See and respond to notifications on Apple Watch

Apps can send notifications to keep you informed—meeting invitations, messages, noise alerts, and Activity reminders are just a few examples. Apple Watch can display notifications as they arrive, but if you don’t read one right away, it’s saved so you can check it later.

WARNING: For important information about avoiding distractions that could lead to dangerous situations, see Important safety information for Apple Watch.

Respond to a notification when it arrives

If you hear or feel a notification, raise your wrist to view it.
How the notification looks depends on whether the display is active or idle.
- Active display: A small banner appears at the top of the display.
- Idle display: A full screen notification appears.
Tap the notification to read it.
To clear a notification, swipe down on it. Or scroll to the bottom of the notification, then tap Dismiss.

See notifications you haven’t responded to

If you don’t respond to a notification when it arrives, it’s saved in Notification Center. A red dot at the top of your watch face shows you have unread notifications.

A red dot at the top center of your watch face, showing that you have an unread notification.

From the watch face, swipe down to open Notification Center. From other screens, touch and hold the top of the screen, then swipe down.
Note: You can’t open Notification Center when viewing the Home Screen on Apple Watch. Instead, press the Digital Crown to go to the watch face or open an app, then open Notification Center.
Swipe up or down or turn the Digital Crown to scroll the notifications list.
Tap the notification to read or respond to it.

Tip: Siri can read the notifications in Notification Center to you—either through the Apple Watch speaker or headphones connected through Bluetooth. Just say “Read my notifications.”

To clear a notification from Notification Center without reading it, swipe it to the left, then tap . To clear all notifications, scroll to the top of the screen, then tap Clear All.

If you use group notifications, tap a group to open it, then tap a notification.

Tip: To keep the red dot from appearing on the watch face, go to the Settings app on Apple Watch, tap Notifications, then turn off Notifications Indicator.

Helpful?

Apple Watch User Guide

See and respond to notifications on Apple Watch

Respond to a notification when it arrives

See notifications you haven’t responded to