What do the icons on my smartwatch mean?
Apple, Samsung, Google and Garmin each list their watch icons — but by name, which does not help when all you can see is a tiny red dot, a drop or two masks. Pick the shape, then match the drawing. 31 icon shapes (20 Apple Watch, 7 Galaxy Watch, 5 Pixel Watch/Fitbit, 12 Garmin), each with the maker’s own meaning and its source. For the icons at the top of a phone screen, see phone status icons.
Tap a shape — the icons that use it appear here.
A dot or a ring — 4 icons
A lightning bolt or battery — 3 icons
A water drop — 2 icons
A moon, bed or minus sign — 4 icons
A person, badge, masks or clapperboard — 5 icons
A phone, handset or red X — 4 icons
Wi-Fi, bars, GPS, arrow or plane — 5 icons
A padlock, microphone, heart or eye — 4 icons
Same shape, different meaning
Some shapes appear on more than one make of watch but do not mean the same thing. Each has one page that lists every maker’s meaning side by side:
- Lightning bolt — The same bolt means different things: charging or low battery on an Apple Watch, charging on a Pixel Watch, and a connected power meter on a Garmin.
- Crescent moon — A crescent moon silences the watch, but in different ways: Do Not Disturb on an Apple Watch, sleep mode on a Fitbit, Goodnight mode on older Galaxy Watch models.
- Padlock — On an Apple Watch the watch is locked (enter your passcode); on a Garmin it is the control that locks the buttons and touchscreen.
Reading a watch face
- Colour matters on an Apple Watch. The same lightning bolt is green while charging and red when the battery is low; a red dot is an unread notification, a red X is a lost cellular connection, a red crossed-out phone is a lost iPhone connection (Apple).
- Position matters on older Galaxy Watch models. On Tizen-based models the notification dot sits at the 9 o’clock edge: orange for regular notifications, red for urgent ones (Samsung).
- Flashing or solid on a Garmin. The icons in a Garmin’s status bar during an activity flash while the watch is searching for a signal or sensor and stay solid once it is found; the bar turns green when GPS is ready (Garmin).
- Fitbit icons do not stay. The status icons at the top of a Fitbit clock face disappear after 3 seconds; they are shown again at the top of quick settings (Google).
Left out, and why
- Samsung Galaxy Watch (Wear OS) status icons. The Samsung support pages we read for the newer Wear OS Galaxy Watch models describe Quick settings but give no list of the icons on the watch face, and its Sleep and Theatre mode guide (samsung.com/uk, updated 22 May 2026) shows the icons only as pictures. The notification dot we list is from Samsung’s Tizen design guide and is marked as such.
- Google Pixel Watch status icons. We found no Google Pixel Watch Help page that lists the icons on the watch face, only community threads where owners ask, which we do not use. We use only what Google’s own help pages say (the charging bolt), and Fitbit’s status-indicator list for Fitbit devices.
- Fitbit water lock icon. Google’s Fitbit page says a water lock icon appears at the bottom of the screen but does not show what it looks like, so it is not placed under any shape.
- Garmin bike and camera sensor icons. Garmin’s status table also lists icons for a running pod, speed and cadence sensors, bike lights, bike radar, a smart trainer, a tempe temperature sensor and a VIRB camera. They only appear with that accessory paired and follow the same rule (flashing = searching, solid = connected), so they have no page each.
Sources
Only the watch makers’ own guides are used — no third-party icon lists. Each was fetched and read on the date shown.
- Apple Watch — Apple Support: Check the status of Apple Watch (Apple Watch User Guide). Covers: watchOS 27, the version the guide opened on; not dated on the page. Checked 2026-09-29.
- Samsung Galaxy Watch — Samsung Developer: System Icons (One UI Watch for Tizen, watch-face design guide). Covers: Tizen-based Galaxy Watch models (Galaxy Watch, Watch Active2, Watch3, Gear S3); the page does not cover the newer Wear OS models; not dated on the page. Checked 2026-09-29.
- Samsung Galaxy Watch — Samsung US support: Use Water lock mode to swim with your Samsung smart watch. Covers: Samsung smart watches; model and software version not stated; not dated on the page. Checked 2026-09-29.
- Samsung Galaxy Watch — Samsung Canada support: Use silent modes on your Samsung smartwatch. Covers: Galaxy Watch models; notes where the Galaxy Watch4 series differs; last updated 10 November 2021. Checked 2026-09-29.
- Google Pixel Watch and Fitbit — Google Health Help Center (Fitbit): How do I navigate my Fitbit device? — Understand status indicators. Covers: Fitbit trackers and watches; the status-indicator list appears under each model; not dated on the page. Checked 2026-09-29.
- Google Pixel Watch and Fitbit — Google Pixel Watch Help: Fix a Google Pixel Watch that won’t charge. Covers: Google Pixel Watch; software version not stated; not dated on the page. Checked 2026-09-29.
- Garmin — Garmin Forerunner 265 Series Owner’s Manual: GPS Status and Status Icons. Covers: Forerunner 265 series; the same page is in the Forerunner 165, 965 and 970 and fēnix 7 and 9 manuals; manual version 9, June 2025. Checked 2026-09-29.
- Garmin — Garmin Forerunner 265 Series Owner’s Manual: Controls. Covers: Forerunner 265 series; the controls on other Garmin models may differ; manual version 9, June 2025. Checked 2026-09-29.