Apple Watch charging is a smooth process. You take off your watch, place it on the charging stand, and that’s it. The watch sits snuggly on the dock and starts charging. But what if you have a green or red snake of death on your watch face?
Don’t panic! These are just two of the animations that appear while your Apple Watch is charging not the way it should be. This usually happens when you have replaced the battery, bought a new watch, or if the watch is dead for a long time.
In this guide, we will show you how to get rid of the green or red snake of death on your Apple Watch no matter what model you own (Series 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, SE). But first, let us explain these animations to you.
Table of Contents
What does the green snake mean on Apple Watch?
A green lightning bolt with a charging cable means that the Apple Watch is charging but doesn’t have enough power to turn on. Sometimes, Apple Watch gets stuck on this screen even when you charge it for hours. The Green snake of death describes exactly this situation and is popularized by Apple Watch Community.
People dread the green snake because it can stay on the screen for a very long time and also for the reason that it can raise the temperature of the watch.
What does the red snake mean on Apple Watch?
The red lightning bolt means that there is no battery left in your Apple Watch. Normally, when you plug in the watch to charge, this indicator turns Green. But if there is a problem with the watch’s charging cable, port, or connection, this indicator refuses to budge, therefore the name, red snake of death.
This can be caused by a loose cable, dirt in the port, or a problem with the charging circuitry.
The red snake on Apple Watch is less common than the green one, but it’s still pretty troublesome when it pops up.
Related Post: Can You Use an Apple Watch While Charging?
Now that you know what the green and red snakes of death mean, let us show you how to fix them.
How to get rid of the Green or Red Snake of death?
Follow the troubleshooting steps in order to get rid of the green and red charging cable/snakes on your watch.
Discharge Your Apple Watch Completely:
This helped many users to get rid of the green snake. To completely discharge the watch, you can unplug the watch from the charger and leave it off for a few minutes. Keep pressing the side button to see if the red snake of death appears on the screen.
There would be no indicator on the watch when the battery is completely drained. Keep in mind that if the green or red snakes are appearing due to a software-related issue, it might take a few days to completely discharge the watch.
After the screen goes black, plug the watch back in and let it charge. Keep noticing the temperature of the watch. If it starts to heat up, this method is not going to work for your Apple Watch.
Use Proprietary Charger:
Many people tend to charge the watch by plugging the USB cable into their MacBook or using a third-party charging dock. If you are one of these people, try using the Apple Watch’s proprietary charger instead. This ensures that the watch is getting the right configuration (Volt, Ampere, Watt) of power.
This worked for some users who had the green snake of death on their watch. When they switched to the Apple Watch’s own adaptor, the green snake disappeared.
Try using the adaptor with different wall outlets, and make sure that the dock is clean.
Change the Wire:
Almost 95% of the time, the problem is either with the charging cable or the charging port. If you are sure about the second, try replacing the watch wire and if your family member or friend owns an Apple Watch, borrow the cable from them.
Charge the watch for a little bit, and then see if the alternate green and red snakes still appear. Or if the watch is getting unusually hot?
If not, this solution has worked for you. Keep charging the watch for at least 3-4 hours.
Hard Resetting the Apple Watch:
Any firmware-related issues on the Apple Watch can be solved by doing a hard reset. And it is very much possible that the red and green snakes are due to a software malfunction.
To hard reset the Apple Watch:
- Make sure that the watch is connected to the charging dock
- Press and hold the Side button and Digital Crown for 10 seconds until you see the Apple logo on the screen. This will reset your watch to factory default settings and might solve the problem.
If you are still experiencing the green or red snake on your Apple Watch, your battery is perhaps completely dead and needs to be replaced.
Final Words:
We hope that one of the solutions above helped you get rid of the pesky green or red snake on your Apple Watch. If not, feel free to reach out to Apple support and they would be more than happy to help you out.