The conventional wisdom is to keep your watch on your non-dominant wrist, meaning lefties have to buy custom models. But the cool thing about a smartwatch compared to a standard watch is that the software usually lets you wear it “upside-down” and swap the orientation and key side whenever you wish.
You can usually choose this setting when you first set up your watch. But if you chose incorrectly or decide to switch things up, making the change should be easy if you know where to look. Below, we’ll break down how to change the wrist and orientation on your Galaxy Watch, Apple Watch, Pixel Watch, and other brands.
How to change the wrist and orientation on the Galaxy Watch 5
Using the Galaxy Wearable app
1. Once your Galaxy Watch 5 or Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is set up and connected to the app, open the Galaxy Wearable app and tap Watch settings.
2. Select General > Orientation.
3. Change your Wrist to Left or Right, and your Key position to the opposite side if you prefer.
Using your Galaxy Watch 5
1. Swipe to your app drawer and select Settings (the gray cog icon).
2. Tap General > Orientation.
3. Again, you can change your wrist side and/or key position in this menu.
Change the wrist and orientation on the Google Pixel Watch
In the Pixel Watch app
1. Make sure your Pixel Watch is synced to the mobile “Google Pixel Watch” app.
2. Scroll down to Watch preferences, then select Watch orientation.
3. Choose Left or Right for the wrist position and crown location.
On the Pixel Watch
1. Swipe down from the top of the display to find and select Settings.
2. Tap Display > Wrist Orientation.
3. Choose Left or Right for the wrist position and crown location.
Change the wrist and orientation on a Fossil watch
In the Fossil app
1. In the Fossil mobile app, under the For You header, swipe until you find My preferences.
2. Tap Display > Watch orientation.
3. Select Left or Right for your wrist and crown.
On the Fossil smartwatch
1. Swipe down from the watch face and select Settings.
2. Tap Display > Watch orientation.
3. Select Left or Right for your wrist and crown.
Change the wrist and orientation on the Apple Watch
On your iPhone
1. Open the Apple Watch app.
2. Tap My Watch
3. Select General > Watch Orientation.
4. Choose Left or Right for wrist orientation and digital crown position.
On the Apple Watch
1. Press the Digital crown to pull up the app drawer; select the Settings icon (the gray cog).
2. Select General > Orientation.
3. Choose Left or Right for wrist orientation and digital crown position.
Change the wrist on a Fitbit watch or tracker
1. Open your Fitbit app to the Today tab. Make sure your Fitbit device is synced properly.
2. Tap your profile picture.
3. Tap your Fitbit device’s image.
4. Select Wrist > Dominant or Non-dominant.
Unfortunately, it appears that Fitbit doesn’t support changing the watch orientation.
Change the wrist on a Garmin watch
1. In the Garmin Connect app, sync your device and either tap the watch icon or go to More > Garmin Devices and select the watch.
2. Tap User profile > Wrist.
3. Choose Left or Right. Unfortunately, you cannot change the orientation, though this makes sense because most Garmin watches have asymmetrical button placement.
It appears that many fitness watches let you swap wrists but don’t necessarily allow you to flip the display orientation, most likely due to the technical limitations of the hardware. So if you are a lefty who wants the best possible watch experience and flexibility, then you may want to choose a Wear OS watch or Apple Watch for the most flexibility.