How to change background on apple watch series 3

Apple Watch offers a number of watch faces for users to choose from, but if you're looking to bring a personal touch to your wrist, you can set your own photos instead. What's more, it can be a new picture each time you use it.

While Apple continuously introduces new designs to its face gallery every once in a while, you can customize your own background with your favorite pictures or portraits, add different complications such as the date or your schedule, and bring some personal flair to your wrist. Here's how to change the background picture on your Apple Watch. 

• Which Apple Watch is the best? Our Apple Watch buyer's guide
• How to use your Apple Watch as a flashlight
• Best Apple deals of 2022

How to change the background on your Apple Watch 

To change your Apple Watch's background to the photo of your choice, all it takes is to head into your iPhone's Watch app and add a watch face display. You can add multiple watch faces to your Apple Watch, and easily swipe left or right on the display to switch faces. You can also create and delete a watch face on the Apple Watch alone, but it's easier to do this in the iPhone's Watch app.

Below are steps to changing the background on your Apple Watch with your own photos via the Watch app on your iPhone. 

• On your iPhone, open the Watch app. 
• Navigate to the "Face Gallery" at the bottom of the app. 
• Scroll until you find "Photos." Tap on it. 

• Under "Content," choose where the photos will come from. You can either choose "Album," which displays photos from created albums or photos from your "Favourites" folder, "Photos," which lets you choose up to 24 select photos, or "Dynamic," which displays photos from your recent Memories.
• Select the photo(s) you want on your display, then tap "Add."
• If needed, you can change the "Complications" to show different stats.
• Once done, tap "Add" under "Photos" at the top to set the watch face on your Apple Watch display.

There you have it. If you added multiple photos, a new photo will appear every time you raise your wrist or tap on the display. With the Portrait watch face, you can apply a similar method to add your favorite portraits that are cropped to focus on the people in them while adding the time in the background. Mix and match to find what best suits you.

For more Apple Watch tips and tricks, find out how to use your Apple Watch as a flashlight, how to use hand gestures on Apple Watch, and how to unlock your iPhone with Apple Watch.

Today's best Apple Watch SE deals

Editor's Pick

LOWEST PRICE

Reduced Price

$279

$238.99

$249

$279.99

Show More Deals

We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices

Like iPhones, you can easily change Apple Watch backgrounds to give your electronic devices a personal touch. However, not many folks understand how to do this, especially if they’ve never owned one before. Fortunately, the process is fairly straightforward. Here’s what you must know about how to change the background on Apple Watch.

For more guides, yo can read our how to delete messages on the Apple Watch article.

How To Change Background On Apple Watch

Learning how to change the background on an Apple Watch is fairly simple. The process only requires your iPhone, Apple Watch, and a couple of photos you want to have as a background. Make sure these photos are saved on your iPhone’s gallery.

Afterward, there are several ways you can learn how to change the background on Apple Watch. You can do it by making the photos your favorites or creating a special album for them. We’ll run through each of the various ways below.

Step 1: Tagging Photos As Favorites (Option 1)

If you want to go the “favorites” route, you’ll have to set a few things up on your iPhone first. Here’s how to change the background on Apple Watch by favoriting your photos:

• Launch the Photos app on your phone
• Tap the photo you want to make a “favorite”
• Press the “heart” icon on the menu bar at the lower end of the screen
  • Note: do this for all the photos you want as your Apple Watch wallpaper

Afterward, you can tap on the “share” button at the lower-left edge of the phone while a photo is displayed. Then simply choose the “Create Watch Face” option in the new menu. The iPhone will then let you choose between using a “Photos Watch Face” or “Kaleidoscope Watch Face.”

You can also choose from various customization settings the Watch app will provide you. We’ve provided a detailed explanation of each one in step 2 down below. You may skip to that section for a clearer guide.

Alternatively, you can simply use the default settings and sync your newly created Watch Face right away. Just hit the “Add” button beside the preview of the Apple Watch Face. This should sync your newly created Watch Face to your Apple Watch.

Step 2: Creating An Album (Option 2)

Tagging each photo as a “favorite” can be cumbersome. It’s certainly tiring if you have hundreds of photos you want to cycle through. Moreover, it isn’t practical if you like to neatly look at a stack of all your wallpapers in one folder.

As such, you might be asking: how do I change my Apple Watch background on my phone without “favoriting” photos? Fortunately, Apple does provide alternate ways. One of which is through the album method.

This method simply lets you create an album that’s meant solely for Apple Watch backgrounds. Here’s how to achieve it:

• Launch the Photos app on the iPhone
• Press the “Albums” tab at the bottom menu
• Tap the plus (+) icon on the top-right edge
• Choose “New Album” in the contextual menu
• Input the new album’s title
• Tap the “Save” button
• Choose the images you want to add to the new album from the gallery
• Press “Done”

Step 3: Adding A Custom Wallpaper

Once you’ve figured out your source, learning how to change the background on Apple Watch is simple. The next step is to simply use the Watch app to create a new custom watch face.

We’ve written a step-by-step guide below along with a more detailed explanation of the various customization settings further down. Without further ado, here’s how to add watch faces to Apple Watch:

• Launch the Watch app
• Press “Face Gallery” on the lower end of the screen
• Scroll until you see the “Photos” section
• Hit “Photos”
• Choose a color overlay (optional)
• Select the type of content you want: Album, Photos, or Dynamic
• Pick a Time Position
• Choose your Complication settings
• Press the “Add” button under the watch face title

Once you’ve finished this, the watch face will automatically sync to your Apple Watch. If you’ve created many watch faces, remember that the watch will display the last one you made. However, you can change what shows on your device through either your iPhone or Apple Watch.

Color Overlay

Under photos, you can learn how to change the background on Apple Watch by using various customization options. These are great for further modifying your Watch Face, adding a touch of personality to them.

For example, the “Color” section allows you to overlay specific colors on your backgrounds. You can also add a custom color by scrolling to the end.

Content

Afterward, Apple will give you a “Content” section. This section is the essence of how to change the background on the Apple Watch because it decides your watch face’s source.

Now, the content option will have three different options, namely: Album, Photos, and Dynamic. The Album option simply displays photos from an album you like. If you pick this, you will have an opportunity to use your newly created album.

In addition, the Album option allows you to cycle through your Favorites instead of a specific album of Apple backgrounds. You can select any option based on what you had set up in step one.

Alternatively, you may also pick the Photos or Dynamic options. The former lets you choose from among 24 photos in your gallery. Meanwhile, the Dynamic option will showcase photos from your recent Memories, determined by Apple’s algorithm.

Time Position & Complications

After choosing from the three content sources, you should scroll down further to pick a Time Position. This simply determines the position of your time and whether it shows on the top or bottom.

Afterward, Apple lets you choose your Complications. Usually, these will be set to the date and your schedule. However, you can remove or switch these out based on what your needs are.

How To Change Apple Watch Face: Choosing A Different Available Option

Once you’ve learned how to change the background on Apple Watch, you might want to learn how to change it. This is a handy thing to learn, especially because most people’s moods (and therefore, desired Watch Faces) change.

Through this process, you can learn how to change the clock on Apple Watch to digital or traditional hands. You can accomplish this through either your iPhone or your Apple Watch. We’ll cover both methods below.

From Your iPhone

• Open the Watch app
• Press the “My Watch” button at the bottom menu
• Hit “Edit” next to “My Faces” in the upper-right
• Hold the hamburger icon (three vertical lines) next to the watch face you created
• Drag the watch face to the top
• Press “Done” on the upper-right

From Your Apple Watch

• Lift your Apple Watch to how the current background
• Tap and hold on to the watch face
  • Note: this opens the Apple Watch Face Gallery
• Look through the gallery of Apple Watch Faces by swiping sideways to find the one you want
• Tap on your desired Watch Face to implement it

You can also edit a few of the Watch Face’s complications if you hit the “Edit” button during this process. Simply tap on the complication and choose a new one. However, remember that not all watch faces have editable complications. Some complications even appear on the edit screen despite not being editable.

How To Edit Your Watch Face: Complications And Features

After learning how to change the background on Apple Watch, you might want to learn how to make edits. Most people change their minds about designs, after all.

Fortunately, you can learn how to make edits fairly easily. The process is fairly similar and applies to all Apple Watches, regardless of series. Just follow the directions below for how to change the background on Apple Watch Series 7 and older:

• Press the Digital Crown on your Apple Watch
• Tap and hold the screen
  • Note: you can remain on this Watch Face or swipe sideward to choose the one you want to edit
• Choose the “Edit” button to make modifications
• Swipe sideward to choose a feature
• Use the Digital Crown and turn it to modify the features
• Swipe to the leftmost end to find the complications
• Tap a complication
• Use the Digital Crown and turn it to sift through different complications
• Press the Digital Crown once more to save all your modifications
• Tap the watch face to let it save as the default

How To Include A Watch Face From The Available Faces

Figuring out how to change backgrounds on Apple Watch Series 3 (or any other model) is one thing. However, is there any way to add a watch face on your watch from the available faces? Thankfully, Apple does let you do this — and fairly easily, too. You simply need your Apple Watch to add the best Apple Watch faces to your catalog. Follow the directions below for more detailed instructions:

• Press your Apple Watch’s Digital Crown
• Tap and hold the display
• Swipe to the rightmost section
• Select the “Add” (+) button
• Twist the Digital Crown to view the available Watch Faces
• Press “Add” on a Watch Face to add it
• Swipe through and modify the Watch Face’s various features, complications, and colors
  • Note: some Watch Faces don’t have customization options available so adding them will automatically replace your current Watch Face
• Hit the Digital Crown two times to navigate to your new Watch Face

How To Delete A Watch Face

Learning how to change the background on Apple Watch isn’t always just about adding new ones. That’s because it’s also important to know how to get rid of old Watch Faces you find boring or outdated.

Fortunately, deleting an Apple Watch Face is much easier than adding one. Simply head to your Apple Watch and follow these instructions:

• Navigate to your current Watch Face
• Press and hold the screen
• Find the Watch Face you wish to delete by swiping sideways
• Swipe up
• Press “Remove”

How To Modify The Time On A Watch Face

Backgrounds and complications aren’t the only things you can edit on your Apple Watch. That’s because you can just as easily edit the time to adjust it according to your present time zone. Simply follow the directions below to begin:

• Lift your Apple Watch to wake it
• Launch the Settings app
• Select “Clock”
• Press +0 min.
• Twist the Digital Crown to adjust the time of your watch
• Hit “Cancel” or “Set”

As you can see, changing the time on your Apple Watch is easy. However, remember that you can only move the time forward, not backward. Moreover, all of your alarms and even the world clock will still follow the actual time. They won’t follow the adjusted time that you’ve set.

How To Conceal “Now Playing” On The Apple Watch

Your Apple Watch background isn’t always front and center on the Apple Watch. This is certainly the case if you have other things running like music apps. Fortunately, while the Now Playing screen appears on your Apple Watch by default, you can hide it. Here’s how.

• Lift the Apple Watch to alert it
• Navigate to the Settings app
• Head to “General”
• Select “Wake Screen”
• Choose to turn off Auto-Launch Audio Apps

Why Should You Learn How To Change Background On Apple Watch?

Sure, it’s not that complicated to learn how to change the background on Apple Watch. However, is it truly necessary for Apple Watch users? What is the benefit of customizing your Watch Face when Apple already provides several beautiful and functional options?

Firstly, if you’re content with Apple’s default Watch Faces, then you can skip learning how to change the background. After all, choosing the Watch Face you like takes precedence over anything else. It’s even more tempting to skip the process once you know that Apple periodically introduces new designs.

However, if you’re someone who likes adding personal touches to your electronic devices then we highly recommend changing the background. It’s a great way to showcase your individuality. Moreover, some pictures can be so captivating that they can serve as talking points for you and your friends.

If you’re artistic (and patient) enough, you can even create various custom backgrounds yourself with an art program. Simply use the Apple Watch’s dimensions for your canvas so you can create your designs.

Apart from these, you can also make Apple Watch backgrounds something more interactive. This is because you can easily share Watch Faces with peers and even with strangers online. As such, you can share your creativity with the world and let others enjoy your work. You can also borrow shared watch faces from other Apple Watch users who’ve shared their creations.

With that said, everything comes down to your taste. Learning how to change the background on Apple Watch might not be necessary to get the full Apple Watch experience. Nonetheless, it certainly adds a layer of uniqueness to your overall aesthetic.

FAQs

What Is Customizable In The Watch Face?

You can customize almost everything on a Watch Face. This includes the background (photo), color, features, and complications. However, certain Watch Faces do have limitations as to what you can customize — others don’t even allow customizations at all. Hence, you’ll have to learn which ones let you personalize your settings and which ones do not.

Can You Have Your Own Wallpaper On The Apple Watch?

Yes, you can learn how to change the background on Apple Watch and use a custom wallpaper. Simply choose the Apple Watch backgrounds you want and create an album or add them as favorites. Afterward, you can use the Watch app to customize the Watch Face further and add it to your Apple Watch.

Can You Change The Background Color On Apple Watch?

It depends on the Watch Face. Some Watch Faces, like Infograph Watch Faces, allow for background color customization. However, most of these color customizations are only available on specialized Watch Faces. Alternatively, you can add a color overlay to photo-based Watch Faces through the Watch app.

Final Word

Learning how to change the background on Apple Watch is surprisingly uncomplicated. You only have to know how to navigate the Apple Watch and use the Watch app. What’s arguably more difficult is figuring out which photos you want to use as a Watch Face. After all, while some photos are meaningful, they can also be inappropriate depending on where you use your watch.

For example, certain memes might help lift your spirits on bad days. However, they’re certainly not appropriate to use while you’re in the office. With that said, it’s better to create more universal albums. You can even make personal Watch Faces by creating or commissioning custom artwork.

Can Apple Watch 3 have wallpaper?

Why can't I change my Apple Watch background?

Can you Customise Apple Watch Series 3?

How do I set a picture as my background on my Apple Watch?