8 Ways to Fix Apple Watch Not Counting Steps Correctly

Do you diligently walk 10k steps every day? It must be rewarding to see the step count on your Apple Watch. However, it would be frustrating if your Apple Watch tracks fewer or more steps than you’ve walked. Of late, users have reported that their Apple Watch is not counting steps correctly. Don’t worry, though. Here are simple ways to ensure your walkathon isn’t interrupted.

Accuracy is one of the most important factors in a fitness tracker. Health enthusiasts rely on this data to analyze their health metrics. This is why your watch tracking steps accurately is essential. So, if your Apple Watch misreports your step count, follow the fixes below.

Why Is My Apple Watch Not Recording Steps

There could be several reasons why your Apple Watch could be failing at recording steps. Maybe the sensor at the back of your Watch is loaded with a film of dust or you may have worn your Watch in a loose fashion. Notably, there could be a pairing issue between your iPhone and Watch which could be causing the step tracking issue.

In fact, a change in the pace of walking could be a reason your Watch could improperly record your step count.

How to Fix Apple Watch Not Counting Steps Correctly

After giving you a brief on reasons your Apple Watch may be facing issues with step-tracking, we will head straight into fixes for this problem.

1. Clean the Rear Sensors

The Apple Watch has an automatic wear detection feature that uses the sensors on the rear to detect if you’re wearing the watch or not. If the sensors are dirty, the watch may not detect your skin. In turn, the Apple Watch may assume you’re not wearing the watch. This ultimately leads to your footsteps not being counted at all or counted improperly.

Hence, it’s a good idea to frequently clean the back of your Apple Watch since it accumulates sweat and dirt over time. To clean, gently rub the rear of your Apple Watch with a soft microfiber cloth. Cleaning the sensors helped us fix the Apple Watch step counter not working issue.

2. Restart Your Apple Watch

When in doubt, restart. That’s a fix that has been followed for ages. Unsurprisingly, it acts as an effective cure for most basic software issues to date. So, if your Apple Watch is not tracking your footsteps correctly, start the solution hunt with a simple restart.

Press and hold the Side button on your Apple Watch for a few seconds. Swipe the Power Off slider to the right to turn off the watch. Then, wait a few seconds and long-press the Side button again to turn the watch back on.

3. Wear the Watch Snugly

Did restarting not work? Then, check whether you’re wearing the Apple Watch firmly. You see, the watch uses accelerometer and gyroscope sensors to track your steps. If the watch is loose, you may face the issue of your Apple Watch misreporting your step count.

4. Connect the Watch to the iPhone

You may be facing the issue of your Apple Watch not tracking step count properly due to sync issues. To sync your Apple Watch to your iPhone, turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on your iPhone. You can drop down the Control Center to check whether Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are enabled.

Swipe down your screen from the top-right corner if you have an iPhone with Face ID or swipe up from the bottom if you have an iPhone with Touch ID to bring Control Center. Then, check whether Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles are turned on.

If not, tap on the toggles to connect your Apple Watch to your iPhone.

5. Select the Correct Wrist

Apple’s Health app requires you to specify on which wrist you would wear the watch. If you wear the Apple Watch on the incorrect wrist, it may lead to inaccurate counting of steps. Fret not, as you can change the wrist on which you wear your watch through simple steps. Here’s how:

Step 1: Open the Watch App. Then, head to the General section. In General, tap on Watch Orientation.

Step 2: Select the correct wrist orientation.

Also Read: How to change orientation on Apple Watch

6. Calibrate Your Apple Watch

As stated above, a change in walking pace can hinder step counting. So, calibrating your Apple Watch can help you attain an improved pace which will, in turn, aid in step tracking.

Here’s how to smoothly calibrate your Apple Watch to fix the step-tracking problem. Before calibrating the Watch, ensure a few metrics on your iPhone are turned on.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone. Scroll down and tap on Privacy & Security. Then, select Location Services.

Step 2: Now, ensure the toggle next to Location Services is turned on. Further, scroll down to the bottom of this page to locate and tap on System Services.

Step 3: Turn on the toggle beside ‘Motion Calibration & Distance’.

Now, while wearing your Apple Watch, go to an outdoor location with clear skies. Clear skies aid in better GPS reception, thus helping with calibration. Do note that if you have the Series 1 Apple Watch, carry your iPhone along. Now, simply open the Workout app and go either for an outdoor walk or an outdoor run.

After finishing your workout, we need to reset the calibration data. To do so, open the Watch app on your iPhone. Scroll down and tap on Privacy. Then tap on ‘Reset Fitness Calibration Data’ to complete the calibration process.

7. Ensure Your Health Data Is Accurate

The Apple Watch tracks your activities based on height, weight, etc. If you’re wondering what the nexus is, we have an explanation. You see, your stride length is important to calculate the distance you’ve walked. Height and weight have a direct bearing on one’s stride length.

So, follow the steps below to ensure that the data you’ve input on the Health app is accurate. This could be a triggering factor for the inaccurate step counting on your Apple Watch.

Besides, some users have benefitted from entering accurate personal data, which may also help you.

Step 1: Open the Health app on your iPhone. Then, tap on the icon with your initials in the top-right corner. In the pop-up, select Medical ID.

Step 2: You can now see details such as your height and weight. If the data is incorrect, tap on Edit in the top-right corner to input the correct health data.

8. Close Other Apps

Third-party tracking applications contribute to your Apple Watch not recording steps properly. This solution should be helpful, especially for those using a third-party app to track their activity on their Apple Watch. In such situations, it is advised that you close such applications to cure your Apple Watch’s step-tracking problem.

9. Contact Apple Support

If none of the above fixes have served the purpose, we suggest taking your watch to Apple. The professionals at Apple can diagnose and fix any hardware or software issues with your Apple Watch, including the step tracker not working.

Watch Your Step

An accurate step count is essential if you are consistent with your step goals. If your Apple Watch is not counting steps correctly, use the fixes above. Wiping the gunk off on the rear sensors with a soft microfibre cloth helped us instantly resolve the issue.

However, the other fixes noted above should ensure that your watch is neither recording more nor fewer steps than your walking stint. Should none of the enlisted fixes work, take your Apple Watch to the seasoned professionals at Apple.