iPhone Fitness or Health app not showing Apple Watch workouts? Steps to fix it

Best Fitness Gears for iPhone users

Whenever you complete a workout from your Apple Watch, the data from your exercise automatically syncs to your iPhone Fitness and Heath app. But for some users, their paired iPhone is not showing Apple Watch workouts. 

This glitch has also affected some users’ total standing hour count and even some third-party apps that utilize the HR feature on Apple Watch, like AutoSleep. 

So if your iPhone Fitness or Health app is not showing Apple Watch workouts, follow these steps to fix the issue.

Suggested reading: 

Step 1: Check Motion & Fitness settings

Apple Watch motion and fitness tracking privacy settings

The first thing you need to check on is your iPhone’s and Apple Watch’s Motion & Fitness settings. If this setting got turned off, that could be the reason why you are experiencing this issue.

  1. On your iPhone, open the Settings app and select Privacy.
  2. Scroll down and click on Motion & Fitness. Motion and Fitness Privacy settings on iPhone
  3. In this tab, make sure Fitness Tracking and Health are turned on. motion & fitness tracking iPhone
  4. Also, make sure you turn on any other third-party health apps you use.

Once you do that, let’s check if these settings are on for your Apple Watch

  • Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. Make sure you are in the My Watch tab. 
  • Scroll down to and select Privacy. apple watch motion & fitness
  • Check to see if Fitness Tracking is on, if not toggle the switch. 

Step 2: Close Apple Watch apps Apple Watch close an app

If your settings are correct, then next you should close the Apple Watch apps that are experiencing the glitch.

When you exit an app on your Apple Watch (or any other Apple device) it still runs in the background, never leaving it fully closed.

But to fully close an app on your Apple Watch, follow these steps

  1. Press the watch’s side button.
  2. This should bring up all the apps currently running. 
  3. Find which app you want to close, like the Fitness app in this example, and slide the tab to the left to bring up a red X. apple watch force close activity app
  4. Tap on the red X and that should do it! 

Step 3: Reset Apple Watch’s sync data

apple watch reset sync data

So you checked your settings and closed your Apple Watch apps, but things still don’t seem to be working right. The next step you should take is to reset your Apple Watch’s sync data. 

  • To do this, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, and make sure you are in the My Watch tab.
  • Select General and scroll down to Reset.
  • Tap it, and at the bottom, you should see Reset Sync Data

This temporarily erases all your contacts and calendar data from your Apple Watch. Once you re-sync your device to your iPhone, it should all come back.

Step 4: Restart devices 

After following the previous steps, you should restart both your Apple Watch and iPhone.

Whenever you experience any glitch on any of your devices, your best bet is to restart your device. Most of the time, a restart typically resolves the matter. 

Restart Apple Watchhow to restart the apple watch (not forced restart)

To restart your Apple Watch hold down the side button and slide the power off button.

When restarting your Apple Watch, you should turn your device off for a minute or two and then turn it back on.

If that doesn’t work, you should try force restarting your Apple Watch. 

Hard restart your Apple Watch (forced restart)

force restart an apple watch

If a restart didn’t work, try to force your Apple Watch to restart–called a hard restart. 

Press and hold both the side button and the Digital Crown simultaneously and maintain this hold until the Apple Logo appears on your watch’s screen.

This process usually takes about 15 seconds but could be as long as 20 seconds (and maybe even more.)

Restart iPhone iPhone and iPad slide to power off for a restart

You should also try restarting your iPhone as well. To restart your iPhone, press and hold one of the volume buttons and the side power button until the power off slider appears.

When restarting your iPhone, you should turn your device off for a minute or two and turn it back on.

Step 5: Unpair and re-pair Apple Watch

unpair apple watch iPhone

If you’re still having issues, you should try unpairing your Apple Watch from your iPhone and pair it again.

  1. To unpair your Apple Watch, go to the Watch app and select All Watches.
  2. Tap on the “i” information icon next to your watch. apple watch info button "i" icon
  3. Then you click on Unpair Apple Watch.apple watch unpair from iPhone

After that, you’ll want to pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone again.

Things to keep in mind 

This glitch tends to be rather common. I know I’ve had a similar issue when it comes to this party apps, specifically with AutoSleep. 

While there is no way to prevent the glitch from happening in the first place, these troubleshooting tips do help mitigate the issue. 

Keep in mind that you won’t be able to bring back any of the lost data. Instead, the focus is to prevent the glitch from happening again in the future.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.