Unable to update Apple Watch series 3

[Mr_SMT]

watchOS 7 came out today but I’m unable to update my watch because it has no free space.

The thing is, I have no apps installed and going to the storage usage in settings shows that there is almost no space taken by anything on the watch. So I can’t free any space and I can’t update.

 

[LongZheng]

Was a common problem with betas, looks like they didn't fix for GM.

Unfortunately you'll just have to reset the watch and pair again (I would avoid installing any apps during pairing).

 

[Supermallet]

I have this same problem and even unpairing and loading as new does not clear enough space. By manually deleting apps from the watch itself I was able to get it to 3 GB available but the update needed 3.1 and I could not free up enough. Guess we’ll need to wait for 7.1.

 

[MaestroX1]

I uninstalled around 10 or so apps which hardly freed up any space. Then restarted the Watch just because and free space went up from 2.7 GB to 3.3 GB.

Update currently in progress.

 

[hirsthirst]

I uninstalled around 10 or so apps which hardly freed up any space. Then restarted the Watch just because and free space went up from 2.7 GB to 3.3 GB.

Update currently in progress.

That's what I did with at least two beta downloads, basically remove everything & then restart.

 

[Mr_SMT]

I uninstalled around 10 or so apps which hardly freed up any space. Then restarted the Watch just because and free space went up from 2.7 GB to 3.3 GB.

Update currently in progress.

I tried restarting my watch and the free space did indeed go from 1.9 to 2.7 GB but I still can’t update.

 

[Mr_SMT]

That's what I did with at least two beta downloads, basically remove everything & then restart.

I deleted all the apps, is there anything more that you can remove?

 

[slooksterPSV]

Reset the device. I did and restored from backup it it gave me 4.1GB out of 4.7. I was at 2.8 so it looks like logs.

Right now I’m still waiting for it to update. Still says preparing.

 

[Smoothie]

My series 3 has been on “preparing” for 45 minutes with no movement on the progress bar.

 

[slooksterPSV]

My series 3 has been on “preparing” for 45 minutes with no movement on the progress bar.

Same I’m wondering if 4 and 5 take this long too or if it’s just because 3 has 32 and 8GB.

 

[Smoothie]

Ten seconds after I posted the above, the status changed to installing. So the trick seems to be to post to MacRumors.

 

[slooksterPSV]

Ten seconds after I posted the above, the status changed to installing. So the trick seems to be to post to MacRumors.

Lucky I had to do a reset which took 30 min then the update took almost 2 hours to download and now this.

 

[Smoothie]

Here's one trick I've found when doing a watch update that speeds up the download to the watch. I start the update and then turn off Bluetooth. (The Watch app will ask you to turn it back on, but you can just hit cancel.) The update file is then sent to the watch via WiFi which is much faster. My original estimate for the download to the watch was 2 hours, and it took 12 minutes via WiFi.

 

[GIZBUG]

OP: Had same issue with wires series 3.
Had to unpair, repair and install that way. PITA but it worked.
My series 3, had no issues.

 

[freemyheart]

Was unable to clear enough space on my 5GB S3 despite trying helpful solutions that were posted above. In case you're in the same position, here was my solution.

1. Update iPhone to iOS 14.

2. Close all 3 rings, because who knows how long the update will take you. Entire process took me nearly 4 hours. Not worth breaking your streaks, just to update to watchOS 7 on a S3.

3. Force iCloud backup on your iPhone after closing all 3 rings.

4. After forced iCloud backup: Erase all settings.

5. Pair as new watch.

6. Update to watchOS 7 after doing the bare minimum to pair.

7. Erase all settings.

8. Pair, restoring from backup. Select the backup you created after closing all 3 rings.

Biggest piece of advice I can give if you're going to do this with your S3 is to practice patience. For me, the update failed once while verifying (error claimed not connected to internet). 2nd attempt worked, however both "Preparing" and "Verifying" took forever. Patience. Good luck!

P.S. In retrospect, I would've waited for 7.01. (Which will hopefully not require 3.1GB of space to update.) Just not worth the stress of losing my streaks. (12 days short of 1,000 days straight of closing move goal, for one.)

 

[moderato_burrito]

Guys, I think I found the answer: delete some watch faces. Those seem to take up a good deal of space. How many do you need anyway? I got from 2.9GB free up to 3.2GB free with 3 watch faces left.

 

[ChrisH3677]

Everything I read says the Apple Watch 3 without cellular has 8GB capacity. However, when I check on the iPhone app under General > About, it says its capacity is 3.4GB. This means I can't upgrade it to watchOS as it says it needs 3.6GB free to upgrade when I do try.

I can't find anything online that tells me where that missing 4.6GB is. I presume some is OS but all of it?

Did Apple note anywhere that this model can't be upgraded? Did I miss that? Since they are saying the AW3 is compatible with watchOS 7, thus upgradeable - but not all AW3s.

Thanks

 

[antipodean]

I have the exact same problem. I tried deleting all apps and removing all music. Still no luck. I can't get the free storage above 2.9GB, but it seems 3.1GB is needed to run the watchOS 7 upgrade.

I ordered a series 6 yesterday, so I plan to skip the watchOS update on my AW3. I only hope I can restore my watchOS 6 AW3 backup straight to the new AW6 on watchOS 7. Generally I prefer to restore an iCloud backup from equal versions of the OS when doing a device transfer. Seems I can't do that in this instance.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Unfortunately, you will need to wipe the watch and install the OS. After install, put your apps back on. It has been an ongoing problem with the series 3.

 

[mrsmith1]

I’m glad it’s not just me! I was up untill the wee hours trying to sort it out. I had to unpair my iPhone and Apple Watch and then pair up again just to install the new software. It’s left me with very little capacity left. Think I’ll upgrade to a SE.

 

[EmpyreanUK]

I had this problem as well, I found that repeatedly restarting the watch fixed it — after each restart, I'd wait a few minutes, check the 'Usage' screen and see that more space had been liberated.

I'm still stuck, however, as each time I try to update there's an error saying the updated couldn't be verified as I'm not connected to the internet (I am).

 

[ConfusedChris]

The problem is mentioned in the release notes. However, after a clean install of 7, it gave an error message when I tried to restore from backups. All my Watch backups were unusable.

edit: Reported as a bug, btw

 

[liteshow]

Like what BasicGreatGuy said, I also had to wipe my AW3: Settings -> Genmeral -> Reset -> Erase All Contents and Settings. This unpairs the watch. Once you pair it again, you could restore everything back. After restore, I had like 3.9GB available and was able to update to watchos7.

 

[bova80]

well this is all very annoying. like everyone else on AW3 I've cleared all that I can and only got to 2.1GB, glad I ordered a series 6.

 

[Tommo66]

Remove any watch faces you aren't using and restart the watch. Mine went from 1.9GB free to 3.4GB free by doing this. Upgraded fine after that.