Google's reset steps are in its pairing and blank-screen articles. Restart first: press and hold the crown for 3 seconds, scroll and tap Restart, which keeps your data. If the watch is unresponsive, hard reset with the crown and side button for about 35 seconds. To factory reset, swipe down, Settings, Disconnect and reset, Ok, or open the Pixel Watch app, System, Reset and unpair watch. A factory reset erases all apps, settings and data and fixes Can't pair, Can't find your watch, a forgotten PIN, Something went wrong and a frozen G logo.
If the watch will not reset, uninstall the Pixel Watch app, forget any watch under Connected devices, restart the phone and retry. As a last resort use Fastboot: hold the crown and side button about 20 seconds, tap the upper-left and lower-right edges of the screen at once when the G logo shows, choose Recovery Mode with the side button and the crown, hold the crown and swipe up for the debug screen, select Wipe Data or Factory Reset and swipe right. Sign in with your latest PIN or Google account after any reset. There is no physical reset button.
Differential
Likely causes of “Google Pixel Watch needs a safe reset or will not reset”, and how to tell them apart
- 1
A frozen or looping watch
What separates it A hard reset does not fix it because the watch is frozen or looping
How to confirm Factory reset from the watch or the app
- 2
A forgotten PIN
What separates it You cannot unlock the watch because of a forgotten PIN
How to confirm Factory reset, then sign in with your Google account
- 3
Selling or giving it away
What separates it The next owner needs a clean watch because you are selling or giving it away
How to confirm Reset and unpair, before you hand the watch over
- 4
A failed pairing
What separates it You cannot pair or see Something went wrong because of a failed pairing
How to confirm Factory reset the watch, and then pair it again
- 5
A watch that will not reset
What separates it The reset option fails because the watch will not reset
How to confirm Use the phone route or Fastboot, and set the watch up again
Before you touch a setting
Record this first — changing settings destroys the evidence
- Why you are resetting: a fault, a forgotten PIN or a sale
- Whether you have backed up your data
- Whether you know your Google account and PIN
Try in this order
0 of 6 completedRestart first
ReversibleHold the crown for 3 seconds and tap Restart, which restarts the watch without erasing anything if it is responsive enough.
Hard reset if frozen
ReversibleHard reset if frozen, by holding the crown and the side button for about 35 seconds.
Back up
ReversibleBack up, by syncing and backing up your data before you reset the watch, and then test again to see whether it helped.
Use the phone route
ReversibleUninstall the app, forget the watch and restart the phone if it will not reset.
Use Fastboot
ReversibleUse Fastboot, and as a last resort follow Google's Fastboot steps for the watch, and then test again to see whether it helped.
Set up again
ReversibleSet up again, by pairing again and signing in with your PIN or Google account.
Model-specific
What is true of this model and not of its siblings
- Reset routes
- Google gives the same restart, hard reset, factory reset and Fastboot routes for the Pixel Watch line; the crown and side button hold is about 35 seconds for a hard reset and about 20 seconds to reach the G logo for Fastboot.
- Account
- Google says sign in with your latest PIN or Google account login after a factory reset to prevent others using the watch.
- Other models this page answers
- These steps also fit the Pixel Watch 2.
Stop boundary
When this stops being a self-service repair
- !If you are locked out with no account access, use Google's account recovery
- !If you are selling it, confirm it is unpaired
Evidence ledger
Sources behind this answer
Factory reset, phone route and Fastboot.
Restart, hard reset and no reset button.
Backing up and moving to a new device.
Account and PIN problems after a reset.
The Pixel Watch line and its generations.
Exact questions
Common questions
How do I factory reset a Pixel Watch?+
Swipe down, Settings, Disconnect and reset, Ok, or use the Pixel Watch app's Reset and unpair watch.
What does it fix?+
Can't pair, Can't find your watch, a forgotten PIN, Something went wrong and a frozen G logo.
What if the watch will not reset?+
Uninstall the app, forget the watch, restart the phone, then try Fastboot.
What is Fastboot?+
A recovery mode entered from the G logo screen to wipe data.
Do I need my PIN afterwards?+
Sign in with your latest PIN or Google account.
Can I reset without the phone?+
Yes, you can reset it without the phone, from the watch's settings.
Will backups restore?+
Google's upgrade guide covers moving data to a new device.