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How to add a new face to your Apple Watch

Apple Watch face feat image.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Faces are the heart and soul of the Apple Watch, and each timepiece comes preloaded with a few faces to get you started. Over the years, Apple has stockpiled a vast collection of watch faces — from functional to stylish to health-oriented to whimsical — to suit your every need and mood. Apple Watch owners of Series 3 or newer who are running WatchOS 8 can access a dizzying array of faces, all of which can be customized with different styles, colors, and complications.

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Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

  • Apple Watch Series 3 and later

For example, the Infograph watch face supports eight complications. Or you can animate your own personal Memoji face. The gorgeous California or the Typography watch faces are the ultimate in aesthetic charm, but they're not the only options. We give you the lowdown on how to switch and customize your Apple Watch face to suit all occasions.

How to add a new Apple Watch face

The most common activity for Apple Watch involves switching faces. While some users rely on specific health or work-related faces, many people experience the joy of tweaking faces depending on their mood, a special occasion, or even an outfit. Here's how to quickly swap out your watch face.

Step 1: Press firmly on the watch face to enter switching mode.

Apple Watch face add mode.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 2: Swipe all the way to the left and tap the + new button.

Apple Watch add interface.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 3: Rotate the Digital Crown to find the face you want and tap the Add button.

Apple Watch Face add specific face.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 4: Customize the new watch face using the Digital Crown and a left swipe, which lets you sample all the available color or text variations available for that face.

Apple Watch customization interface.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 5: Alternately, you can use your iPhone Watch app to add a new face. The app lets you see all the faces available, organized by type.

Launch the Watch app on your iPhone, tap the Face gallery tab, and tap a watch face to select it. Customize the complications, style, and color of the face. When you tap Add, the new face appears on your watch.

iPhone Watch app interface.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How to customize an Apple Watch face

Most Apple Watch faces are customizable, letting you add elements to make it more useful. Not all faces allow for the same kind of customization, but generally, you can choose color schemes, styles, and layouts.

Complications — watch widgets — are elements of the design that let you add useful details to the watch face, including weather, calendar items, messages, activity, and more. Apple has published a complete guide about which complications are available for the specific face you choose. You can also create a unique watch face from your own photos.

Step 1: To change the appearance of your watch face or to add a complication, press and hold your chosen face and tap the Edit button.

Apple Watch Complications screen.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 2: Swipe to the left to edit complications or to add weather, activity, or information from other installed Watch apps. Tap a complication to select it, then rotate the Digital Crown to select among its available options.

Apple Watch complications.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How to create an Apple Watch face with your photos

You can load up to 24 photos from your iPhone Camera Roll (including Portraits) to create a unique Apple Watch face. The easiest way to choose a single photo face is to use the iPhone Photos app to navigate to an image you want to use.

Step 1: From the Photos app, select the photo you want to use.

iPhone Camera Roll.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 2: Tap the Share button.

iPhone Photos Share button.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 3: Scroll down and tap Create watch face.

iPhone Add Watch Face in Photos app.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 4: Choose a layout from the available options.

Apple Watch photo face variations.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 5: Tweak the appearance and colors.

Apple Watch face stylings.
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Step 6: Add complications if you want.

Apple Watch photo face complications.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 7: Alternately, you can use the iPhone's Watch App Face Gallery interface to add multiple photos (up to 24) from your Camera Roll or a specific Photos album.

Just scroll down to Photos, select the images you want to use, tap Add, and choose Photos under the Content section. These photo faces alternate every time you raise your arm or tap your phone face.

Watch App Photos interface.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How to share an Apple Watch face

With WatchOS 8, you can share watch faces with any of your contacts. If you've customized your watch faces into something especially useful or cute, you can share them with friends and family alongside an accompanying message. Here's how to do it.

Step 1: With the watch face you want to share in active mode, long-press on the watch screen, and tap the Share button.

Apple Watch Share button.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 2: Scroll down to the Messages and mail buttons and tap the one you want to use.

Apple Watch Contacts options.
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Step 3: Tap Add contact.

Apple Watch Add Contact button.
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Step 4: Tap the contact you want to send the watch face to if it's already listed.

Apple Watch contact list.
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Step 5: Alternately, tap the middle icon to see a list of your contacts to choose from or use the keypad to type in a phone number.

Apple Watch face share interface.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 6: "Check out this watch face" is the default message, but you can send any message you want with the Send button.

Apple Watch face message interface.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How to remove an Apple Watch face

After awhile, you may have accumulated quite a number of Apple Watch faces on your watch. It's easy to clear out the clutter by removing faces you no longer want. Here's how to do it.

Step 1: Navigate to the watch face you're using now, and tap and hold.

Apple Watch face.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 2: Swipe left or right to find the watch face that you want to delete.

Apple Watch face swipe.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 3: Swipe up and tap the Remove button.

Apple Watch Remove Face button.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Step 4: Alternately, you can remove unwanted faces via the Watch app on your iPhone via My watch > Edit and tapping the red Minus sign at the left of the face. Then tap Done.

Apple Watch iPhone interface.
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Jackie Dove
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jackie is an obsessive, insomniac tech writer and editor in northern California. A wildlife advocate, cat fan, and photo app…
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