Help Please - I can't get my Galaxy Watch 7 to pair/ connect after factory-resetting my S25U

[Members_tT4A9Qb]

I have created a problem that has resulted in my Galaxy Watch 7 (Bluetooth) no longer connecting to my S25Ultra and I'm hoping that there is a solution that doesn't require resetting my watch and losing all my data.

Background: I hard-reset my S25Ultra phone back to the factory-settings state using the recovery menu because I thought it was behaving strangely. Unfortunately forgot to unpair and disconnect my Watch 7 from the phone before performing the factory-reset. The reset was successful and I restored my phone settings and apps, however I am now unable to re-pair/ re-connect my Galaxy Watch 7 to the phone.

The watch didn't pair with the phone when I selected it from the list of previously paired Bluetooth devices in the phone settings. So I have been trying to pair/ connect to the watch using the Galaxy Wearable app and the "Transfer Watch to New Phone" option in the Watch7's General settings without success. The procedure I've been using is as follows:

1. Restart my Galaxy Watch7
2. Cleared the cache from the Galaxy Wearable app and Reboot my S25U
3. Ensure that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are activated on both the watch and phone
4. Start the Galaxy Wearable app
- The watch indicates that a device is attempting to pair/ connect
- On a few occasions I also received a message displaying a connection passkey on both the watch and phone which I accepted
5. I select "Transfer Watch to New Phone" in the Watch's General settings
- A 6-digit code is displayed on both the watch and the phone
6. I confirm the pairing request by pressing accept on the Galaxy Wearable app
- The resulting message on the watch screen says "complete the setup on the phone..."
7. A user agreement and permission for diagnostic data message is displayed on the Galaxy Wearable app and I agree to the terms
- Then the Galaxy Wearable app display goes white-blank.

And this is where the process ends - the Galaxy Wearable app display remains white-blank. After one or two minutes, a message is displayed on the watch: "failed to transfer... try again?" - or words along those lines.

Note: My S25U is signed-in to my Samsung account. Also, both the Galaxy Wearable and Galaxy Watch7 Manager apps were reinstalled from my backups and both are the up to date versions.

Additional things I've tried that haven't any effect on the details listed above:
I have also performed the activities in Samsung's smart watch Troubleshooting Guide (including Force Rebooting, checking for software updates... Etc.).
Completing the above process with the phone and watch's location services both switched on.
Completing the above process with the watch's WI-FI switched off.

It seems to me that the watch is still paired with my pre factory-reset phone and therefore it is not able or allowing me to pair it with the newly reset phone.

Anyone know how I might fix this?

[arianwen27]

Open the Bluetooth settings on your phone, make sure no galaxy watch is there. If it is, unpair it. delate galaxy watch 7 manager on your phone. Make sure the watch itself is reset.

I had the exact same thing happen to me. It will work eventually. Just a bit fiddly.

If the connection fails, it usually is half connected, so trying again will always fail. So clearing the Bluetooth pairing and watch related apps restart things.

It will work eventually

[Members_tT4A9Qb]

Thank you @arianwen27, there was a "Galaxy Watch7" setting in the phones Bluetooth devices, which was listed under previously connected devices but it was removed during my early unsuccessful attempts to pair the watch to the phone.  Now only when I activate Bluetooth on my watch does Galaxy Watch7 show-up under available devices in the phone's Bluetooth settings.

I will carryout the steps you suggest, because I haven't deleted galaxy watch 7 manager. 

However, just to clarify, are you suggesting that I "reset" the Watch?

If I reset the watch, will I lose all my data - locally stored music, watch faces, health and fitness data etc?

Thanks again

[arianwen27]

Yes I mean properly reset the watch. I was never able to get mine to re connect to my phone without the watch being fully reset.

You can transfer the watch from an old device to a new device, but transferring it from the same device to the same device seems to never work. Guessing the watch kinda fails when it realises the new device is the same as the old device.

You hopefully had cloud backups on in the watch settings in the phone, or at least hopefully it was on by default.

Having the watch reset was my solution, then I restored the automatic backup.

Fitness data is saved in your phone and the cloud if you enabled cloud syncing. The watch itself doesn't store the health data, the phone does

[Members_tT4A9Qb]

I was really hoping to avoid resting the watch.  Unfortunately the watch is reporting that it was last backed-up in February, which perhaps was when I originally paired the watch to the new S25U phone.

But it makes sense that a solution might involve resetting the watch - thank you for clarifying your experience.