Charge 5 Won't Charge

[CFPhoto]

My Charge 5 will no longer charge (anyone else see the irony here).  I have cleaned the contacts on both the Fitbit and the charging cradle/cable.  I have tried several different USB power adapters and yet the Charge 5 does not take a charge.  It is still running, but the battery is down to just 7%. So it won't be long before it dies.  Any troubleshooting suggestions?  Unfortunately, I do not know anyone with a Charge 5 to be able to try their charger.  

[Cindalacb]

Hi CFPHOTO ! I want to thank you so much for putting the instructions here on how to reset my charge 5 ! You saved me a phone call to customer service! Mine is only 4 months old and stopped charging. It's working fine again now! Thanks again for going the extra mile for all of us other users! 

[CFPhoto]

You are welcome.  Since posting my Fitbit has now completely died 😞 

I'm debating if I am going to replace it or not.

[VasuRajiv]

Since none of the options worked for me and I had just bought mine in the last year, Fitbit customer service agreed to send me a free replacement (same device) or a 50% off on a new one. I just wanted the same one and opted for it.

[try2bfit]

you can restart your Fitbit Charge 5 by scrolling up on your Fitbit to the Restart option and select restart option. I wasn't seeing the charge display while charging and it wouldn't sync.

[Rozaren]

This did not work for me

[VasuRajiv]

Got the fitbit replacement today! 

[Trev72]

Good luck with it.

Sent from Mail<> for Windows

[SunsetRunner]

Same issue fixed! Remove the device (charge 5) from the app. Uninstall the app from your phone. Then reinstall the app and add the device. This worked for me.

[FH23]

I have had the same problem. Fitbit replaced my original Charge 5, and now after four months, it's happened again! So disappointed as when it works it's great!

[adavidow]

I have tried to reset the Fitbit several times, with the charging cable plugged into power (which I assume is needed) and even without. So far, nada.

I press the button, release once, and the display that I am running out of power comes on. Same again and again. There is no reset - no indication that anything was done. And the power is less. What to try next?

[SHMbak]

Mine also died within warranty, received a replacement, now that one just died (after seven months of use.)  But since my original warranty is over, no replacement to the replacement.  I should have read about the possible firmware problem (above) before I stupidly used the 50% discount they offered me for a new device.  Now I'll likely go through this at least two more times before I can switch to a more robust tracker.

[FH23]

Contact Fitbit, they're really helpful.

[SDK04]

Great advice! Worked first try. Now I just need to get the Charge5 to sync with my phone again, which it’s stopped doing today as well (first no charging, now no syncing) 

[ToppTur]

To fix the synch issue, it may be easiest to delete the Fitbit app from
your phone and reinstall it .

[Trev72]

To confirm my earlier post I did an experiment. When the battery level showed 45% I topped up the charge and left it until it showed 100% and then for another hour. On the 4th day it would not sync, there had been no low battery warnings. Plugged into the charger and the Fitbit display showed 1% battery.  Charged it to 100% again and left it in charge for another hour and it has now been running 6 days and shows 56% battery remaining. It certainly looks like if it has a reasonable level of battery left when you plug it in, it shows it is charging, but doesn't.

[nrjones51]

I’m having the same issue, my brand new Charge 5 wouldn’t charge at all. After doing everything suggested here and talking to customer service, they sent me a replacement. Well, the replacement charged ONE time and now won’t do a darn thing. At this point in time, I don’t know what to do. I sure don’t want another piece of junk replacement that won’t work.

[FH23]

It's frustrating because when they work they're great! I'm on my second replacement.

[Farrah_K]

I’ve done everything. I’ve only had my Fitbit Charge 5 since April. It’s ridiculous that a product with so many issues is even sold.

I believe there is an issue with the software. Only work around that I’ve come up with is to disable it completely from the app. Use the Fitbit as a stand alone device and never sync it. Does this suck, yeah, it really does. But it’s better than having a completely useless device. 

really disappointed with Fitbit. It’s ridiculous they have us spend all this time on forums, making us do hours of restarts and complicated work arounds instead of just tell us that there is clearly some bug on their end they are trying to fix. 

[Trev72]

Hi Farrah K
My original post only covers issues with charging. I do not have any issues with syncing, but there are 3 reasons I am aware of that will prevent the charge 5 from syncing which may be of help.


1. It is low on battery
2. It is connected to more than one live device (e.g. tablet and phone and both switched on)
3. You do not have an internet connection to the fitbit server - when syncing the data is sent to Fitbit where the calculations are done and the results returned to your app.

[gguinn10]

I have same issue on a charge 5 that is only 6 months old… and would not send a replacement! I give 1 star to Fitbit!