This seems to be a common issue with many suggested fixes. This is how to clear the unread message indicator. Press down on the watch crown to activate Siri. Ask Siri to read all unread messages. Siri usually finds a spam message. Once it is read, the message indicator is cleared. Works for me every time.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone 15 Pro, iOS 17
I found that there was one message very far down in my messages app on my watch that had the little blue unread dot. I don’t even remember ever seeing it on my phone. But I opened and deleted it, and now the message indicator no longer shows a new message.
I found that there was one message very far down in my messages app on my watch that had the little blue unread dot. I don’t even remember ever seeing it on my phone. But I opened and deleted it, and now the message indicator no longer shows a new message.
I got the same response from Siri. But turning my watch off and back on got rid of the “unread” notification. Probably just a sync issue with iPhone.
Even though my phone showed that all my messages were read, I found two messages that were still marked as unread on my watch hence the unread notification showing. I scrolled through and found these, opened them and notification is gone from watch now. Why the disconnect between the phone and watch? Who knows but it’s cleared and back to normal…until next time 🙄
Deleting an old message cleared the count for me.
Asking Siri to read unread messages works sometimes but often she comes up dry. Do a forced restart by pressing the crown and the side button at the same time.
Asking Siri show me my unread messages on Apple Watch Fixes the issue for me
I have found the only way to get rid of this is to reboot my watch. Very annoying
For me the problem arises when I delete a text message on my iPhone but the watch seems unaware of that and still says I have a message. Asking Siri to read all unread message says I have no unread messages because, I assume, it knows I deleted the message. This really seems like a software synchronization bug that Apple could fix.
It worked!! Remember to ask Siri “read unread messages” on your watch, not your phone.
No real answers that wrk other than turn off/on reset. That worked for me but I won't be surprised when it returns.
This worked! Thank you!
This is the problem for me also. If I delete a message on my phone, my watch will continue to say that I have an unread message. It’ll stay that way for several days to a week afterward. Then it goes away.
This works, but is there a way to do it when I am in a situation where I can't have Siri read messages? i.e. I'm in meetings all day, but I'd like to find a way to clear it without searching for messages?
Thank you so much - fantastic easy quick fix!!!
Unfortunately does not work for me. Siri tells me to "Sorry, could you say that again?".
I've yet to find a solution, but thank you for something new to try!
Apple Watch showing unread text messages
