What to Know

Your Apple Watch can make calls just like your iPhone can.
You can do so through the Apple Watch Phone app.
You either need an Apple Watch with cellular or to be within range of your iPhone for phone capabilities.

Apple Watch calls are great because you don't need your iPhone, and it leaves your hands free so you can multitask. I will teach you how to make a phone call and accept one, along with other tips to make the most of Apple Watch phone calls. Plus, I'll explain how to turn off phone calls on Apple Watch if you need some peace and quiet.

How to Make a Call on Your Apple Watch

Your Apple Watch can make phone calls just like your iPhone. When you make or receive a phone call on your watch, you will be on speaker unless your watch is connected to Bluetooth headphones. There are several ways to do this.

Pro Tip: Apple Watch FaceTime is possible, but it is audio only.

How to Call a Contact Directly from Your Apple Watch

To make a phone call on your Apple Watch:

Press the Home Button to go to your Home Screen.
Open the Phone app.
Tap Contacts.
Select a contact.
Tap the phone icon.

If you are calling a recent or favorite contact, you only need to tap their name once from the Recent or Favorite tabs to call them. Call a recent or favorite contact here.

Pro tip: You can also raise your wrist and tell Siri to call a contact.

How to Call an Unsaved Phone Number from Your Apple Watch

You can call numbers that aren't saved as contacts, which is useful if you want to call a business to confirm a reservation, for example.

Open your Phone app.
Tap the Keypad icon.
Enter the number.
Tap the receiver icon.

During the FaceTime Audio call, you can use the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch to control the volume. For more expert Apple Watch tips, check out our free Tip of the Day newsletter.

Set up Cellular on Your Apple Watch

Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
Select Cellular from the My Watch tab.
Tap Set Up Cellular and follow the instructions for your carrier. If it is already set up, you will see your cellular provider here.

If you need any help, you may need to call your carrier directly.

How to Receive Calls on Apple Watch

If you are wearing your watch when someone calls you, you’ll have the option to answer on your Apple Watch. If you answer on your watch but decide that you want to use your iPhone for the conversion instead, you can redirect the call.

How to Redirect Calls from Your Apple Watch to Your iPhone

Before you can redirect calls to your iPhone from your watch, you need to enable Handoff on both devices. Once this is enabled, you just need to tap on the green receiver icon on your iPhone after answering the call on your Apple Watch.

How to Enable Handoff on Apple Watch

Open Settings.
Tap General.
Scroll down, tap Handoff, and then toggle on Enable Handoff.

How to Enable Handoff on iPhone

Open your Watch app.
Tap General.
Select Handoff and toggle Enable Handoff on.

How to Hand Off a Call to Apple Watch

You can start a call on your watch and hand it off to your iPhone, but is a Handoff call to Apple Watch possible too? Yes!

Answer the call on your iPhone.
Tap the green call icon on your Apple Watch.
Tap the Transfer icon.
Tap Yes.

If you don't want to receive calls on your Apple Watch, you can turn off Apple Watch phone call notifications.

Next, learn some tips on how to text on your Apple Watch and how to delete texts in bulk to clear up storage space.

FAQ

Can you call on your Apple Watch without an iPhone? You can if you have one with cellular capabilities and you have a cellularplan set up and activated through your service provider.
When can an Apple Watch receive phone calls? An Apple Watch can receive phone calls if it has cellular capabilities and a cellular connection or if it is within Bluetooth range of the iPhone it's paired with.
What should I do if phone calls aren't working on my Apple Watch? Check that both your Apple Watch and iPhone are up to date. Try restarting your iPhone. If neither of these fix the issue, unpairing and re-pairing your iPhone and Watch might do the trick. If the problem persists, contact Apple support.