The Google Pixel Watch 3 is a pretty darn good smartwatch but even if you love it, there may come a time when you need to perform a factory reset on it. This could be for a few reasons but whatever the case may be, you’ll need to know how to put the watch back to its factory settings so it’s fresh. Basically just like it was when you pulled it out of the box for the first time.
That being said, we understand that not everyone will know how to perform a factory reset on the Google Pixel Watch 3 or any of their other devices. So that’s what we’ve put together this helpful little guide for. It’s here to walk you through the steps of getting your watch back to factory settings if you never need it to be that way.
The process is pretty quick and doesn’t take too many steps either. So let’s go ahead and dive into the whole thing and show you how to factory reset your Google Pixel Watch 3.
What does a factory reset on the Google Pixel Watch 3 do?
It’ll wipe all of your data off of the watch like it was never there in the first place. It’s usually what you’d want to do if someone else was going to start using it. Say for example you are going to give the watch to someone in your family and use something else. You’d want to do a factory reset to erase all of your information first. This includes your account so that whoever the next person is to set the watch up can add their own account.
It’s also for security reasons, as you wouldn’t want your data on a device that someone would have access to 24/7.
How to perform the factory reset
As we mentioned above the process of resetting your watch is actually pretty easy and won’t take too long. So let’s go ahead and get started.
Twist the haptic crown downward to bring up the quick settings menu
The first thing you’ll want to do is bring up the quick settings menu. You can do this easily by twisting the haptic crown on the side of the watch. You’ll need to twist it downward and then you should see all of the quick settings tiles pop up.
Tap on settings
Now tap on the settings menu. This will look the same as it does on Android and will be a gear icon.
Open the System settings
Once you have the settings menu open, scroll all the way to the bottom and find the System settings menu.
Tap on disconnect and reset
The System settings menu will have loads of other submenus including menus for text-to-speech output, language, system updates, date & time, and more. Once again scroll all the way to the bottom of this menu and you’ll find the disconnect and reset menu as the second to last in the list.
Read through the disclaimer
Make sure you read through the short and sweet disclaimer that Google has put in here so you’re really fully aware that this will delete everything off of the watch.
Decide whether or not to erase the eSIM
If you’re using the LTE model of the watch, you will also want to decide if you need to erase the eSIM during the factory reset process. You don’t really need to do this if you’re going to continue using the watch yourself after the reset. This is also assuming you’ve set the watch up with an eSIM at your supported carrier. If you use the LTE model and haven’t set the watch up with your carrier, then you can also leave the toggle alone in this case.
On the same token, if you’re not using the LTE model of the watch, then this toggle shouldn’t be there. All of that said, if you are using the LTE model and it was activated, you should erase the eSIM if someone else will be using the watch afterward.
Tap the checkmark button
Finally, tap the checkmark button at the bottom of this screen to continue with the factory reset. Follow any prompts that come after this screen if necessary. It should only take a minute or two to complete once the reset has started.