How to Fix Your Apple Watch Compass

Understanding How the Apple Watch Compass Works

It’s important to understand how the Apple Watch’s compass works. The Apple Watch’s internal compass uses magnetic sensors, combined with other sources such as GPS data and cellular tower data, to help determine the direction. When it is paired with your iPhone, it can use your iPhone’s data. These also help provide navigation features when using Apple Maps.

Steps to Calibrate the Apple Watch Compass

To calibrate your Apple Watch’s compass, try wearing your Apple Watch with the Compass app open and waving it in a wide figure 8 a few times. This process will often calibrate the compass.

You can also try resetting the location and privacy settings on your iPhone. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset and click on Reset Location & Privacy.

Troubleshooting: Compass Not Pointing in the Right Direction

Various things can cause compass interference. In that case, to fix the wrong direction on your Apple Watch compass, you would need to remove the interference. We will talk more about what can cause interference later in this article.

If your iPhone is not nearby, this can also cause compass issues. Make sure your iPhone is nearby.

How to Reset the Apple Watch Compass Settings

Restarting your watch can sometimes reset and fix the Apple Watch’s compass. If that doesn’t help, resetting your watch altogether can sometimes fix the issue.

You can open the Settings app on your watch and navigate to General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings to reset your watch. You can then restore it from a backup from your paired iPhone.

Using True North on the Apple Watch Compass

Sometimes, switching from magnetic north to true north (or vice versa) can fix compass issues. On your watch, go to Settings > Compass and turn on Use True North to enable true north on your Apple Watch. While true north is a fixed point, magnetic north changes as the Earth’s magnetic core changes.

Common Causes of Compass Interference

The most common cause of compass interference is magnetic interference. Magnets can interfere with the magnetic sensors of your Apple Watch’s compass.

A lot of people don’t realize that certain Apple bands have magnetic material in them. The Leather Link, Leather Loop, and Milanese Loop watch bands from Apple have magnetic material, as do Sport Loop bands from 2019 and earlier. Regular Sport Bands from Apple don’t have magnetic material. Third-party bands may have them, depending on the product.

To fix Apple Watch compass issues, make sure you are using a band with no magnetic material.

Conclusion

We hope the Apple Watch compass fixes mentioned in this article helped. If you can’t recalibrate your Apple Watch compass, and resetting your watch or using another band doesn’t help, contact an Apple Store for technical support.