Some Mac users might run into a problem when trying to unlock their Mac using an Apple Watch, even though all the necessary conditions are satisfied. Instead, they may see an error message that reads “Your Mac was unable to communicate with your Apple Watch. Make sure your Apple Watch is unlocked and on your wrist, and your iPhone is unlocked,” even if these conditions have already been met.

If you come across this issue, here are several troubleshooting methods you can try to fix it and get your Apple Watch unlocking your Mac again.

Fixing the “Your Mac was unable to communicate with your Apple Watch” Issue

Here are four steps you can follow to address problems related to the Apple Watch unlocking the Mac.

1: Review & Toggle Mac Settings

First, ensure you've navigated to System Settings / Preferences > Security & Privacy > General > and confirmed that the option “Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac” is checked and active.

If the option is already enabled, try disabling the setting for “Use your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac”, wait briefly, then re-enable it.

You can also go through the setup tutorial for enabling Mac unlocking via Apple Watch if needed.

2: Confirm Apple Watch is Properly Worn and Unlocked

Next, verify that your Apple Watch is unlocked while being worn on your wrist, as well as your iPhone.

The unlock function typically won't work if the Apple Watch isn't properly placed on your wrist.

3: Restart the Mac & Apple Watch

Restarting both the Mac and Apple Watch could potentially resolve the issue, especially after toggling the feature off and back on within the Mac settings.

4: Still Having Issues Unlocking the Mac with Apple Watch? Delete Keychain Entries & Preferences, Then Re-enable

If the issue remains, following the detailed solution below may help eliminate the “unable to communicate with Apple Watch” error on Mac. It's crucial to back up your Mac before starting this process, as there’s a chance of keychain corruption, which would block access to saved passwords and other keychain data.

1. Back up your Mac before proceeding

2. Launch “Keychain Access” by using Spotlight (press Command Spacebar) and typing “Keychain Access”, then pressing return

3. From the “View” menu choose “Show Invisible Items”

4. Next, search for “Auto Unlock”

5. Select all entries for “Auto Unlock” and delete them

6. Now search for “AutoUnlock” and select and delete all those entries for tlk, tlk-nonsync, classA, classC

7. Close Keychain Access

8. From the Finder, press Command Shift G to open Go To Folder and input the following path or navigate manually via your home directory: ~/Library/Sharing/AutoUnlock

9. Remove the files “l(fā)tk.plist” and “pairing-records.plist”

10. Restart your Mac

11. Navigate to the ? Apple menu, choose ‘System Preferences’ and head to “Security & Privacy” under the General tab

12. Tick the box to activate “Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac”; sometimes activating twice may be needed if the first attempt doesn’t enable the feature

13. Attempt to unlock the Mac with the Apple Watch once more; it should now work

This specific troubleshooting method was shared by Chris (thank you!) from Apple discussion support forums. This approach generally resolves the issue for most users encountering the “Your Mac was unable to communicate with your Apple Watch” error repeatedly, whether spontaneously, after updating either device, or post using Migration Assistant.

5: Using Ethernet on the Mac? Temporarily Disconnect Ethernet Cable

Multiple users in our comments noted that if they're connected via a wired Ethernet connection on the Mac, they'll encounter this Apple Watch error regardless of Wi-Fi usage. In such cases, disconnect the Ethernet cable, then toggle the “Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac” setting again. Once activated successfully, reconnect the wired Ethernet connection.

Did any of the above solutions work for you? Or did you find another way to fix it? Please share your experiences in the comments below.

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