Categories: Daily TipsWatch

How to turn on Airplane Mode in the watchOS Control Center

Some airlines let you fly with your Apple Watch (and iPhone) turned on if you put them in Airplane Mode. 

By default, turning on Airplane Mode turns off Wi-Fi and cellular (on Apple Watch models with cellular) and keeps Bluetooth turned on. However, you can change which settings are turned on and off when you turn on Airplane Mode.

  • Turn on Airplane Mode on Apple Watch: Press the side button to open Control Center, then tap the airplane icon.
  • Put both your Apple Watch and iPhone in Airplane Mode in one step: Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap My Watch, go to General > Airplane Mode, then turn on Mirror iPhone. When your iPhone and Apple Watch are within normal Bluetooth range of each other (about 33 feet or 10 meters), any time you switch to Airplane Mode on one device, the other switches to match.
  • Change which settings are turned on or off in Airplane Mode: On Apple Watch, open the Settings app , tap Airplane Mode, then choose whether to turn Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on or off by default when you turn on Airplane Mode.
    To turn Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on or off while your Apple Watch is in Airplane Mode, open the Settings app , then tap Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

When Airplane Mode is on, the airplane icon appears at the top of the screen.

Note: Even with Mirror iPhone turned on, you must turn off Airplane Mode separately on your iPhone and Apple Watch.

(This how-to is based on my experiences and info on Apple’s support pages — where the images sometimes come from.)

Dennis Sellers

Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.

Recent Posts

Apple has apparently renewed discussions with OpenAI about using the startup AI tech

Apple has renewed discussions with OpenAI about using the startup’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology to…

4 hours ago

Apple surveying users of its Vision Pro about usage, favorite features, more

I haven’t gotten a survey, but MacRumors reports that Apple has been soliciting Vision Pro…

4 hours ago

Top Apple-related stories this week (April 22-26)

Here are the top Apple-related articles at Apple World Today for the week of April…

9 hours ago

Five Teaching Strategies for Effective Learning

Hours of lecture can be boring to students at any age. Concentration will dwindle with…

16 hours ago

Today’s deal: My Arcade Atari Game Station Pro: Video Game Console with 200+ Games (New – Open Box) for $69.99

Relive the golden age of gaming with the My Arcade Atari Game Station Pro video…

16 hours ago

Get ‘Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes’ bonus bundle With Apple Gift Card at Target

In a new promotion, Apple has announced that you can get Star Wars: Galaxy of…

1 day ago