
2. Choose Apps.
3. Select the Galaxy Wearable app.
4. Choose Storage & cache.
5. Tap the Clear cache button.
6. Open the Wearable app and see if it connects and updates with your watch.

If your health and activity data isn’t updating, repeat these steps and clear the cache for the Samsung Health app, Google Fit, or any other health/activity app you use regularly with your watch.

Final thoughts

Hopefully, you can now clear your Samsung watch’s cache. It’s not something you should need to do often, but if you notice performance problems, clearing the cache often helps.