What the red dot on an Apple Watch means, and how to get rid of it

Posted by Martina Birk on Monday, July 22, 2024

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  • If a red dot appears on your Apple Watch, it means that you have unread notifications. 
  • To get rid of the red dot, swipe down on your Apple Watch's screen and check the notifications.
  • You can turn off the red dot permanently using the Watch app on your iPhone.

If you own an Apple Watch, you know how convenient the device can be for keeping you connected even when you're away from the phone. But with so much going on inside, it has to cram a lot of information onto a tiny screen. That means that some of your Apple Watch's symbols and buttons can be confusing to the untrained eye.

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One of the most commonly confusing symbols: The red dot at the top of your Watch's face.

What does the red dot on your Apple Watch mean? 

The red dot that appears at the top of your Apple Watch's home face means that you have unread notifications. It'll appear whenever you have a notification, and only goes away once you check them.

Luckily, it doesn't take much work to check your notifications. Swipe down from the top of your Apple Watch's screen to open the notification page, and then swipe back up to close it. You don't even need to open any of the notifications — just checking this page will erase the red dot.

To get rid of a notification, swipe your finger to the left over it, then tap the X icon. You can also scroll to the very top of the notifications page and tap Clear All.

How to turn off the red dot on your Apple Watch

If you don't want that red dot to appear whenever you have notifications, you can disable it via the Watch app on your iPhone. 

Open the Watch app and make sure that My Watch is selected at the bottom of the screen. Then tap Notifications, and toggle off the Notifications Indicator.

You can re-enable this feature at any time by toggling the button back on.

You can disable the red dot with the Notifications Indicator. Jennifer Still/Insider
Jennifer Still Jennifer is a writer and editor from Brooklyn, New York, who spends her time traveling, drinking iced coffee, and watching way too much TV. She has bylines in Vanity Fair, Glamour, Decider, Mic, and many more. You can find her on Twitter at @jenniferlstill. Read more Read less William Antonelli Tech Reporter for Insider Reviews William Antonelli (he/she/they) is a writer, editor, and organizer based in New York City. As a founding member of the Reference team, he helped grow Tech Reference (now part of Insider Reviews) from humble beginnings into a juggernaut that attracts over 20 million visits a month. Outside of Insider, his writing has appeared in publications like Polygon, The Outline, Kotaku, and more. He's also a go-to source for tech analysis on channels like Newsy, Cheddar, and NewsNation. You can find him on Twitter @DubsRewatcher, or reach him by email at wantonelli@businessinsider.com. Read more Read less

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