How to track your sleep with an Apple Watch
2 min read · 5 steps · Updated 2 October 2026
Open the Health app on the iPhone, find Sleep and set up a sleep schedule with Track Sleep with Apple Watch switched on. Wear the watch to bed with at least 30% battery. In the morning, the Sleep app shows your time asleep and sleep stages.
An Apple Watch measures how long you sleep and how much of it is REM, core and deep sleep, using movement and heart rate. You need to wear it at night, so charging moves to another time of day.
These steps are for recent versions of watchOS. The pictures are simplified diagrams of the watch screen, not screenshots.
Step by step
Open Health on the iPhone and find Sleep
Use the search, or look under Browse, and tap Sleep. Tap Get Started under Set Up Sleep the first time.
Set a sleep goal and schedule
Choose your bedtime and wake-up time for each day. The schedule turns on Sleep Focus, which dims the watch and silences notifications.
Check that tracking is on
In the Watch app, tap Sleep and make sure Track Sleep with Apple Watch is on.
Charge before bed
A watch needs about 30% to last the night. Charging while you shower or get ready for bed is usually enough. Switch on Charging Reminders to be told.
Read the results
Open the Sleep app on the watch, or Health, Sleep on the iPhone. You see time asleep, the stages and your trend over weeks.
Good to know
Wear the watch snug but comfortable. If it is too loose, the sensors lose contact and nights are missing.
Recent watchOS versions also give a sleep score and can watch for signs of sleep apnoea on supported models. These are indications, not a diagnosis. Speak to a doctor if you are worried.
The figures are estimates. A consumer watch cannot measure sleep stages as precisely as a sleep laboratory.
In short: Health app, Sleep, set a schedule, wear the watch at night with 30% battery.
- Apple Support: Track your sleep on Apple Watch and use Sleep on iPhone
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