How to Fix Face Keeps Changing on Apple Watch

Trying to fix face keeps changing on Apple Watch?

Like all other Apple products, Apple Watch also offers great customizability. You can set up multiple watch faces and use them at different instances, according to your mood and needs. 

While it seems like a great feature, the watch face may change even when you don’t want it to. This commonly reported issue often occurs due to accidental gestures, misconfigured settings, or a glitch in the device. 

If you landed on this page looking for a fix for face keeps changing on Apple Watch, we’ve got you covered. Below are some of the most effective methods to resolve the stated issue. Simply follow them one by one and see which one works for you.

So let’s get going!

1. Restart Your Apple Watch.

The simplest and most effective method to fix face keeps changing on Apple Watch is to restart your device. Sometimes, a temporary glitch or bug in the system may cause this issue, and restarting your Apple Watch might eliminate them. 

To do so, simply follow these steps below:

1. Start by pressing and holding the Side button of your Apple Watch. 
   
2. Let go once the slider or Power icon appears. 

3. Drag the Power Off slider to the right to turn off your device. 
   
4. Wait for a few minutes, then restart it by pressing and holding the Side button again.
   
    

2. Remove Watch Case.

Since some cases cover the edge of the Apple Watch, it might cause your device to act up and result in various problems. The face keeps changing on Apple Watch error could be one of them. 

In this case, either get a custom-made case that doesn’t cover the edge of your Apple Watch or remove the case to see if it fixes the problem. Moreover, you should also remove the screen protector for the same reason.

3. Enable Water Lock.

Water Lock is a feature on Apple Watch that allows you to lock your device’s display. As you enable this feature, the watch face will become unresponsive to any touch or gesture.

Of course, this will prevent you from using the Apple Watch entirely, so you must disable Water Lock when needed. However, you can turn on the feature for the time being if the watch face keeps changing on Apple Watch due to unintentional touch or gestures. 

Here’s what you need to do to enable Water Lock on your Apple Watch:

1. Start by swiping up from your watch to access the Control Center. 
   
2. Choose the water droplet icon to turn on Water Lock. The droplet icon will also appear on your watch face so that you know when this feature is enabled. 

4. Delete Extra Watch Faces.

As mentioned earlier, Apple offers you to set up several watch faces so you can swipe through them and use the one you prefer. But accidental swipes from left to right edge may lead you to change the watch face at unwanted times.

If you’re not a fan of this feature and would rather live with a single display type, consider deleting the extra watch faces to eliminate the issue.

Below are the steps you need to follow:

1. Press and hold on to the watch face to enter the editing mode. 

2. To delete the watch face, swipe up on it and tap on Remove. 

3. Now, follow the steps mentioned above to remove other watch faces. 
   
   

5. Remove Images From Photos/Portrait Watch Face.

Apple Watch features various watch face themes to provide users with better customization. If the watch face keeps changing on your device when you simply tap on the screen, you may have selected the Photos or Portrait watch face. 

These themes have multiple images that keep changing with every tap on display. Simply enable Water Lock by following the steps specified above or remove extra pictures from the theme album.

To do the latter, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Apple Watch app from your iPhone. 
   
2. From the My Faces section, tap on Photos. 

3. Under Photos, select ‘X Photos. ‘

4. Choose Select from the top-right corner of the screen. 

5. Now, tap on the photos you want to remove from the watch face. These photos will only be removed from the watch face and not from your Camera Roll. 
   
6. Once you’ve selected the photos, tap on the Trash icon located at the bottom of the screen to remove them. 

6. Put a Passcode on Your Device.

Another workaround to fix face keeps changing on Apple Watch is to put a passcode on it. This way, you will have to unlock your device manually, and any accidental touch or gestures will not be registered.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Head on to the Apple Watch app from your device. 
   
2. Scroll down and tap on Passcode. 

3. Afterward, select Turn Passcode On. 

4. Set a passcode for your Apple Watch by entering it twice.
   
5. If you have Wrist Detection turned on, your watch will automatically lock as you take it off your wrist. 

You can also disable Wrist Detection if you want to lock your Apple Watch manually. Here’s how:

1. Open the Apple Watch app. 
   
2. Go to Passcode. 
   
3. After that, turn off the toggle for Wrist Detection. 

4. Now, swipe up from the screen to head to the Control Center. 
   
5. Finally, select the lock icon to lock your Apple Watch. 

7. Disable Automation.

You might have set up personal automations for your Apple Watch. Due to this, the watch face of your device would change at the specified time and/or location. To deal with this, you only need to disable automations, and you’re good to go.

Below are the steps you need to follow:

1. Go to the Apple Shortcuts app from your iPhone. 
   
2. From the bottom bar, select the Automation tab. 
   
3. From the Personal section, tap on the automation that includes a watch face. 

4. Now, switch the toggle off for Enable This Automation.
   
5. Lastly, tap on Done from the upper-right corner.  

8. Unlink Watch Face From Focus.

Apple has introduced one of the most unique features in its latest version release, which is linking Focus mode with the lock screen on iOS 16 on and watch face or Watch OS 9. So, if you’ve set up the Focus profile on your Apple Watch, the linked watch face will be applied automatically.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Navigate to Settings from your iPhone.
   
2. Tap on Focus and choose a focus mode. 

3. Scroll down and look for a watch face on the Apple Watch preview under the Customize Screens section. 
   
4. After you’ve located it, tap on the – icon from the watch face to remove it. 

5. Perform the above-mentioned steps for other Focus modes to resolve your problem. 

Afterward, check if you’re able to resolve the issue.

That was it! Here, we end our guide on how to fix face keeps changing on Apple Watch. All the possible methods have been listed and hopefully helped you combat the situation. But if you still have any confusion, feel free to leave a comment below. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

If this guide helped you, please share it. 😊