Charge 5 has stopped syncing with phone

[Sherryp99]

My charge 5 has stopped syncing with my phone. How do I make it sync up again?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Holly23]

Thank you for your response.  My Fitbit is syncing with the phone this morning. 

[AndreaFitbit]

Thanks for getting back to us and for letting us know that your Charge 5 is syncing with@Holly23. 

I´m glad to hear that.

Keep on visiting the forums. 

[rboy1]

This is a ridiculous that after all this time of knowing about the issue it isn’t resolved. My Fitbit Charge 5 refuses to auto sync. I need to open the Fitbit app and it syncs like a dream but it just won’t sync by itself for days one end I’ve tested it upto 10 days now. This is for my mom and the reason I bought it was to replace the Apple Watch because it has better battery life but if it won’t auto sync and transfer the data it’s as useful as a brick. So frustrated, why the heck won’t it auto sync. The background refresh for Fitbit on the iPhone is enabled but it still refuses to auto sync. My mom has to open the app every week or so when I remind her. Never had an issue with the Apple Watch. 

fix it Fitbit or be gone!!

[charleskn]

I guessing this is a design feature

[Rossco1]

I’ve had multiple Fitbit's over the years and will never buy another after how poor the charge 5 has been and how poor Fitbit are at supporting their products. 

like others say the charge 5 never auto syncs like all the past Fitbit’s I had. Even syncing manually is an absolute pain to get to work and don’t get me started on the battery drain issue that admittedly is slightly improved but still around after they finally released a software update!

One software update in a year is not addressing all these defects and I’m sure Fitbit’s google owners won’t be confused when the sales fall off a cliff…

[RosanneM]

Yeah, I'm beginning to think I made a mistake buying the C5.  My C4 worked like a charm so I just assumed the C5 would be at least as good.  Might be time to move to another brand.  Mine has problems syncing and swiping and often just decides to not record sleep data.

[Eddy999]

I don't think this issue has been resolved.  I have been using many Fitbit devices and my last versa 2 died after 2 years.  Then I bought the Charge 5 in mid November and it was fine at the beginning.  Started Dec 3rd the device stopped syncing with my Samsung phone. I googled and tried everything on my own (reinstall app, restart Charge 5, and etc) and still no luck.  Finally I contacted Fitbit customer support via chat on 12/14 and chatted with the customer support person Jalene for over 35 minutes, and she ended the chat without allowing me to ask any further question. What a nightmare! The first 30 minutes in the chat was walking me through all the diagnosis procedures that I already tried, but I was totally fine with that.  Until she asked what phone I am using, and I said Samsung Flip 4, she immediately said there is an known sync issue with my phone model and/or Android 13.  She suggested I use another phone to connect to the Fitbit and continue using another phone until Fitbit finds a solution for the issue.  I don't have spare phone for this.  Then she told me just watch out for the Fitbit app update on my phone that may have the fix for the issue.  I told her that I googled before contacting customer support that this sync issue with Charge 5 has been reported for months and it seemed Fitbit still has not had a solution. Then she replied "If you have further inquires regarding Fitbit products or services, please check our help site at help.fitbit.com. If we are all set then, to end this chat you may proceed on clicking 'end chat'. Keep safe! Bye."  Then she ended the chat from her end without allowing me to ask any further question.  HELLO, I am contacting help.fitbit.com now, and what kind of help did I receive???  This is very bad customer service experience I had.  Also, I think this may be my last Fitbit device ever.

[SpaceMom]

How? And did that last?

[charleskn]

@rboy1 I am not as familiar with the iPhone, but make sure the Fitbit app has permission to run in the background and that iOS isn't putting the app to sleep, or anything. I know that Android has battery saver functions that can put background apps to sleep, which won't allow things like auto-sync. Maybe this will help.

https://devicetests.com/how-to-keep-apps-running-in-the-background-on-iphone

[SunsetRunner]

I think you’re on to something here with dynamic GPS possibly causing it. Just like everyone else, I have been having this same sync issue. I had tried all the reset and restart options with no luck. I read one’s comment about dynamic GPS possibly being the issue while it was trying to sync in the background for like the 4th time in a row. So, I turned off dynamic and just went with phone GPS, force closed the app, and reopened. I manually synced, and it was immediately successful. Weird but I’ll take it. 

[peacefield1788]

I am having the same issues. Purchased the charge 5 in November had to replace it in mid-Feb for this issue. Didn't receive the replacement until the first part of March and now it's failing and having the same issue. It's not even 2 months old. It worked great yesterday, set an alarm for this morning it died overnight and never woke me up so I was late to a conference. Beyond annoying. 

[Viesturs]

This help in my case

[rwingsfan]

I have to do this weekly, almost daily. There should be a fix for this for good.

[SunsetRunner]

I have quit wearing mine. This particular problem subsided after I upgraded
from the Iphone SE (2020) to the Iphone 14. However, it began trying to
always add a Fitbit payment over and over which drains the battery in less
than a day not to mention the aggravation of constantly buzzing because
it’s saying it’s trying to add the payment method. So I got fed up with it
and am done with Fitbits. --
- Josh Moody