How Sleep Tracking On Apple Watch Works

The Apple Watch has a sleep-tracking function that can display a graph of sleep stages, including REM, Core, and Deep Sleep. The Sleep app on the Apple Watch can help you create sleep schedules and meet your sleep goals. To use the sleep-tracking function, you can enable sleep tracking directly from your Apple Watch or through the Health app on your iPhone. You can also use third-party apps like Sleep Cycle to track your sleep, but this requires syncing your iPhone and Apple Watch.

Explore related products

Withings Sleep - Sleep Tracking Pad Under The Mattress With Sleep Cycle Analysis

$199.95

Smart Ring, Fitness Tracker with Health Metrics Tracking, 50 Sports Modes, Sleep Analysis, IP68 Titanium, 7-Day Battery(Black 8#)

$16.99 $18.99

Health Tracker Ring, Smart Health Ring for Women Men with Heart Rate, Blood Oxygen, Sleep Monitor, Steps,Calories, No Subscription Fee, IP68 Waterproof Smart Ring for iPhone & Android (Rose Gold, 8#)

$69.98

Smart Watch for Men Women, 1.85" HD Touchsreen Fitness Tracker, 120+ Sport Modes, 24/7 Heart Rate & Sleep Monitor, Pedometer, Calories, IP68 Waterproof, Fitness Watch for Android iPhone (Black)

$24.99 $199.99

Fitness Tracker with 24/7Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, Sleep Tracking, Calorie, Activity Tracker with 1.1" AMOLED Color Screen, Waterproof Step Tracker for Android iPhones Women Men

$28.99

Smart Ring Health Tracker for Men/Women,Fitness Ring Sleep Tracker with LED Display Sreeen,Fast Charging,Health and Sleep Monitoring,Motion Tracking,Female Cycle,Waterproof (ABS Black, 7-13)

$2.59

Sleep tracking

The Apple Watch is a powerful sleep tracker. It can display a graph of sleep stages, although its sleep duration stats may be more useful. Sleep experts say that keeping an eye on your sleep trends can help you sleep better, although they discourage people from obsessing over day-to-day data. Every Apple Watch offers sleep tracking, but the Apple Watch SE lacks the blood oxygen sensor used to enhance sleep tracking accuracy.

To track your sleep, wear your Apple Watch to bed. The watch can estimate the time spent in each sleep stage: REM, Core, and Deep, as well as when you wake up. In the morning, you can open the Sleep app to see how much sleep you got and your sleep trends over the past 14 days. You can also ask Siri, "How much did I sleep last night?"

To set up sleep tracking, you must complete steps in both the Apple Health app and the Apple Watch app. Open the Health app on your iPhone and tap "Get Started" under "Set Up Sleep". Set the number of hours you'd like to sleep, your bedtime, and wake-up time. You can also turn on Sleep Focus to reduce distractions on your iPhone and Apple Watch. Then, open the Sleep app on your Apple Watch and enable "Track Sleep with Apple Watch".

You can adjust your wind-down and sleep goal as needed on your iPhone or Apple Watch. Open the Health app and tap "Browse" at the bottom of the screen, then tap "Sleep". Tap "Full Schedule & Options", then tap "Wind Down" or "Sleep Goal" under "Additional Details". Adjust your time, then tap to save your changes.

You can also use third-party apps like Sleep Cycle to track your sleep.

Explore related products

Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen) [GPS 40mm] Smartwatch with Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Band S/M. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Crash Detection, Heart Rate Monitor, Retina Display

$189 $249

1.83" HD Smart Watch, 30 Days Battery Life, Sleep/Heart Rate/SpO2/Blood Pressure Monitor, Calls/Messages/Notifications, 5ATM 110+ Sports Modes Fitness Tracker Watch, for Women & Men/ Android & iPhone

$51.99

MorePro Health Fitness Tracker with 24/7 Heart Rate/Blood Pressure Monitor, Blood Oxy-gen/Sleep Tracking, 120+ Sports Activity Tracker, Smart Watch (Make/Answer Call) with Step Counter for Women Men

$49.99

Smart Watches for Women Men with Bluetooth Call & AI Voice, 1.85" HD Fitness Tracker with Heart Rate SpO2 Sleep Monitor, 100+ Sports Modes,Mini Games, IP68 Waterproof Smartwatch for Android iOS Phones

$39.99 $219.99

Apple Watch SE 3 [GPS 40mm] Smartwatch with Starlight Aluminum Case with Starlight Sport Band - S/M. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Heart Rate Monitor, Always-On Display, Water Resistant

$239.99

Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen) [GPS 44mm] Smartwatch with Starlight Aluminum Case with Starlight Sport Band M/L. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Crash Detection, Heart Rate Monitor, Retina Display

$219 $279

Sleep schedules

To create a sleep schedule, you can set up the following general settings: a sleep goal, which is the number of hours of sleep you want to get, and Sleep Focus, which limits distractions before bedtime and protects your sleep after you're in bed. You can adjust your wind-down and sleep goal as needed on your iPhone or Apple Watch. To do this, open the Health app, tap Browse, then tap Sleep. If you have Sleep saved to your Favourites list, you can access it from the Summary page in the Health app. Tap Full Schedule & Options, then tap Wind Down or Sleep Goal under Additional Details. Adjust your time, then tap to save your changes.

You can also set a new wake-up time by tapping the wake-up time and turning the Digital Crown to set a new time. If you don't want your Apple Watch to wake you in the morning, you can turn off the alarm. To change the vibration or ringtone, tap Sounds & Haptics, then choose a ringtone. In watchOS 11.4 or later, if you want your alarm to play out loud while you have Silent Mode turned on, tap Break Through Silent Mode. You can also turn off the next wake-up alarm in the Alarms app.

To view your sleep history, open the Health app on your iPhone or iPad. If you're using an iPhone, tap Browse at the bottom of the screen. If you're using an iPad, tap the sidebar to open it. You can also view your recent sleep data on your Apple Watch by opening the Sleep app and turning the Digital Crown.

Explore related products

Fitbit Inspire 3 Health &-Fitness-Tracker with Stress Management, Workout Intensity, Sleep Tracking, 24/7 Heart Rate and more, Morning Glow/Black, One Size (S & L Bands Included)

$87.99 $99.95

Apple Watch SE 3 [GPS 44mm] Smartwatch with Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Band - M/L. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Heart Rate Monitor, Always-On Display, Water Resistant

$269.99

EMAY Sleep Oxygen Monitor with Built-in Recording Capability | Track Continuous Blood Oxygen Levels & Pulse Rate Overnight | Provides Sleep Report & Raw Data

$49.99 $59

Smart Ring for Women and Men, 5ATM Waterproof Smart Rings Health Tracker with Sleep/Stress/Heart Rate/Activity Monitor, No Subscription, Smart Rings Fitness Tracker for Android iOS, Size 8, Silver

$49.89 $59.99

Watch Series 10 [GPS 46mm case] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Fitness Tracker, ECG App, Always-On Retina Display, Water Resistant

$359 $429

Watch SE (2nd Gen) [GPS 44mm] Smartwatch with Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Band M/L. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Crash Detection, Heart Rate Monitor, Retina Display

$199 $279

Sleep analysis

The Apple Watch is a powerful sleep tracker. It can help you analyse your sleep by providing a range of data. To use the sleep tracking function, you need to wear your Apple Watch to bed. The watch will then automatically measure and record the number of times you breathe in a minute. It will also estimate the time spent in each sleep stage: REM, Core, and Deep sleep.

The Sleep app on the Apple Watch will show you the amount of sleep you got the night before, the time spent in each sleep stage, and your sleep average over the last 14 days. You can also view your sleep history by opening the Health app on your iPhone or iPad. This will allow you to see your sleep trends, including a small chart showing how many minutes you were awake and how much time you spent in each sleep stage.

The Apple Watch can also help you track your breathing rate as you sleep, which can give you greater insight into your overall health. It can measure your respiratory rate while you sleep and display a graph of your sleep stages. In addition, the Apple Watch can measure your heart rate and blood oxygen levels. This data can be useful for benchmarking your sleep data and identifying the causes of poor sleep, such as assessing your risk of sleep apnea.

It is important to note that the Apple Watch's sleep tracking function provides an approximation of your sleep stages based on its accelerometer, heart rate sensor, and blood oxygen sensor. It cannot measure your brain's electrical activity directly, as a laboratory sleep study would. Therefore, while the data can be interesting and useful, it should be interpreted with a degree of caution.

Explore related products

Watch Series 11 [GPS 42mm] Smartwatch with Rose Gold Aluminum Case with Light Blush Sport Band - S/M. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant

$389.99

Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant

$419.99

Watch SE (2nd Gen) [GPS 40mm] Smartwatch with Starlight Aluminum Case with Starlight Sport Band S/M. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Crash Detection, Heart Rate Monitor, Retina Display

$229 $249

Apple Watch Series 7 (GPS, 41mm) Starlight Aluminum Case with Starlight Sport Band, Regular (Renewed)

$139.99

Apple Watch Series 5 (GPS, 40MM) - Gold Aluminum Case with Pink Sand Sport Band (Renewed)

$109

Apple Watch Series 6 (GPS + Cellular, 40mm) - Gold Aluminum Case with Pink Sand Sport Band (Renewed)

$109

Sleep data

The Apple Watch can be used as a sleep tracker. It can estimate the time spent in each sleep stage: REM, Core, and Deep, as well as the number of hours spent asleep. It can also track your breathing rate while you sleep, which can provide insight into your overall health.

To use the sleep tracking function, you must wear your Apple Watch to bed. The watch will sense when you are sleeping, so there is no need to start it manually. It is recommended that you charge your watch to at least 30% before going to bed.

To set up sleep tracking, you must complete steps in both the Apple Health app and the Apple Watch app. In the Health app, you can set up a sleep schedule and a sleep goal. You can also enable Sleep Focus, which reduces distractions before you go to bed and while you are sleeping. In the Apple Watch app, you can turn on sleep tracking and charging reminders.

You can view your sleep data in the Sleep app on your Apple Watch or in the Health app on your iPhone. The Sleep app will show you the amount of sleep you got the previous night, the time spent in each sleep stage, and your sleep average over the last 14 days. In the Health app, you can view your sleep history, including the average time spent in each sleep stage.

It is important to note that the Apple Watch cannot measure your brain's electrical activity directly like a laboratory sleep study. Therefore, sleep staging information provided by the watch should be interpreted with some caution.

Explore related products

Watch Ultra 3 [GPS + Cellular 49mm] Running & Multisport Smartwatch w/Rugged Titanium Case w/Black Ocean Band. Satellite Communications, Advanced Health & Fitness Tracking

$779.99

Watch SE 3 [GPS 40mm] Smartwatch with Midnight Aluminum Case with Midnight Sport Band - S/M. Fitness and Sleep Trackers, Heart Rate Monitor, Always-On Display, Water Resistant

$239.99

Apple Watch Series 6 (GPS, 44mm) - Space Gray Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band (Renewed)

$119.95

Apple Watch Series 6 (GPS, 44mm) - Blue Aluminum Case with Deep Navy Sport Band (Renewed)

$114.95 $124

Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Space Gray Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant

$419.99

Relaxium Sleep Aid for Adults, Melatonin 5mg with Magnesium Glycinate, Sleep-Promoting Valerest & Ashwagandha, Non-Habit Forming Sleep Supplement, 60 Capsules, 30-Day Supply

$28.9 $34.99

Sleep goals

The Apple Watch is a powerful sleep tracker. It can be used to set sleep goals and create a customised sleep schedule. To set up Sleep on your Apple Watch, open the Apple Watch app on your phone, then tap Sleep and Track Sleep with Apple Watch. You can also open the Health app on your iPhone, tap Browse, tap Sleep, then tap Get Started (below Set Up Sleep).

To set a sleep goal, open the Health app and tap Browse at the bottom of the screen. Then, tap Sleep. If you have Sleep saved to your Favourites list, you can access it from the Summary page in the Health app. Tap Full Schedule & Options, then tap Sleep Goal under Additional Details. Adjust your time, then tap Sleep Goal to save your changes. You can also change your sleep goal by tapping Sleep Goal on your Apple Watch and setting the amount of time you want to sleep.

You can create sleep schedules to help you meet your sleep goals. Wear your watch to bed, and Apple Watch can estimate the time spent in each sleep stage: REM, Core, and Deep sleep, as well as when you woke up. It will sense when you're sleeping, so there's no need to start it when you turn off the lights. You can also manually turn on Sleep Focus from your phone or Apple Watch if you go to bed earlier than your Sleep Schedule time.

You can also view your Sleep Duration details, such as your Sleep Goal and Time Asleep. If you have an Apple Watch Series 3 or later with watchOS 8, you can also measure and track your Respiratory Rate.

Frequently asked questions