Adjust brightness, text size, sounds, and haptics

Adjust brightness. Open the Settings app , then scroll down and tap Brightness & Text Size. Tap the Brightness controls to adjust, or tap the control, then turn the Digital Crown. Or open the Apple Watch app on iPhone, tap My Watch, tap Brightness & Text Size, then drag the Brightness slider.

Brightness settings screen on Apple Watch with callout to brightness symbols at either end of slider: Tap the brightness symbols; callout to Text Size: Adjust text size; Callout to Bold Text: Make text bold.

Make text larger. Open Settings , then scroll down and tap Brightness & Text Size. Tap Text Size, then tap the letters or scroll the Digital Crown. Or open the Apple Watch app on iPhone, tap My Watch, tap Brightness & Text Size, and drag the Text Size slider.

Make text bold. Open Settings , scroll down and tap Brightness & Text Size, then turn on Bold Text. Or open the Apple Watch app on iPhone, tap My Watch, tap Brightness & Text Size, then turn on Bold Text.

When you turn on bold text from either Apple Watch or iPhone, Apple Watch restarts to apply the change.

Adjust sound. Open Settings , then scroll down and tap Sounds & Haptics. Tap the volume buttons under Alert Volume or tap the slider once, then turn the Digital Crown to adjust. Or open the Apple Watch app on iPhone, tap My Watch, tap Sounds & Haptics, then drag the Alert Volume slider.

Sounds & Haptics settings screen on Apple Watch. Turn the Digital Crown or tap the volume symbols to increase or decrease the volume of ringers and alerts. Tap Mute to mute Apple Watch.

Mute Apple Watch. Open Settings , scroll down and tap Sounds & Haptics, then turn on Mute. Or swipe up on the watch face, swipe to the Settings glance, then tap the Silent Mode button. You can also open the Apple Watch app on iPhone, tap My Watch, tap Sounds & Haptics, then turn on Silent Mode.

The Settings glance where you can see the connection status of your watch and iPhone and set Airplane Mode, Do Not Disturb, and Mute. You can also ping your iPhone. Mute is selected.

You can quickly mute alert and notification sounds by resting the palm of your hand on the watch display for at least three seconds. You’ll feel a tap to confirm that mute is on. Make sure you turn on Cover to Mute in the Apple Watch app on iPhone—tap My Watch, then go to Sounds & Haptics.

Adjust haptic intensity. You can adjust the strength of the wrist taps Apple Watch uses for notifications and alerts. Open Settings , then scroll down and tap Sounds & Haptics. Tap the haptic buttons under Haptic Strength or tap the slider once to select it, then turn the Digital Crown to adjust. Or open the Apple Watch app on iPhone, tap My Watch, tap Sounds & Haptics, then drag the Haptic Strength slider. Turn on Prominent Haptic for more emphasis.

Sounds & Haptics settings screen where you can scroll down to Ringer and Alert Haptics, then tap the haptic symbols to increase or decrease the intensity of taps.

Turn on Do Not Disturb. To keep calls and alerts (except for alarms) from making sounds or lighting up the screen, swipe up on the watch face, swipe left or right to the Settings glance, then tap the Do Not Disturb button . Or open Settings , tap Do Not Disturb, then turn on Do Not Disturb. When Do Not Disturb is on, you’ll see the at the top of the screen.

Two Apple Watch screens showing two ways to set Do Not Disturb: in the Settings glance or in the Settings app.

To silence both Apple Watch and iPhone, open the Apple Watch app on iPhone, tap My Watch, and turn on General > Do Not Disturb > Mirror iPhone. Then, any time you change Do Not Disturb on one, the other will change to match.