Lost data after device restart

[Chris_at]

I've been using my new Charge 5 for only a couple of weeks.

Yesterday morning it refused to sync.
Restarting the Fitbit via the menu option, restarting the smartphone etc. did not solve the issue. 
I then tried to uninstall the app and unpaired the devices.
After reinstalling the app I tried to pair the devices. The Charge 5 was "found" but pairing was not possible.

The next suggestion from Fitbit was to restart the Charge 5 using the button on the usb charger.

https://help.fitbit.com/manuals/charge_5/Content/manuals/html/Update,%20Restart,%20and%20Erase.htm

I trusted the description here: "Restarting your tracker doesn't delete any data."

Obviously this is not completely true. I can't tell if the issue with the device caused not to track the last night. But also the menu settings where affected. I changed the trainig entries and after the "restart" it seems to be back to default.

Usually I would not mind loosing one night sleep tracking but this night was especially interessting for me as I would be interessted how bad the sleep quality in a hotel room really was.

Anyone has similar experiences? Is that something that happens every now and then?

[JohnnyRow]

I can't comment on exactly what happened to you, but general advice from my experience:

1) I think you said you were able to restart from the menu.  If you were able to do that, there is no reason to then restart from button on charger.  That does same thing, but is only for cases where you are not able to access the menus or get any screen response.

2) I've never had a restart lose any data or affect menu settings.  Factory reset, however, which might be same thing as erase, also described in the section you linked to, will change menu settings back to as they came from factory.  In my opinion, factory reset is much overused, seldom fixes problems, and sometimes causes more problems.

3) When I have problems syncing, my steps are (1) simple restart fitbit, (2) reboot phone, (3) if won't sync then, wait an hour or 2 and try again.  Sometimes it just doesn't sync when we want it to, but will a while later without going through a bunch of gyrations that might just cause problems.

[Chris_at]

Thanks!

Waiting 8 about 8-10 hours didn't change anything, that's why I whent for the recommended reboot using the usb charger button.
Actually it does not do the same thing!
1) the menu was not affected by restarting the device from the menu, it was when rebooting through the usb charger button

2) it was no factory reset as date + time and language was not affected .. at least thats my guess

3) after the reboot throught the charger I was able to peer the devices again, that was impossible after about 5 restarts through the menu over the course of 8-10 hours (first try 8 o'clock in the morning, last one at about 18 o'clock when I got home and had access to the charger)

Actually thats what irritates me the most that the claim that these restart methods should have the same effect seems not true.

Maybe Fitbit changed something here to fix the sync / bt issues by introducing a kind of hard-reset that does more then the normal restart but less then a actual factory reset?
If so thats quite disappointing as I prever issues to be fixed instead of creating workarounds that cause other issues without documenting it.

[Guy_]

Hi @Chris_at - you may lose data if you do a watch Shutdown from the menu, it is advisable to sync first.

A button restart does not generally lose data but will have if you did a Shutdown without sync first.

[Chris_at]

What do you mean by "shutdown"?

According to the manual there should not be any difference in the two restart methods I used and both whould not result in any data loss.

"Restarting your tracker doesn't delete any data."
https://help.fitbit.com/manuals/charge_5/Content/manuals/Topics/Update,%20Restart,%20and%20Erase/Res... 

Knowing that wouldn't have changed much anyway as the device didn't properly connect anymore without the restart via the usb charger.

[Guy_]

@Chris_at  - on smart watches a menu Shutdown can lose data but shouldn't, a watch menu restart may follow the same logic. That is why it is important to sync first to be sure.

If you can't sync then you don't have a choice other than to exhaust phone side troubleshooting first.