Customize Apple Watch Faces: Add, Delete & Personalize

Personalizing Your Apple Watch Face

The Apple Watch offers extensive customization options, and its watch face is a prime example. A variety of styles are available, including Modular, Mickey Mouse, and Utility, each allowing for the inclusion of complications – essentially sub-displays providing diverse information. Furthermore, users have the capability to create and add their own personalized watch faces.

This guide will demonstrate how to modify the existing watch faces on your Apple Watch, how to generate new watch faces derived from current designs, and how to remove unwanted watch faces from your collection.

It’s worth noting that users transitioning from Android smartwatches may inquire about a “Theater Mode.” While a dedicated Theater Mode isn’t present on the Apple Watch, a custom watch face can be created to serve a similar purpose, and the process for doing so will be detailed below.

Adding, Removing, and Customizing Watch Faces

To access and manage your clock faces, simply raise your wrist (or tap the screen) and rotate the Digital Crown until you return to the watch face selection screen.

Force touch the watch display until the watch face shrinks and the watch face title appears at the top, accompanied by a “Customize” button at the bottom. Select the “Customize” option.

The initial screen presented allows you to alter the color scheme for both the time display and the complications featured on the watch face. Utilize the Digital Crown to cycle through the available color choices.

For instance, selecting Purple will apply a purple hue to the time and various elements within each complication.

Modifying Complications

To adjust the complications displayed on the watch face, swipe to the left. The second screen highlights each complication with an outline. Tapping on a complication will reveal the name of the currently assigned function.

Turning the Digital Crown then allows you to select a different complication for that specific position. As an example, the “Moon Phase” complication can be chosen for the prominent central area of the watch face.

NOTE: Many applications provide third-party complications compatible with the Apple Watch, and these will become available when browsing through the complication options.

Here, the “Weather” complication is being selected for one of the smaller slots on the Modular watch face.

Once you have finalized your color selections and complication configurations, press the Digital Crown. The newly customized watch face will then be displayed.

Creating New Watch Faces

Beyond customizing existing faces, you can also generate new watch faces based on pre-existing designs. This enables you to create multiple variations of the same face, each featuring a unique arrangement of complications.

To add a new watch face, ensure the clock face is visible by pressing the Digital Crown until it appears, then force touch the screen. Swipe left until you reach the “New” screen and tap the plus icon.

Rotate the Digital Crown to locate the watch face that will serve as the foundation for your new design. For demonstration, we will create a minimalist watch face suitable for use in a theater. This will involve setting the time to red and removing all complications to minimize brightness and visibility in a darkened environment.

NOTE: Alternatively, you can simply remove your watch or turn it face down on your wrist in a theater to avoid causing distractions. However, creating this minimal watch face provides a quick way to view the time discreetly.

Once you’ve selected the base watch face, tap on it.

The watch face will appear. To customize it, force touch the display and then select “Customize”.

On the first customization screen, use the Digital Crown to select “Red” as the color.

Swipe left to access the complications screen. For each complication, select it and then scroll to “Off”.

All complications should now be blank. Press the Digital Crown to save your changes and add the new watch face.

The new face will display only the time in red. If “Do Not Disturb” is enabled on both your watch and phone (with mirroring activated), you will not be disturbed by notifications. The watch will remain silent and the screen will not illuminate unless tapped or the Digital Crown is pressed.

NOTE: You can also simply remove your watch or turn it face down on your wrist in a theater to avoid causing distractions.

Deleting Watch Faces

Removing unwanted watch faces is a straightforward process. Force touch the watch display and swipe to locate the face you wish to delete. Swipe up on the desired watch face. A trash can icon and the word “Delete” will appear. Tap the trash can icon to confirm the deletion.

NOTE: Deleting a watch face is irreversible, so ensure you are certain before proceeding.

Not all watch faces offer the same level of customization. The following faces are customizable in various ways: