Most of you may admit that nothing compares to the embarrassment felt when there’s an incoming call and your Apple Watch starts ringing loudly in an area where it was supposed to stay silent such as in the library or at a meeting. Surely you can just press the reject button or mute your watch, but by the time you do it, the situation becomes more awkward.

Fortunately, Apple Watch comes with a useful little feature that allows you to silence calls and alerts with just the gesture of your hand. Here’s how you can start using it.

Silence Incoming Calls & Alerts on Apple Watch With a Hand Gesture

Step 1: As always, the first step is to enable this feature. To do so, open the Watch app on your iPhone and go to My Watch -> Sounds & Haptics.

Step 2: Turn on the toggle labelled Cover to Mute.

Step 3: Now, whenever you receive a call on your Apple Watch, cover the entire screen with the palm of your hand for three seconds until it is silenced.

Step 4: You’ll feel a slight vibration on your wrist to inform you that Apple Watch has been put in silence mode and all future calls and alerts will be muted.

This nifty little trick allows you to silence calls quickly with a single hand gesture than if you were to press the power button.

Once silenced, you will still receive vibrations when there’s an incoming alert. This is different than Do Not Disturb mode as the latter silences both the sound as well as haptic feedback.

The next time you receive a call, use this gesture and thank us for saving you from an awkward situation.