Mac can't find Apple Watch to set up unlocking

[mk313]

I got a new Apple Watch & for some reason, I can't get my Mac to connect to it, to set up unlocking.

I have two Macs (both 2017 12" Retina MacBooks & now two apple watches (both Series 5). Both MacBooks are set up to unlock with the first Apple Watch. One of the Macs is also set up to unlock with the second Apple Watch, but the other one won't connect. I see it in the list of watches on the General Tab of the Security & Privacy Settings section. But when I click on it, the 'Turning On' just spins & spins & spins. Then eventually (like 10 minutes or so later) it say that it can't find the watch to connect. Any ideas what I should try. I've already tried restarting both the watch & the Mac.

Also, no need to suggest restoring/reparing the watch. If it comes to that, I'll give it a shot, but I want to see if there's some other setting or trick that I might be missing before I go that route.

Thanks,

 

[Apple_Robert]

Make sure your watch isn't in Sleep Mode when trying to unlock the Mac.

The following steps have worked for me in the past.

1. Open "Keychain Access"
2. In "View", enable "Show Invisible Items"
3. Search for "Auto Unlock"
4. You should see a whole bunch of application passwords for "Auto Unlock: XXXX's ..."
5. Select all records and delete (this will reset/disable auto unlock on other Macs if you use multiple Macs)
6. Whilst still in "Keychain Access", search for "AutoUnlock" (no space)
7. There should be 4 entries for "tlk" "tlk-nonsync" "classA" "classC"
8. Select 4 records and delete (don't worry if they re-appear, the system repairs this automatically)
9. Open "Finder" and navigate to "~/Library/Sharing/AutoUnlock"
10. There should be two files "ltk.plist" and "pairing-records.plist"
11. Delete both files
12. Open "System Preferences" and try enabling auto unlock. You may need to enable it twice, the first attempt will fail.

 

[mk313]

Thank you. I have no idea what all of that does, but it worked & my watch can now unlock the Mac. I appreciate the help.

 

[dgreening]

Make sure your watch isn't in Sleep Mode when trying to unlock the Mac.

The following steps have worked for me in the past.

1. Open "Keychain Access"
2. In "View", enable "Show Invisible Items"
3. Search for "Auto Unlock"
4. You should see a whole bunch of application passwords for "Auto Unlock: XXXX's ..."
5. Select all records and delete (this will reset/disable auto unlock on other Macs if you use multiple Macs)
6. Whilst still in "Keychain Access", search for "AutoUnlock" (no space)
7. There should be 4 entries for "tlk" "tlk-nonsync" "classA" "classC"
8. Select 4 records and delete (don't worry if they re-appear, the system repairs this automatically)
9. Open "Finder" and navigate to "~/Library/Sharing/AutoUnlock"
10. There should be two files "ltk.plist" and "pairing-records.plist"
11. Delete both files
12. Open "System Preferences" and try enabling auto unlock. You may need to enable it twice, the first attempt will fail.

Still fails pretty quick each time. Any other thoughts?