How to change the language on your Wear OS 3 smartwatch

Having the right language showing on your Wear OS 3 watch is fairly integral to the experience, which is why it's so frustrating if things have gone awry. 

Unlike in the old days of Wear OS, there is no way to change the language directly on the device itself - and that's the case whether you own a Samsung Galaxy Watch, Google Pixel Watch, or another modern device using Google's OS. 

However, that doesn't mean you're completely powerless. There is a semi-solution to changing the language on your phone, and we've outlined it in the steps below.

Solution: Change the language on your phone

Wareable

If your smartwatch is running Wear OS 3 (or above), the language that appears is directly tied to that of your connected smartphone - be it Android or iPhone.

This means that you're unable to have your phone in one language and your Wear OS device in another.

To change the language on either Android or iOS, follow the steps below.

Change language on Android

1. On your Android device, open the 'Settings' app. 

2. Next, find your 'General' or 'System' settings - or, alternatively, type 'Language' into the settings search box.

3. Hit the 'Language' option, then 'Add language', and next select the language you require. 

4. Drag your language to the top of the list.

5. Sync your smartwatch with your phone and wait for the change to take effect. You may have to restart your watch.

Change language on iPhone

1. Open the 'Settings' app on your iPhone.

2. Tap 'General', followed by 'Language & Region'.

3. Next, hit 'Add Language' and then select the language you require from the list.

4. When prompted, select your primary language from the options provided.  

5. Sync your smartwatch with your phone and wait for the change to take effect. You may have to restart your watch.

Problems with changing the language?

Wareable

We have encountered scenarios in which changing the language on our phone hasn't always kicked in immediately on our connected watch. In this case, troubleshooting the problem is the next step.

One thing to try is to simply repeat the steps of changing language on your phone a couple of times, but a more reliable method is simply to disconnect and reset your Wear OS 3 smartwatch.

By following the steps below, you will lose your settings, apps, and watch data, but you will also have the option to reset the language and start from scratch. 

Reset language by using disconnect and reset 

1. On your Wear OS 3 watch, head to 'Settings'.

2. Scroll down to 'System', followed by 'Disconnect & reset'.

3. Confirm you want to disconnect and reset your device, and wait for the watch to restart.

4. Follow the setup instructions and choose a language - remember that this will still be tied to your phone.

5. Sync your Wear OS 3 watch with your phone's companion app.