How to use the Smart Stack on an Apple Watch
2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 2 October 2026
On the watch face, turn the Digital Crown upwards or swipe up from the bottom of the screen. A stack of widgets appears, chosen for the time of day. Scroll to the one you want and tap it to open its app. To change the stack, scroll to the bottom and tap Edit.
The Smart Stack is a list of widgets behind the watch face: weather, your next appointment, a running timer, the music that is playing. The watch reorders it through the day, so what you are likely to need is near the top.
These steps are for recent versions of watchOS. The pictures are simplified diagrams of the watch screen, not screenshots.
Step by step
Open the Smart Stack
From the watch face, turn the Digital Crown up, or swipe up from the bottom edge.
Use a widget
Scroll through the stack and tap a widget to open the app behind it.
Add a widget
Scroll to the bottom and tap Edit. Tap the Add Widget button, the plus sign, and choose a widget. Some widgets can be expanded to pick what they show. Tap Done.
Remove a widget
In Edit, tap the Delete button next to the widget and tap Done.
Pin a widget to the top
In Edit, tap the Pin button at the right of a widget. Pinned widgets stay in place and are not reordered. Touch and hold a pinned widget to drag it into the order you like.
Watch Live Activities
Things that are happening now, such as a workout, a timer or a food delivery, appear at the top of the stack by themselves as Live Activities.
Good to know
When the watch thinks a widget is useful right now, it taps your wrist and shows a small hint at the bottom of the watch face. Tap the hint to open the stack. Swipe the hint down to mute these hints for 24 hours.
Before watchOS 10, swiping up opened Control Center. That is now on the side button.
For the watch face itself: how to change the watch face on an Apple Watch.
A gesture that scrolls the stack without touching the screen: how to use Double Tap on an Apple Watch.
In short: Digital Crown up or swipe up, tap a widget, Edit at the bottom to add with plus, delete or pin.
- Apple Support: Use the Smart Stack to show timely widgets on Apple Watch
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