How to reset an Alta without the original charger

[Linville10]

I lost the original charger and bought one on Amazon and it doesn't have a button to restart it. Is there another way to restart my alta?

Moderator edit: Updated title for clarity

[Dartertina]

Where did you buy the charger with a reset button if I can ask my asdlra will not stay charged it dies after a couple hours

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi there @janequinn225, welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums! 🙂

I'm sorry you're having a hard time getting your Alta to sync and that you can not restart it because you don't have an original charger.

I'm not completely sure what this girl was referring to as an alternative, but I can probably recommend trying to set up your tracker as a new device. For this, go to the Account section at the top right corner on the Fitbit app and select the option that says "Set up a new device". Follow the on-screen instructions and once you're done, your tracker should be syncing without a problem.

Great to see you around too @Dartertina! 🙂

If you'd like to purchase an original Fitbit Alta charger, you can do it from the Fitbit Online store.

Hope this helps and if you guys need more help, I'm always around!

[Bhargavjaiswal]

From where u get this charger I want also

I need original charger ... I am from India ... 

Moderator edit: merged reply

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[JuanJoFitbit]

@Bhargavjaiswal Thank you for getting back! Since you need an original charging cable for your Alta, let me go ahead and forward your case to our Support team so they can review it and provide a solution for you. You should receive an email from them soon.

Let me know if you have any doubts! 

[seashells1234]

Yay!  This worked and saved me from having to return the cables I bought that didn't have the reset button!  Muah!

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@maaron wrote:

You can actually reboot your Alta with a non-OEM cord. The only thing the button does is cut the voltage from the USB port when you press it in. If you have an non-OEM charger you can get your Alta to reboot by unplugging, then replugging the cord 3 times in quick succession. I uh, learned this one from a friend. ...Yeah. ...a friend.

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[JuanJoFitbit]

@seashells1234 Welcome to our Fitbit Community! I'm so glad to hear that you managed to resolve the issue by following the troubleshooting steps shared by @maaron. Thank you for posting the update here.

I'd like to invite you to visit our Discussions board where you can share your experiences, meet people and create new topics.

Hope to see you in our Fitbit Community more often! 

[Miskersivy]

You’re “friend” was right! It worked for me. Thanks. 

[Margc2]

Thank you for this information. I was really getting frustrated. My original charger broke & this one doesn’t have the button to reboot it. 👍

[LadyGrantham]

How to reset Alta with 3rd party charger is easy. All the button on the original charger  does is stop and start charging.

Simply attach and unattach the charger 3 times in a row about half a second apart. Works every time!

[Margc2]

Thanks I appreciate you responding. I received this info from someone else and it did work.

Sent from my iPhone

[BeChill73]

I have tried many many times to factory reset my Alta. After a year of hassle free use, it now keeps failing to wake up, losing its charge within a day or 2,  and failing to sync reliably.

I have the original cable, and it recognises the three button presses, displays the logo and then goes back to showing my current steps and next alarm etc. I no longer have the app installed as my phone died, but I want to pass the device on to my daughter, however without it still being attached to my account. 

What do I do to reset it when the 3 button presses fail to wipe the data???

[Margc2]

Sorry I don’t have an answer for you.

It is extremely frustrating. Fitbit says it is a Myfitnesspal issue. I haven’t had to delete the device & reinstall but it might be worth a try. Right now my Fitbit is syncing again.

Sent from my iPhone

[BeChill73]

I don't use MyFitnessPal app, only the Fitbit one, but I have deleted and reinstalled that one several times, unpaired and repaired the Alta several times, (which also failed a lot as you can't pair with a device you cant see on the bluetooth list). 
The bluetooth pair/sync issue was potentilly my phone (an older S5), which is why I dont have the app on it anymore, but I think the failing to wake is something else.
All the reinstalling and re-pairing did wake the device up eventually but didn't stop it failing again. I just want to be able to clear the data from it and get it back to factory fresh.

My next option is to just let the battery run out completely and leave it dead for long enough that it loses its memory. 

[EdsonFitbit]

@Miskersivy @Margc2 @LadyGrantham Welcome to the Fitbit Community. I'm glad to hear that you have been able to restart your Fitbit Alta. 

@BeChill73 It's great to see you in the Fitbit Community. There is actually no option to factory reset the Fitbit Alta but just restart it. There isn't any procedure to manually delete the information recorded by this Tracker, however it gets reset automatically every day at midnight. Your personal data is not stored on the Fitbit device but on your Fitbit account. Since your Alta is not working properly I created a case with Customer Support. Please check your inbox on the next days. They will let you know how to proceed as soon as possible.

If you have any question, please don't hesitate to contact us at any time.

[Margc2]

Thank you

I bought a generic charger which I quickly plug & unplg 3x to resync. I believe you can order the original charger cord from Fitbit.

Sent from my iPhone

Moderator edit: merged reply

[EdsonFitbit]

@Margc2 Thanks for your response.

You can definitely buy the original charger of the Fitbit Charge 3 at the Fitbit Store.

Keep on stepping.

[Bharti]

Thanks so much. You saved me from so much trouble. The only thing to remember is to remove the cable not the usb wall plug. 

[Margc2]

👍

Sent from my iPhone

[JuanJoFitbit]

@Bharti I'm sorry for the late response. However, I'm glad to hear that you found @Margc2's post helpful.

As a side note, I'd like to invite you to visit our Discussions board where you can share your experiences, meet people and create new topics.

 Hope to see you in our Fitbit Community more often! 

[Adi93]

Just plug and unplug the charger to the alta a few times in succession. It works the same as the button.