What you need to know
- A widespread issue impacted most Garmin watch users on January 28 and 29, causing devices to be bricked.
- The cause appears to be related to the daily satellite data packet that is pushed out to all Garmin watches that use GPS tracking.
- Garmin put a red banner on their website on Tuesday officially acknowledging the issue, with a temporary fix.
- On Wednesday, Garmin promised that it had resolved the issue in the backend.
Update 3 (4p PT day 2): Garmin says that "We have resolved the underlying issue causing some devices to be stuck on the startup screen or a blue triangle" on a banner located on its Garmin Support page. This is a relief to all Garmin users, but may not be much solace to those who already had to struggle through watch crashes and difficult reboot procedures over the last couple of days.
Garmin says that if you "Press and hold the power/light button on the device until the watch shuts off," turn it back on, then sync it with your Connect app or plug it into your computer's Garmin Express app, it should solve your watch's issue and replace the malicious file that caused this issue.
If this still doesn't work, this Support page has step-by-step instructions for each type of Garmin watch, while acknowledging that you'll lose the data that wasn't already synced to your device due to the forced reset.
Even if your Garmin watch hasn't crashed yet, I urge you to sync your Garmin watch in the Connect app by tapping the blue circular-arrow icon next to the watch icon in the top-right corner. This will ensure your watch doesn't retain the old file. Either that or you can go into your watch settings and disable GPS for a workout profile. But ideally, this Garmin backend fix has ensured that this is no longer necessary!
I myself am thinking about unboxing and setting up my new Garmin Instinct 3, now that the crisis is finally winding down.
Update 2 (10a PT day 2): Now the Garmin Connect System Status shows a "Limited" status next to Activity Uploads, as it appears that Garmin watch owners are still bricking their devices whenever they attempt to start an activity.
It's been over a day since the problems began, and both the Garmin subreddit and Garmin forums are chock-full of complaints about the fiasco and Garmin Support's slow response.
Many users are now able to perform activities, but tread cautiously, as it's sometimes unclear whether or not your watch has replaced the satellite file responsible for this fiasco or not; definitely make sure to sync your watch with Garmin Connect manually, which should hopefully refresh the file with the latest version.
We've also found that users who manage to escape the blue-triangle bootloop, whether by hard-resetting it with the steps below or connecting it to Garmin Express on their computer, will still find persistent issues like missing workouts, gaps in their training plans, lost Body Battery or Daily Readiness data, and so on.
It might be best to avoid workouts entirely, or pull one of your old Garmin watches out of your closet and use that until everything has resolved itself.
Update 1 (6:00p PT day 1): The Garmin Connect System Status now shows "Online" status across the board; it previously said that Activity Uploads were down. However, some users are still reporting serious issues if they attempt to start an activity.
DC Rainmaker has reported that the issue stems from a bad "satellite pre-cache file" wreaking havoc on watches. If your watch is synced with Garmin Connect, it should now have access to the proper file, in theory, preventing any further issues. But this won't help if your watch is already stuck in the bootloop.
The recommendation is still to hold down your watch's Light or Power button for up to 30 seconds to turn it off, then turn it back on and see if the problem is resolved. If this doesn't work, reset it again, then hold down both the START/STOP and BACK buttons while it's off; then press the Light button briefly to turn it on while still holding down the other two buttons. You'll hear two beeps; release the Start button after the first beep, then the back button after the second beep. This should theoretically free your Garmin watch from its endless loop (source: Garmin Support).
If your problem persists, you should get in contact with Garmin Support or use the Garmin Forums for more step-by-step guidance. And if you haven't experienced the blue triangle yourself, our recommendation is to wait to do any activities on your Garmin watch until you're sure the problem is resolved.
The original article is below:
Garmin watch users had a rough Tuesday morning dealing with their wearables, as most of them were in a frozen state.
Several users took to Reddit to report that their Garmin watches have become practically useless and stuck on the boot screen. Some of these wearables have been displaying a blue triangle as well (via TechRadar).
According to the publication, this issue is affecting users in the UK, US, India, and France. Some devices that have been reported so far include Forerunner models (265, 965, 255, and 955), the Garmin Venu 2 and 3, the Garmin Fenix 7, and the Epix Pro Gen 2, but there could be more devices facing this issue.
There is not much information as to what caused this widespread issue; however, some users have been speculating that it could be a network-related error or that the company's systems are down. However, Connect Garmin's Status website indicated that Activity Uploads are down, with the warning "We are aware of an issue causing some devices to be stuck on the start up screen or a blue triangle."
"Just sharing - my Garmin Forerunner 255 Music was faced with the infinity loop issue currently ongoing. No particular trigger, the one moment I received a Teams message, the other it was black-screen and rebooting. Happened at precisely 12 (midday)," a user told TechRadar in an email.
Reddit users have come up with their workaround of a hard reset even before the company addressed the issue. This even caused some users to lose their data on the device. Other users who contacted support say that they heard an automated message saying they are aware of reports of the blue triangle and they're working on a fix.
On the Garmin Support website, you'll find a banner with the following guidance: "We are aware of an issue causing some devices to be stuck on the start up screen or a blue triangle. To resolve this, press and hold the power button until the device turns off, then power it back on, and sync with the Garmin Connect app or Garmin Express."
Garmin links users to this "My Garmin Device Will Not Boot" page if the steps above don't work. There, it reiterates that you should try holding down the power button for 15 seconds, but that if it doesn't solve the problem, "you will need to complete a factory reset," which will remove certain features like Garmin Wallet and your settings temporarily. All of your health and fitness data (prior to the crash) should be preserved, as long as you synced your watch to the Connect app recently.
However, we'd recommend you hold off on a factory reset until it's a last resort. It's possible that this issue will persist until Garmin resolves the problem on its side, which would mean a factory reset won't solve your problem.
