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Lost streaks…
It’s tough seeing Garmin users who are losing their streaks as a result of the outage. It’s not the end of the world, but you’ve worked hard for that streak, here’s hoping Garmin finds a way to restore them once this is all cleaned up!
I lost my 218 day streak due to the stupid Blue Triangle issue. from r/Garmin
A Strava kudos hack…
If you’ve been for a run with a friend and only had one working watch between you, make sure your running buddy tags you on Strava so you can still get your kudos.
They need to open the activity on Strava (either on the desktop or in the mobile app) and select the Add Friend or Add Others button from the activity details page. They can then choose your name from their list of followers. Once that’s done, you’ll get a notification in the Strava app that will let you accept the invitation to join the activity.
After all, if a run isn’t on Strava, did it really happen?
Watch completely dead?
The strangest thing about this major Garmin outage is the wide range of issues, states of devices, and inconsistency of fixes. We’re now reviewing reports that some watches won’t even factory reset, while others are presenting as dead while having plenty of battery. What is going on?
A Garmin odyssey…
I feel extra bad for reader Michelle, who reached out to us all the way from Guam, to confirm their Vivoactive 5 is kaput. It only arrived last week, a Christmas gift that took a month to arrive because Amazon accidentally delivered it to Puerto Rico, 15,094km away. Michelle is “Hoping for brighter Garmin days ahead.” So am I, Michelle, so am I.
UPDATE FROM GARMIN:
We’ve just heard back from Garmin for the first time today – unfortunately, they’re still directing us to the customer support page for updates, which means nothing has changed as of now.
Garmin disruption
Many users rely heavily on their Garmins for sleep tracking, training, and more. If you’ve pinned your wellness routine on its health and wellbeing features, losing it suddenly is hugely debilitating.
“I appreciate there are worse things going on in the world but it doesn’t make this less annoying,” Epix Pro Gen 2 owner Gareth tells me. “Only had the watch for 3 months and am in the middle of a half marathon training schedule.”
The US is waking up…
The US is waking up to the second day of the Garmin outage, so I’ve just had a flurry of emails from users across the pond. Good morning to Kirsty, Max, Gareth, Michelle, and others, hailing from the likes of Vermont, Miami, and even Guam!
Looks like Garmin is telling some customers they’ll get an email update about the outage, but there’s no sign of that yet.
Spare a thought for one of our readers on a skiing vacation who got the blue triangle as soon as they tried to start a snowshoe event and have been without their watch for nearly 24 hours.
Even hard reboots are not solving the issue, even when it does get rid of the blue triangle (and it doesn’t always), readers tell us they can no longer sync their watch to the Garmin Connect app.
“Comms and support from Garmin have been terrible,” Max tells me. “Their X feeds offer nothing. I’ve had more info and support via sites such as TechRadar and YouTube. It’s all very frustrating.” Hey, that’s us! Glad we could be of service.
… of death
The Garmin outage is being colloquially referred to as “the blue triangle of death” for obvious reasons. But where did the “of death” tech meme start?
The Red Ring of Death was an overheating bug that plagued the early Xbox 360, an echo of the granddaddy, Microsoft’s Blue screen of death. The blue screen of death dates back to Windows 1.0 and 1985. The BSOD indicates a critical Windows system failure or crash crash.
I appreciate this isn’t much solace to our Garmin friends, but it’s something to pass the time while we wait for a solution.
A rough few months
Garmin has had a rough few months prior to this major outage. A firmware update that could break Forerunner displays had to be squashed, and in November watch faces kept crashing. I’m a newcomer to Garmin, having been team Apple Watch for 10 years. Hardware like the Instinct 3 is impressive, but I have to say the software support and stability makes me a little nervous to make the switch full-time.
Garmin introduced a new Lunar New Year’s Eve 2025 badge on Jan 28 – tough scene for collectors. Maybe Garmin will extend this one?
This isn’t the first time Garmin’s services have suffered a major outage. Back in 2020, the company’s services went down for four days following a ransomware attack. Watches and cycle computers stopped syncing with Garmin Connect, and even pilot software and navigation database FlyGarmin went down, resulting in some planes being grounded.
Thankfully no user data was compromised in the attack, and workout stats were stored on devices, so nothing was lost while they were unable to sync with online services. For some users, it was nearly a week before things were completely back to normal. Hopefully, the current outage won’t take anywhere near that long to resolve,
A frustrating morning…
As we’ve mentioned, plenty of users are struggling with the suggested fixes from Garmin. “No connection and no fix”, LB tells me via email. We hear your frustrations, but for now there’s no other way.
A rare success story…
Naturally, most of the people we’re hearing from are struggling to get their Garmin’s working, even trying the fixes suggested by Garmin and others. But at least some of you are having a little bit of success, like Chris who has emailed us to confirm that running the watch battery down and then recharging actually worked (probably some syncing going on here too).
Chris’ Forerunner 955 is now working, with all settings, faces, and alarms intact. Legend!
Hi, Cat Ellis here – homes editor here at TechRadar, and Garmin nerd. I’ve just spoken to my friend, running coach Angela MacAusland, who first alerted me to the problem with her watch yesterday. Like all other affected watches, her Forerunner 255 is still stuck on the blue triangle boot screen, which is a real problem for someone like her who relies on her device for work.
My Garmin Fenix 7S is so far unaffected, so I’ve offered to reset and lend it to her, but not everyone will have that option.
How the turntables…
Garmin really has the audacity to call ME the unproductive one from r/Garmin
Radio silence from Garmin?
If you think you’ve got it tough in the UK, US, or AUS, then spare a thought for Garmin users in Asia who are trying call centers but finding them closed for the Chinese New Year, including reader Gary whose Epix Gen 2 Pro is still stuck in a startup loop. “I think the lack of decent messaging from Garmin is a little poor now after more than 24 hours of this outage.” Is he right?
Garmin told us yesterday: “Garmin is researching reports of devices displaying a blue triangle when starting a GPS activity. A reset by pressing and holding the power button may restore functionality. We will provide more information on a permanent fix when available.”
Another corker of a meme:
Garmin outage, the latest fixes:
Good morning to Kathryn and Karin, who are our first early callers (emailers). It looks like Garmin’s solution of a simple factory reset and sync isn’t working for many of you.
Of the fixes I’ve seen out there the first is of course to Sync with Garmin Connect (or express) – if you’re in the boot loop, try the reboot then sync.
There is of course the nuclear option of a factory reset, but you will lose any data not synced with Garmin Connect (probably a couple of days’ worth).
We’ve also had a question about removing the offending file manually – this is serious business and not for the faint-hearted. As explained by DCRainmaker you can do this on PC by connecting your Garmin and holding the upper-left/light button – once connected – navigate to /Garmin/RemoteSW folder, and delete the file name GPE.bin.
On Mac, you will have to use a file application like Android File Transfer, OpenMPT, or MacDroid. Then follow the same connection procedure, navigate to the same file destination, and delete the same file as above.
I can’t stress enough that manually removing the file is tricky business, and if you get it wrong, you could end up causing more problems than you’ve solved. Unless your Garmin working is a matter of life or death, I’d ride it out until there’s a fix.
Shoutout to Andy though, who emailed me to confirm they deleted the whole RemoteSW folder using the above PC method.
“Not sure of other implications of doing this but my watch is back.” – Godspeed, Andy.
Probable cause?
This isn’t the first time everyone’s Garmin has stopped working for no apparent reason. There was a massive crash in 2021, and the same GPS issue is the cause this time. As DC Rainmaker reports, a bad version of a satellite pre-cache file has popped up in the update your Garmin gets every few days.
The internet never misses a beat…
While the internet is awash with angry Garmin users who can’t use their devices, the global outage has also gifted us a slew of brilliant Garmin memes. Here are some of the best so far:
Come on guys from r/Garmin
garmin from r/Garmin/comments/1ic4rjr/london_double_decker_buses_also_affected
The latest from Garmin:
Garmin continues to display an outage warning on its website. An update from yesterday, this has now been extended to Garmin’s US and Australia websites, confirming the global extent of the outage. The message reads:
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. If this does not resolve your issue, Please click here for more information.
Get in touch!
We received some 200 emails from affected users yesterday – if you’re still affected by the Garmin outage (or you’ve found a fix or workaround) – drop me an email: stephen.warwick@futurenet.com!
Tell us your device and your location, we’ll continue to feature some here and reply to others too!
Garmin outage day 2: affected devices
Here are all the devices we’ve heard are affected in the outage so far:
Good morning folks, it’s TechRadar’s Senior Fitness & Wearables writer Stephen Warwick checking in. It’s just after 9 UK time, and we’re about to hit 24 hours of the global Garmin outage that has seen devices worldwide crashing and stuck in boot loops.
Here’s the latest:
- Garmin users started reporting crashes and issues on January 28
- Affected models initially reported include the Fenix, Epix, Forerunner, and even Garmin’s cycling computers
- The issue is marked by a device sticking on the start up screen or a blue triangle
- One fix suggested includes pressing and holding the power button to turn off the device, powering it back on, then resyncing via Garmin Connect or Garmin express
It’s getting fairly late into the evening here on the East Coast of the United States, but Garmin’s Support pages in the US and the UK are still leading with the same message. Further, the outages and issues impacting Garmin watches across the globe are still happening.
I am certainly hopeful we’ll get an update from Garmin by morning, but stick with us as we continue to monitor the situation and provide further updates. If you are experiencing issues, it’s best to try the steps outlined by Garmin on the support page and in the previous update below.
Further updates will likely arrive tomorrow, and my colleague Matt Evans – TechRadar’s Fitness, Wellness, and Wearables Editor – will likely be back to provide updates on this live blog.
Garmin has updated its statement at the top of its support page in the United States, though it still recommends a similar fix.
“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. If this does not resolve your issue, Please click here for more information.“
Power cycling the smartwatch if you’re stuck on the start-up screen or encountering a blue triangle is still the correct process. After that, you’ll want to try syncing it with either the Garmin Connect companion app or with Garmin Express.
We’ve had an email from a reader named Alison, who has confirmed that Garmin’s Edge range of cycling computers are also going down. It’s not just watches!
Alison says: “I have a Garmin Edge 1040 [pictured] that as of around 7 am EST started a seemingly endless cycle of crashing and rebooting. I was able to stop that finally with a lengthy hold of the on/off button but the computer is still not functioning properly.”
This could be a more serious issue than bricked watches, as many people rely on their cycling computers for GPS information on their daily rides. Stay safe out there.
We have an update on the US support center: it’s now showing the same message as the UK support center, and a very similar one to the statement provided by Garmin to TechRadar when I emailed them for comment.
As it’s a bit buried now, we’ll reprint it here: “Garmin is researching reports of devices displaying a blue triangle when starting a GPS activity. A reset by pressing and holding the power button may restore functionality. We will provide more information on a permanent fix when available.”
So far, the official workflow is to try the reset, and if it works, don’t start any more GPS workouts until a fix is in the pipeline.
For some of you, we imagine this is a minor inconvenience, such as not being able to get any Strava kudos on your 5km run or being unable to grab a limited-edited badge.
However, for others, it’s a serious crimp in their training plans. Our fitness editor relied on my Garmin’s map functionality when training for a marathon: during long runs around the city, he would stray into unfamiliar boroughs and rely on the turn-by-turn course navigation to see me through.
A bricked watch could mean no long run on that day, which is annoying but recoverable. However, a bricked cycling computer may mean that a user can’t find their way home or has to go much slower and use a phone with Google or Apple Maps, stopping to check it regularly.
If you’re interested in doing some training planning while you wait for things to come back online, check out how to create a course on Garmin Connect and see how accurate the Garmin Epix Pro was compared to an Apple Watch Ultra 2 during the London Marathon.
I’m finally stepping away from the live blog, removing my email address from the pinned post as I won’t be able to get to any more of you. Apologies, there’s only one of me, and I was overwhelmed by the volume of readers who messaged.
I’ll leave you in the hands of our excellent US Managing Editor for News, Jacob Krol, who will be able to update you if and when a fix is announced. Thanks again to all of you who emailed in!
Reader report: Not the Forerunner 55 too!
Even the entry-level, older Garmin Forerunner 55 is being reported as down by our reader Hayley. Is no-one safe?
While I love a Garmin watch for their long battery life and usability, it’s safe to say that none of the rest of the watches on our best running watches list are experiencing this problem. Even though this is pretty unprecedented and unlikely to happen on this scale again (I’ve certainly never seen it before) there are angry commenters out there threatening to move to Coros, Sunnto, Samsung and other competitors.
First Garmin Instinct 3 reported down
Not even Garmin’s latest watch is infallible. I’m receiving too many emails to respond to one-by-one now, so apologies if I don’t get back to all of you who are keeping me up to date with how your watches are doing. However, a really interesting email I got was from Dustin, who (like me) is wearing a 45mm AMOLED Garmin Instinct 3.
Dustin says: “it keeps crashing even after resetting it. It keeps showing the loading triangle and still nothing is fixing it, even after doing all the reset options I’ve seen online. And I just got my watch 2 days ago.”
This is our first report of the brand new Instinct 3, only released this month, going down with the bug. My first impressions of the Instinct 3 were stellar, and you can read all about it in my hands-on Garmin Instinct 3 early review. So if you’ve just bought your watch and it’s malfunctioning, don’t despair and return it just yet.
I am reading a few emails from people who were on the verge of returning all sorts of recently-bought Garmin watches before they came across the blog, so I’m glad to be of service!
Sorry, team: here’s what you’re missing out on while you’re waiting for a fix. Garmin has introduced a Lunar New Year’s Eve 2025 badge, achievable by recording an activity today, and today only.
If you’re one of those Garmin users who compulsively collects badges like you’re trying to qualify for the Pokemon League, you might be out of luck with this one. If you do have a working watch, you can probably still grab it, but maybe try a non-GPS-powered workout like yoga to do so.
Should you factory reset your Garmin watch?
I’m getting a few more emails from users who seem to be getting their watches going again with a factory reset. This isn’t advised by Garmin, and we haven’t tested it on a bricked watch.
Graeme emailed in to report: “A full data and system reset followed by the restoration of this morning’s backup resolved the issue.” I covered how to back up your watch manually earlier in the day, but you can simply connect your watch to a Windows or Mac PC using the proprietary Garmin USB charging cable, then follow Garmin’s instructions to back up all your files and records.
However, another reader, Hope, says: “I have tried turning off and turning it back on, as well as a full reset procedure, and I have plugged it in to my computer – which didn’t register it at all – and have not been able to restore any functionality.”
So, your mileage may vary. For what it’s worth, I’d probably recommend sitting tight and waiting for Garmin to roll out its official fix.
Just joined us? Here’s what’s happening:
- Garmin devices around the world are crashing, stuck on boot-up screens.
- Affected watch series’ include the Fenix, Epix, Forerunner, Vivoactive, Venu and Lily watches. So far, no Instinct watches have been reported as bricked.
- Garmin has not yet released a permanent fix for the problem, although it is reportedly ‘priority number one’.
- Some users are reporting a crash happens when they try to start a GPS workout.
- Garmin has contacted us, and advises its users to ‘hold the Power button until the unit powers off’, then turn it back on, which ‘may restore functionality temporarily’.
- Other users have found success doing full factory resets, although we advise backing your watch up before you try it.
Update: Garmin responds!
A representative for Garmin has replied to my request for comment with a statement. However, it’s the same as the statement on the Support banner I mentioned earlier today.
The statement reads: “Garmin is researching reports of devices displaying a blue triangle when starting a GPS activity. A reset by pressing and holding the power button may restore functionality. We will provide more information on a permanent fix when available.”
Reader Chris in the UK reports getting a different message from Support, after reporting his ‘dead as a doorknob’ Epix watch: “Hold tight, it’s priority number one.”
Which Garmin watches are crashing?
Below is a list of every model that I’ve seen reported, mentioned in a comment or email to be affected so far. Note that not every watch has been affected, despite being one of the affected models: there seems to be no rhyme or reason for this. Above, you can see our reader Ziven’s crashed Epix Pro (Gen 2).
I texted a couple of Garmin-user friends of mine, both on Fenix 6, and their watches are working fine. I haven’t seen reports of any Garmin Instinct users affected either – my Instinct 3 is working even if I start a GPS activity, as is Homes Editor Catherine Ellis’ Garmin Fenix 7S. It’s still not a universal issue, although it seems to be getting more common as the other half of the world wakes up and tries to work out. Stay tuned!
I only stepped out for a few minutes to grab some lunch, and I’m inundated with emails again! Clearly this is a big issue, as I’ve received word from everywhere from Austria and India to France, the UK and US.
Some users are reporting doing multiple hard resets on their watch (as Garmin suggests) and that working, while others mention doing factory resets and manually loading backups.
You can back up Garmin systems beyond keeping the data on Garmin Connect by connecting your watch to a Windows or Mac PC. For this, you’ll need your computer, your Garmin device, and the proprietary Garmin USB cable used to charge your device.
Plug your device into the computer, then follow Garmin’s instructions to back up all your files and records.
Maybe don’t start recording any GPS activities until this is all over…
Thank you so much for all of your emails. I’m receiving my first reports of the Garmin Forerunner 165 and one of the Garmin Venu 2 also crashing.
A common problem I’m getting in my emails is that the crash is occuring when users try and start a GPS activity. One user, Anne, said all was fine until she pressed start for her run, then the blue flashing triangle appeared. She said: “The screen keeps flickering like it’s trying to reboot but nothing, none of the buttons work”.
Another reader, Madalena, said: “The watch was functioning [normally] until I was ready to start an activity”.
The Garmin subreddit has pinned some advice to the top of the community page stating that “this is caused whenever a user attempts to start a GPS activity”. This doesn’t appear to be the case in every instance, and this isn’t the official word from Garmin, but all the same… why tempt fate, eh?
It’s worth noting the red banner in the previous post does not yet extend to Garmin Support in the US or Australia. The above, bannerless Garmin Support front page is what you’ll see.
So for those of you in those regions, don’t panic: even though Support hasn’t publicly acknowledged the problems in your region yet, Garmin is aware and presumably a worldwide fix is inbound.
Garmin acknowledges the issue
A red banner has now appeared on the UK support center website, reading the following:
“We are researching reports of devices displaying a blue triangle when starting a GPS activity. A reset by pressing and holding the power button may restore functionality. We will provide more information on a permanent fix when available.”
Meanwhile, I’ve had a few more reports in my inbox: Alan in Australia is reporting his Forerunner 265 has gone down, and another user from Poland is lamenting their crashed Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2. Alas, poor Epix! It seems this is truly a worldwide issue.
I’ve seen a bit of chatter online about a couple of Garmin Fenix 8 models that have also been affected.
We loved the Garmin Fenix 8, calling it “rugged, expensive perfection” and awarding it five stars in our review. However, it did have a bit of a turbulent rollout, as users found that it crashed and went back to that blue triangle reboot screen when submerged in extremely cold water. Not ideal for a watch with a dive mode!
Of course, a software fix soon solved the issue, so we have faith Garmin will be able to roll out a software-based solution in this instance too.
Another reader, this time from Belgium, just emailed to share his experiences with the outage:
“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).”
Our reader reports getting his watch up and running again by doing a factory reset, which effectively erased all his data, and to add insult to injury he’s unable to reconnect to Garmin Connect yet. Fingers crossed a better solution presents itself from Garmin shortly.
Running coach Angela MacAusland got in touch from the UK to share a photo of her and her client’s Forerunners – both of which have bricked as a result of the ongoing problem.
So far we’ve seen bricked Forerunners of all kinds (265, 965, 255 and 955), Venu 3, Fenix 7, Epix Pro Gen 2, but more devices are possibly affected. If you have a GPS watch from Garmin not on this list and it’s endlessly rebooting, please get in touch: we’d love to hear from you!
This isn’t the first time Garmin has suffered problems this month – on January 8, Garmin’s companion app, Garmin Connect, suffered a major worldwide outage. Functions like Garmin Pay, Garmin Coach, Garmin’s Connect IQ app store, third-party app syncs and more were left unusable for a few hours.
It’s worth noting that this time, Garmin is reporting its major Connect functions as online, and it’s the watches that are experiencing the issue. We’ll let you know if anything changes and Garmin Connect goes down in any capacity too.
I’m currently testing the Garmin Instinct 3, and that seems to be operating absolutely fine, as is my colleague Homes Editor Catherine Ellis’s Garmin Fenix 7S. I was initially alerted to the problem by a member of her running group, who owns a Forerunner 265.
The Reddit posts below illustrate a couple of examples of the problem that users are facing, including one user’s Fenix 7 Pro. As you can see, the watches are stuck on their respective ‘power on’ screens. For want of a better word, bricked.
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