How to get directions on an Apple Watch

2 min read · 7 steps · Updated 3 October 2026

Short answer

Open the Maps app on the watch, tap the search button and enter or dictate the destination. Tap the button at the top right to choose driving, walking, cycling or public transport, turn the Digital Crown to compare routes, select one and tap Go. The watch then taps your wrist before each turn.

Directions on the wrist are most useful on foot and on a bike, where holding a phone is awkward or unsafe. The watch tells you when to turn by touch alone, so you can keep your eyes on the street and the phone in your pocket.

These steps are for recent versions of watchOS.

Step by step

  1. Open Maps

    Press the Digital Crown and tap Maps. Or raise your wrist and ask Siri, for example Take me to the main station.

  2. Search for the destination

    Tap the search button and dictate or type an address or a place, or pick one of your recent places and favourites.

  3. Choose how you travel

    Tap the button at the top right and choose Driving, Walking, Cycling or Transit.

  4. Pick a route and start

    Turn the Digital Crown to see the suggested routes with their times. Tap the one you want and tap Go.

  5. Follow the taps

    Before a right turn the watch plays a low tone followed by a high tone, with matching taps on the wrist. Before a left turn it is a high tone followed by a low one. A vibration tells you when you are on the last stretch and when you have arrived. In Silent Mode you only get the taps.

  6. Look at the map when needed

    Raise your wrist to see the next instruction and the distance to it. Turn the Digital Crown to look through the coming steps.

  7. Mark a place

    Touch and hold a spot on the map and tap Mark Location to drop a pin, for example where you parked the bike.

Good to know

If you start a route in Maps on the iPhone, the directions appear on the watch by themselves.

Without the iPhone nearby, the watch needs its own mobile plan, Wi-Fi, or maps downloaded for offline use on the paired iPhone: how to download offline maps on an iPhone.

Off the roads, on a hike, the Compass app is the better tool: how to find your way back with Backtrack on an Apple Watch.

What else works without the phone: what an Apple Watch can do without the iPhone nearby.

In short: Maps app, search, choose driving, walking, cycling or transit at the top right, pick a route, Go. Low then high tone means right, high then low means left.

Sources
  • Apple Watch User Guide: Get directions in Maps on Apple Watch

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