Let’s say you’re in an important meeting or watching a horror film at the cinema. Then your Apple Watch goes off, and everyone swivels round to find who the culprit is. Pretty embarrassing, right?

To avoid another awkward situation down the line, it’s quick and easy to mute your watch. So, here’s how to put Apple Watch on silent…

Tweaking volume and sound settings

First things first, let’s talk about the basic volume and sound settings on your Apple Watch…

Adjust the volume:

1. Tap the screen or raise your wrist to wake the watch.

2. Press the Digital Crown to go to the Home screen.

3. Open the ‘Settings’ app (it looks like a little gear if you can’t find it).

4. Scroll down and tap on ‘Sounds & Haptics’.

5. Use the volume slider to change the sound level. Slide it to the left to lower the volume and to the right to increase it.

Change the Alert Volume:

1. In the same ‘Sound & Haptics’ menu, you’ll see an option for ‘Alert Volume’.

2. Tweak this slider to set how loud your alerts will be.

Silent Mode:

1. You can turn on ‘Silent Mode’ from this menu as well.

2. Just toggle the ‘Silent Mode’ switch to the green ‘On’ position.

3. This’ll mute all sounds apart from alarms and timers. So, you don’t have to worry about burning your dinner!

Managing mute and silent mode

Sometimes you might need to quickly mute your Apple Watch. It’s nice and simple to do…

Using the Control Centre:

1. Wake up your watch and swipe up from the bottom of the screen to fire up the Control Centre.

2. Tap the bell icon to turn on Silent Mode. You’ll know it’s on when the bell icon turns red with a strike through it.

Cover to Mute:

1. When an alert comes in, just cover up the watch face with your hand for three seconds.

2. You’ll feel a tap to tell you that the watch is now in Silent Mode.

3. You can enable this feature by going to the ‘Sounds & Haptics’ menu in the ‘Settings’ app and turning on ‘Cover to Mute’.

Setting up Do Not Disturb

This is a more advanced way to keep your Apple Watch quiet. Follow these steps to set it up:

From the Control Centre:

1. Open the Control Centre by swiping up on the watch face.

2. Tap the moon icon to switch on Do Not Disturb. You can choose from options like ‘On’, ‘On for 1 hour’, ‘On until this evening’, or ‘On until I leave’.

From the Settings app:

1. Go to the ‘Settings’ app on your Apple Watch.

2. Press ‘Do Not Disturb’.

3. Toggle ‘Do Not Disturb’ to turn it on.

You can also set up ‘Scheduled Do Not Disturb’:

1. In the ‘Do Not Disturb’ menu, tap ‘Scheduled’.

2. Set the times you want DND to automatically turn on and off.

Customising haptic alerts

Haptic alerts are vibrations that notify you without using any sound. Here’s how to adjust them:

Tweaking intensity:

1. Go to ‘Settings’ on your Apple Watch.

2. Tap ‘Sounds & Haptics’.

3. Under the ‘Haptic Strength’ section, use the slider to increase or decrease the intensity of the vibrations.

Prominent Haptic:

1. You can also turn on ‘Prominent Haptic’, which adds a more noticeable pre-alert.

2. Toggle the ‘Prominent Haptic’ switch in the ‘Sounds & Haptics’ menu.

Using Crown Haptics

Crown Haptics gives you haptic feedback whenever you turn the Digital Crown. Here’s how to quickly turn it on or off:

1. Go to the ‘Settings’ app.

2. Tap ‘Sounds & Haptics’.

3. Scroll down to ‘Crown Haptics’ and toggle it on or off.

Enabling and customising Taptic Chimes

Taptic Chimes are little, gentle taps on your wrist that alert you to the time without making any noise. Here’s how to set them up…

Turn on Taptic Chimes:

1. Open the ‘Settings’ app on your Apple Watch.

2. Tap ‘Accessibility’.

3. Tap ‘Chimes’ and toggle it on.

Customising the Chimes:

1. In the ‘Chimes’ menu, you can choose when you want to get them (hourly, every 30 minutes or every 15 minutes).

2. You can also choose the chime sound – ‘Bells’ or ‘Birds’.

Syncing settings with your iPhone

For complete control across your devices, you can sync your Apple Watch settings with your iPhone. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

Using the Apple Watch App:

1. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

2. Press ‘My Watch’ and then tap ‘Sounds & Haptics’.

3. Adjust whichever settings you like, and they’ll automatically sync to your Apple Watch.

Mirroring iPhone settings:

1. In the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap ‘General’.

2. Press ‘Do Not Disturb’.

3. Turn on ‘Mirror iPhone’. This does exactly what it sounds like and means your Apple Watch will follow the DND settings on your iPhone.

Want to get even more out of your Apple Watch? We’ve got you covered. Here’s how to update your Apple Watch and get your hands on all the latest improvements. And if you want to swap out your Apple Watch straps with something different, just follow our guide on how to remove and change your Apple Watch band. Sorted!