Knowing how to turn off or restart your Wear OS smartwatch are two essential tricks you need to have in your locker.
Whether you want to switch your smartwatch off to save some battery, or you want to restart it in order to get rid of a software issue, doing so is both quick and easy.
And it doesn't matter which Wear watch you have - whether you own a Fossil Sport, Fossil Gen 5, or something else entirely, the methods are all the same.
With this guide, we'll be going through the steps to achieve either. However, don't get these methods confused with a hard reset - that's something you can learn with our guide to restoring factory settings on Wear OS.
How to restart a Wear OS smartwatch
There are two methods you can use to restart your Wear watch, with this resulting in the device quickly turning off before immediately coming back on with all the same settings, apps and watch faces.
1. Press and hold the power button
To perform a restart from the watch using its buttons, hold the power button (typically the watch crown) for three seconds, or until the watch shuts off.
If, however, your Wear watch has no buttons, you can still restart it through the second method, below.
2. Restart through your watch's settings
From the device's home screen, swipe down from the top and tap the 'Settings' cog, then 'System'.
From here, choose the 'Restart' option.
How to turn off a Wear OS smartwatch
While you can't ask the Google Assistant to turn your Wear smartwatch off for you, it is possible to go into the settings of your device and turn it off manually.
1. From the watch's home screen, swipe across to the apps list.
2. Scroll down to the 'Settings' option.
3. Hit 'System'.
4. Turn your watch off by tapping the 'Power off' option.
More Wear OS guides
- Set up and connect Wear OS
- Update Wear OS
- Make and take calls on Wear OS
- Change language on Wear OS
- Get music on Wear OS
- Use voice commands Wear OS
- How to set up Google Pay
- Using Google Maps on Wear OS
- Installing apps on Wear OS
- Get and use Spotify on Wear OS
- How to use Google Fit
- Using WhatsApp on Wear OS
How we test
Conor moved to Wareable Media Group in 2017, initially covering all the latest developments in smartwatches, fitness trackers, and VR. He made a name for himself writing about trying out translation earbuds on a first date and cycling with a wearable airbag, as well as covering the industry’s latest releases.
Following a stint as Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint, Conor returned to Wareable Media Group in 2022 as Editor-at-Large. Conor has become a wearables expert, and helps people get more from their wearable tech, via Wareable's considerable how-to-based guides.
He has also contributed to British GQ, Wired, Metro, The Independent, and The Mirror.