Apple Watch High Heart Rate Notification at Rest

Your Apple Watch shows a high heart rate, and you are only sitting or lying down. Per Apple, the watch compares your heart rate with a threshold you set. It does this after you have been inactive for at least 10 minutes. The notification is not a diagnosis. Here you read where to find the threshold and what to write down after. You can use paper or the symptom diary in Sam. There you note complaints per day and see the month in the monthly report.

First the most important thing: with chest pain, pressure or tightness, call your emergency number right away. Apple says this itself, and it comes before everything else here.

All information about the notification comes from Apple's support pages. What a value means for you is for a doctor or therapist to say.

What does the "High Heart Rate" notification mean?

Per Apple, the watch lets you know when your heart rate stays above a number. You set that number yourself in beats per minute. There is also a notification for a low heart rate. Both are available from Apple Watch Series 1 and from age 13.

The watch can report, per Apple, when the value stays above the threshold after you have been inactive for at least 10 minutes. The notification is a comparison with your setting in a quiet phase, not a diagnosis. Per Apple, the Apple Watch cannot spot heart attacks.

Apple has a second feature, the irregular rhythm notification. It is something different and not available in all regions. This text is only about the high heart rate notification.

When do you call the emergency number, and when do you get medical help?

Call your local emergency number (112 in the EU, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US) for chest pain, pressure or tightness, or for signs you think are a heart attack. Apple advises this. Also call for shortness of breath, instead of reading further or noting down.

After fainting, call if you are not fully clear within a minute, you are injured, it happened during exertion or while lying down, or chest pain, shortness of breath or a racing heart follow. If you recover quickly, call your practice the same day. If you know these complaints from panic attacks, agree with your doctor or therapist when you call. Until then, when in doubt, call.

If you do not feel well, per Apple, talk to your doctor even without a notification. Apple gives examples such as a rapid, pounding or fluttering heartbeat and dizziness. Do not change your medication without talking to your practice first.

Where do you set the threshold?

On the iPhone, open the Apple Watch app and go to My Watch, then Heart, then High Heart Rate. There you choose a number in beats per minute. For the low notification, use the same path over Low Heart Rate.

On the watch itself, go to Settings, then Heart, then High Heart Rate Notifications. There too you set the threshold.

The number is your own setting. Which value fits you is a conversation with your practice. Note the value you chose, because you need it for the line below.

Why does the notification come seemingly without reason?

The notification depends on two things: your threshold and a quiet phase of at least 10 minutes. Apple does not explain how the watch measures inactivity. A few points you can check yourself.

Does the watch sit neither too tight nor too loose? Per Apple, the back case needs skin contact. Is Low Power Mode on? Then you get no high or low heart rate notifications, per Apple.

The British Heart Foundation lists infections, anaemia, an overactive thyroid, anxiety and stress, high temperatures and dehydration, and says alcohol and some medicines can raise heart rate. The NHS adds caffeine and poor sleep among common causes of palpitations.

What do you write down in the five minutes after the notification?

A notification, five minutes, one line. You do not need more. For chest pain or shortness of breath you write nothing; you call.

A line holds:

• The date and time of the notification.
• The value in the notification and the threshold you set.
• What you did in the 10 minutes before: sat, lay, slept, stairs, a conversation.
• The value after 5 and after 15 minutes, from the watch or counted yourself.
• How you feel, for example dizzy, restless or afraid, and how strongly.
• Caffeine, alcohol, a meal, fever, stress and new medicines in the last 3 hours, noted only.
• The prior night's sleep.
• Watch fit (loose, wet) and whether Low Power Mode is on.

To count yourself, lay your index and middle fingers on the inside of the wrist, at the base of the thumb. Count the beats for 30 seconds and double the number. The BHF pulse guide says to sit or lie down for five minutes first, avoid caffeine and smoking beforehand, and check at the same time each day.

High heart rate and panic: who sorts it out?

A racing heart is one of the physical signs people describe with panic. The NHS lists stress and anxiety among common causes of palpitations and says they are usually not a sign of anything serious. Racing or pounding can also have causes such as anaemia, an overactive thyroid or a heart rhythm problem. Which one it is for you is decided by a doctor or therapist, not by you, the watch or an app.

Per the NHS, tell your GP if palpitations keep coming back, last longer than a few minutes, you have a heart condition, or heart problems run in your family. An ECG may be arranged to help find the cause.

What do you take along, and what is checked?

Take your lines and the threshold you set. Your heart rate history is found, per Apple, in the Health app under Browse, then Heart, for the last hour, day, week, month or year.

The British Heart Foundation says a resting heart rate above 100 is too fast for most people. It lists anxiety and stress among the causes and says to see your GP if your heart rate is consistently fast, especially if you also feel faint or dizzy. Which tests you need is the practice's decision.

Should you leave the notification on?

You decide that together with your practice. This text recommends neither on nor off. At your visit, ask which threshold fits you and whether the notification is useful for you.

One more point. If you share health data, the people you share with can see the health notifications you receive, per Apple. Decide that deliberately. Sam's Friends & Family sharing is read-only and revocable per person.

Note the notification and how you felt in Sam

You record which days you had complaints such as a racing heart, and you see resting heart rate, HRV and sleep from Apple Health in the same app. That is how you bring weeks to the visit.

• Instead of paper or a notes app: in the symptom diary you pick complaints such as a racing heart or dizziness for the day and their strength.
• Instead of screenshots: if your doctor or therapist has confirmed panic disorder, you note your attacks in the program for panic disorder, its own diary with a doctor report and a monthly questionnaire, and take a report as a PDF.
• Instead of memory: sleep, resting heart rate and HRV from Apple Health sit in the same app, a few taps from the entry.

Sam does not take over the watch's notifications and is not emergency help.

Try Sam Health

Sam is a wellness companion, not a medical device. The app does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition or health state. Always consult qualified professionals for medical decisions.

Related reading

• Resting heart rate and HRV in panic disorder
• Living with panic disorder: sleep, triggers, daily life
• Documenting panic attack patterns for the doctor
• Apple Watch Vitals out of range: what to do
• Menopause: Palpitations, Anxiety and Blood Pressure

Sources

Updated: October 2026

• Apple Support: Heart health notifications on your Apple Watch (published 28 September 2026)
• Apple Watch User Guide: Monitor your heart health on Apple Watch (watchOS 27)
• Apple Watch User Guide: Check your heart rate on Apple Watch (watchOS 27)
• British Heart Foundation: Checking your pulse (published 18 October 2024)
• iPhone User Guide: Share your data in Health on iPhone (iOS 27)
• British Heart Foundation: Heart rate: what's normal and how to check it (page updated 17 August 2026)
• NHS: Heart palpitations (last reviewed 17 March 2026)
• NHS: Fainting (last reviewed 17 August 2026)