All Apple Watch Icons And Symbols Meaning Guide

Control Center Icons Meaning

Pressing the side button will open the Control Center on your Apple Watch where you can quickly enable and disable features and settings like network, sound, modes, etc.

  1. aA: Increase or decrease the font size in supported apps.
  2. Person raising hand: Activates schooltime feature that will enable DND and block all apps and notifications except emergency services.
  3. Bed icon: Sleep mode is activated.

Status Icons Meaning

These icons and symbols appear at the top of your Apple Watch’s home screen. They are tiny in size but intimate about what app is running or which option/feature has been enabled. Here’s an example. The airplane icon appears in the status bar of my Watch. It means airplane mode is enabled. Let’s take a look at all possible icons and symbols you may see on your Apple Watch and their meanings.

Red lightning: It means Watch’s battery is low and needs to be charged. Green lightning: That means Watch is currently being charged.

Red dot: You have unread notifications. Yellow circle: Low power mode is enabled.

Pad lock icon: Watch is locked and needs a passcode to unlock. Water drop: Water lock is enabled. Press and hold the crown button to release water and unlock Watch.

Half moon: DND mode is enabled so you won’t receive calls or other notifications. Screen will not light up. However, alarms will go off on time. Purple man: Personal focus mode is enabled.

White man: Work mode is enabled. Bed icon: Sleep mode is enabled. Press and hold the crown icon to use Watch.

Theater mode: Theater mode is enabled so screen won’t light up and no notifications will pass through. Running man: A workout is in progress.

Red cross: Only on Apple Watch with cellular networks. This means the network is lost. Red phone with bar: Watch is no longer paired with its iPhone. Reasons could include theft or iPhone being out of range.

Green phone: Watch is connected to the iPhone. Mic icon: Microphone is on.

Arrow symbol: An app on your Apple Watch is using GPS. Dots in a circle: Wireless activity is happening.

Green bars: Signal strength in a cellular Apple Watch. Walkie Talkie: Walike Walkie is enabled and you can be reached.

Compass red arrow: You are using the Backtrack feature. Arrow pointing right: A third party app is being used to navigate.

You may see some app-specific icons in the status bar. For example, music streaming apps like Spotify or Apple Music, calling app when you are on a call, navigation app icons when you are using Apple or Google Maps, and so on.

Similarly, you may see other focus mode icons that you may have running like gaming (blue rocket) or driving mode (car). A look at different focus modes on your iPhone’s Settings > Focus and then tap on the Plus + icon.

Home Screen Icons

The icons you see on the home screen of the Apple Watch will largely depend on the chosen watch face with the set of complications. Let’s go through some common and basic ones that most people use to track their health metrics as an example.

Other Icons: Some other icons that you may or may not encounter depending on your usage. Found an icon on your Apple Watch that you don’t know the meaning of? Reach out to us on X (formerly Twitter) and we will update the list.