- Unlock Mac With Apple Watch Not Working Remotely
- Apple Watch Not Opening Macbook
- Unlock Mac With Apple Watch Not Working Tv
- Auto Unlock Mac With Apple Watch Not Working
Auto Unlock Mac using your Apple Watch is a nice feature to avoid entering the password. This feature is available with all Apple Watch but limited to Macs manufactured in 2013 and later. For any reason, if you can’t unlock Mac with Apple Watch, there’s nothing to disappoint. There are certain things to keep in mind to get it to work correctly.
Apart from the pre-requisites, we have also penned down some fixes that may resolve the issue. Before you jump to the fixes, I’ll insist you go through some basic troubleshooting and then move to the advanced part of the post.
Unable to Unlock Mac with Apple Watch? Try below-given fixes
Important Notes:
Apple Watch Auto Unlock Compatibility. In order to use the Apple Watch to auto unlock your Mac, all your hardware and software needs to be compatible. Starting off, you will need a 2013 Mac or newer, the older ones are not compatible for this. Similarly, you need an Apple Watch, but it doesn’t have to be the 2nd generation model, even the 1st. I like to use my Apple Watch to unlock my MacBook Pro 2017 Touch ID laptop. But, if I have a USB Hub connected to the MacBook, then the watch fails to unlock the Mac. On the login screen, I get a spinner and told that the watch is being used to unlock, but this eventually times out.
- Make sure your Mac is of 2013 or later model
- Check whether your Apple Watch and Mac have the same iCloud account
- You’ll need two-factor authentication enabled and setup on both, Mac and Apple Watch
- You’ll need watchOS 3 or later and macOS Sierra or later to use Auto Unlock
- Your Mac and Apple Watch should have Passcode enabled and set up
Now that you have an idea of pre-required things let’s start with fixes if troubleshooting mentioned above hasn’t helped you.
#1. Disable Automatic Login on Mac
Apple mac os x 10 8 mountain lion download. If you have enabled Automatic Login on Mac, you’ll need to disable it. To do so, open System Preferences by clicking the Apple logo, followed by clicking Users & Groups.
Click the lock icon at the bottom-left to make changes, enter the administrator password.
Then click on Login Options.
On the right side of the window, select Off from the dropdown menu beside Automatic Login. Apple os x 10 6 download.
Now check if you can unlock Mac using Apple Watch. If it doesn’t, keep reading.
#2. Boot Up Password required for Apple Watch and Mac
When you restart your Mac or Apple Watch, you need to enter the password before you can use the auto-unlock feature. This is identical to Touch ID on iPhone, which requires you to enter Passcode after you restart your iPhone. It is a security feature and not a bug. If you have restarted your Apple Watch, or Mac, or both, you need to enter the password/Passcode for the first time.
#3. Is your Apple Watch Paired Correctly?
To operate different devices flawlessly in the Apple ecosystem, you need to keep basic things in mind. Same iCloud account and proper pairing. Check whether you have paired your Apple Watch correctly with your iPhone.
Without proper pairing, Auto-Unlock feature won’t work. Still, haven’t fixed the unlocking issue? Keep reading.
Unlock Mac With Apple Watch Not Working Remotely
#4. Check Radios
Auto-Unlock feature requires Wifi and Bluetooth turned on. Check whether you have accidentally turned off the same on Apple Watch and your Mac.
Try unlocking your Mac with Apple Watch. Did it work? Nope, let’s try something else.
#5. Reset Radios on Mac and Apple Watch
Sometimes big problems have one of the tiniest solutions. Try resetting Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on Apple Watch and Mac.
On Apple Watch:
- Swipe up on the watch face to open the control center on Apple Watch
- Tap on Airplane Mode to switch off all radios
- After a minute, tap Airplane Mode again to restart radios.
On your Mac:
- Click Wifi icon → Turn Wi-Fi off
- Click Bluetooth → Turn Bluetooth off
After a minute, Turn both of them back ON and check if you can unlock your Mac using Apple Watch. If not, keep reading.
#6. Disable/Enable Allow Apple Watch to Unlock on your Mac
On your Mac, open System Preferences → Security & Privacy. By default, you’ll be on the General tab. If you are not, click on General tab and then uncheck the box beside Allow Apple Watch to unlock your Mac. Check again in few seconds to turn it back on.
#7. Disable Internet Sharing on Mac
Auto Unlock does not work with Internet Sharing enabled on your Mac. If it is enabled, make sure you disable it by going to System Preferences → Sharing and then, unchecking the box beside Internet Sharing in the left sidebar of the window.
#8. Update OS Your Mac and Apple Watch
Radios on Mac and Apple Watch usually receive updates when Apple find any bug in their connectivity. Check whether watchOS or macOS update is available. If it is, make sure you update it right away and then see if things are working usually.
Update watchOS
Step #1. Open Watch app on your iPhone and then select My Watch tab at the bottom.
Step #2. Now, tap on General → Software Update.
Check out if there is an update waiting for you. Install the update if it’s there.
Update OS on your Mac
Step #1. Open Mac App Store and select Updates tab in the top left corner.
Step #2. If you find macOS software update, click to install it.
After the software update, you will, most likely, be able to overcome the issue.
#9. Restart devices
Restarting things is generally not required with Apple devices, yet it is always better to give a try when nothing seems to be helping. Restart your Apple Watch and Mac and then unlock them the first time with Passcode and password respectively. Now check again if you can open your Mac using Apple Watch. If it doesn’t, keep reading.
#10. Unpair and Re-pair your Apple Watch
I know this is really a tedious thing to do, but this mostly solves the most critical Apple Watch issue. On your iPhone launch the Watch app → My Watch and then tap the [Name]’s Apple Watch.
Next, tap on the Info button on the right and then, touch on Unpair Apple Watch. After it is unpaired, pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone again and check if Auto Unlock is working now. If everything fails to work, the last option is to get in touch with the Apple Support.
That’s all for now!
Wrapping up…
I hope some of the above fixes have helped you resolve your issue of unlocking Mac with Apple Watch. Apart from these fixes, if you have got any other way to get it done, don’t forget to share it.
You may also like to refer:
Do share your feedback with us in the comment section?
Jignesh Padhiyar is the co-founder of iGeeksBlog.com who has a keen eye for news, rumors and all the unusual stuff that happens around Apple products. During his tight schedule, Jignesh finds some moments of respite to share side-splitting contents on social media. Apple corded keyboard.
Apple Watch Not Opening Macbook
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After upgrading to macOS Sierra, users will be able to unlock their Mac using their Apple Watch. The new shiny feature is called Auto Lock. This feature was originally announced during the WWDC keynote. Some people were able to give Auto Lock a test drive using their Apple Watch on watchOS 3 beta 2 and Macbook on macOS Sierra (beta).
The first thing that I noticed was the setting up process. If you’re not familiar with activating Auto Lock on your Mac, you will have a hard time unlocking the computer using your Apple Watch.
Even though Apple has made the process relatively easy, some users still have trouble getting Auto Lock to work on their Mac and Apple Watch. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to troubleshoot that problem.
The first thing we’re going to do is turn on Auto Lock on your Apple Watch. Be sure to follow the instructions below.
How to enable Auto Unlock on Apple Watch
- Make sure your Apple Watch is running watchOS 3 or higher. You can also find available firmware update by going to the Watch app (on your iPhone) > General > Software Update.
- Turn on Passcode for your watch. It’s in the Settings app under the Passcode page.
- On your Mac, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General, and look for Allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac.
- Click on the checkbox right next to it. If prompted, enter your Mac’s password.
To see if Auto Lock is working or not, close your Mac or log out and lift the screen back up.
If you see a message that says, “Unlocking with Apple Watch” and the lock screen turns into a regular Mac screen, then everything is working as expected.
If Auto Lock is Not Working on your Mac
In case Auto Lock doesn’t work on your Apple Watch or macOS computer, here are a few things you need to know to fix that problem.
- Apple Watch needs to run watchOS 3 beta 2 or higher
- Your Mac needs to have macOS Sierra Developer Preview Seed 2 or later
- Enable Two-Factor Authentication or 2FC for your Apple ID (see this)
- Auto Unlock will not work if the Apple Watch is not on your wrist
- If your Mac is awake but on the lock screen, click Cancel to activate Auto Unlock
As long as you satisfy the software requirements and features, then Auto Lock should start working again or for the first time.
If you see the error message that says, “Your Mac was unable to communicate with your Apple Watch,” it means either your Keychain is off (you will need to turn it on), or you should disable and re-enable Handoff from Settings > General.
Is My Mac Compatible with Auto Lock?
We forgot to mention that not all Macs will contain the Auto Lock feature.
To check if your Mac supports Auto Lock on the Apple Watch, do the following:
- Click on the Apple logo in the top left-hand corner of the screen
- Choose About This Mac
- Under the Overview page, click System Report…
- From the sidebar, select Wi-Fi option and look for Auto Unlock
- If your Mac does support this functionality, it should say “Supported” as shown below.
Be sure to let us know what you think and if this article has helped you fix problems with Auto Unlock.
Unlocking your Mac with an Android Phone
A lot of people sent me this:
I love Auto Lock, but I don’t have an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock the device securely.
Well, here is an interesting application I recently discovered on Product Hunt.
DroidID is an Android application that allows you to unlock your Mac computer “with your device’s fingerprint sensor.”
Why is this important?
It depends on the person, really. If you own a Macbook or iMac you obviously also own an iPhone or Apple Watch.
This is nothing new!
Unlock Mac With Apple Watch Not Working Tv
I also happen to know a few people who owns a Mac yet an Android phone at the same time. One thing they complain a lot about was the ability to unlock their Mac with their Android device. I hope they can shut up now.
DroidID unlocks your Mac when:
- Your Mac is sleeping
- Screensaver is running
- Resume the power via a click or mouse movement
By default, the app will not unlock your Mac on the first boot-up. If you want to change that, just add DroidID to one of the Login items (Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups)
How to Use DroidID on Android and Mac
Unlike the Auto Lock feature, DroidID isn’t a built-in feature. This means you will have to connect both apps from your Mac and Android phone.
Auto Unlock Mac With Apple Watch Not Working
- Click here to download the Mac client app
- On your Android phone, click here or go to the Play Store and install DroidID
- Go through the on-screen setup process
A few more things to keep in mind:
- For Android: the device has to be running Marshmallow (or above) / Lollipop (or above)
- For Mac: running El Capitan or above
So far, I think DroidID is the easiest and safest way to unlock your Mac using your Android phone’s fingerprint sensor.
You can skip the process of entering your password each time, especially if it’s long and complicated.
P.S: Support for Windows is coming soon.