The short answer
Set up Sleep in the Health app on iPhone and turn on "Track Sleep with Apple Watch". Charge to at least 30% before bed, wear the watch with a comfortable fit, and sleep with it on for at least an hour. In the morning, open Health → Browse: sleep is under Sleep, heart rate and HRV are under Heart.
Key points
- Turn on a sleep schedule and "Track Sleep with Apple Watch"
- Charge to 30% or more before bed and wear the watch neither too tight nor too loose
- Find sleep under Health → Browse → Sleep
- Find heart rate, resting heart rate and HRV under Browse → Heart
Before you sleep
Set up Sleep
On iPhone, open Health → Browse → Sleep and follow the prompts to set a sleep goal and schedule.
Turn on tracking with the watch
Enable "Track Sleep with Apple Watch". If you paired the watch after setting this up, check it again under Sleep in the Watch app.
Check the charge
Apple suggests at least 30% charge before bed. Turning on the charging reminder reduces missed nights.
Get the fit right
Neither too tight nor too loose. Too loose can affect how movement and heart rate are read.
Reading your sleep in the morning
On iPhone, open Health → Browse → Sleep. Switch between day, week, month and 6 months to see duration and timing. Where supported, estimated time in Awake, REM, Core and Deep is shown as well.
Under "Show More Sleep Data", the Comparisons view puts sleep duration next to heart rate and respiratory rate. The Sleep app on the watch itself also shows your recent nights.
Reading heart rate and HRV
Open the Heart category
On iPhone, open Health → Browse → Heart.
Choose what to look at
Pick Heart Rate, Resting Heart Rate or Heart Rate Variability.
Pin what you use
Pinning the measures you check often makes them easier to find on the summary screen next time.
Match the ranges
When comparing sleep with heart rate, look at the same day or week, and at a run of values rather than one point.
A morning order that works
- First, whether duration and bed and wake times differ much from usual
- Then, whether interruptions or waking during the night have increased
- After that, the flow of overnight heart rate, resting heart rate and HRV
- Last, your own sense of how rested you are, how sleepy, how you feel
When no data appears
- Did the Apple Watch battery run out during the night?
- Is "Track Sleep with Apple Watch" on?
- Did you sleep with it on for at least an hour?
- Is the watch too loose, and is wrist detection working?
- Are iPhone and watch running current software?