Charge 5 is unresponsive

[rhhanson]

I woke up this morning to find the Fitbit icon on the screen of my Charge 5.  I am stuck as to what I might do to remedy the situation.  The backside of the fitbit is dark, i.e. no heartbeat detecting light.  I've read through the forum responses to such a problem and nothing seems to work.  This following suggestion doesn't make sense to me:

1. Press the button located on the flat end of the charger 3 times, pausing for 1 second between presses. Then wait 10 seconds or until the Fitbit logo appears.

The flat end of my charger cable doesn't have a button.  

Any help would be appreciated.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Julia_G]

Hi, @rhhanson the advice you quoted is to give your Charge 5 a restart.  This is a very useful first troubleshooting step and can solve many issues.  

If you are using the charging cable supplied with your Charge 5 there will be a button on the cable, but it is a little hard to spot at first.  Hopefully this picture will help you find it:

You should definitely try the restart procedure - and if it doesn’t work the first time please try again as it can be a little tricky to get the rhythm of press - pause - press - pause - press just right (I find if I say the words out loud as I do it helps)

The other thing that sometimes fixes an unresponsive Charge 5 is changing the clock face.  The instructions for doing that are  here .

I hope this helps.  Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[rhhanson]

Thanks for your reply.  Good news, bad news.  Good news first.  Two days after the Fitbit App icon appeared on my Charge 5 screen, it disappeared and the screen was blank.  I hooked it up to the charger, and everything appears to be back to normal.  Hope it stays that way.  Bad news that doesn't matter as much now, but I truly don't have a button on the flat end of my charger, not on either side.  Why would that be?

[Julia_G]

Hi, @rhhanson the worse news is if that is the charger that came with your Fitbit you may have a counterfeit device.  The cable you have photographed is definitely not the same as the charger supplied with the Charge 5 (it has a longer wire, and the real one does have a button and does not have that usb logo/stamp.  Where did you buy your Charge 5 from?  (If that is a replacement charger bought from a 3rd party seller, then those do not usually have the button, but do be careful as I have heard stories of 3rd party chargers being unsafe and also frying Fitbits.)

If you did not buy your Fitbit from an authorised seller you will not be covered with any warranty.

[rhhanson]

It's been too long ago to remember, but I think I bought this Fitbit at Walmart.  I haven't had a problem with it or the charger for a long time.  I don't know what the explanation is.  I've had several Fitbits before this one, and maybe I somehow switched chargers and lost the right one.  I just don't know.  Another update:  I went for a walk about an hour after I sent that last reply, looked down, and the Fitbit icon was back on the screen.  I'll call Fitbit and see what they have to say.  

Thanks for trying to help.  

[Julia_G]

@rhhanson just a head’s up that without the correct charger, if your screen goes blank or your Fitbit otherwise unresponsive you will not be able to restart.  You need the button for the restart.

[rhhanson]

I just ordered a Charge 5 charger from Fitbit. I think when I got my Charge 5, I accidentally kept my Charge 4 charger and threw away my Charge 5 charger.  I wasn't perceptive enough to notice the difference.  

[Julia_G]

Hi, @rhhanson prob a good idea in case you need a restart again at some point.  But this one is definitely not an old Charge 4 charger - the two are completely different and one won’t charge the other.

[KariMN]

I bought my Charge5 at Target in March2023 and the charger did not have a button it either.   Since it seems to be caught up in the weird new bug, the battery won't hold a charge and the screen goes blank and stays blank.  I had to purchase a charger from Fitbit ($20) so customer service can support it.  I've owned quite a few fitbit watches but this might be the end of my loyalty. 

[rhhanson]

I thought I bought my Fitbit from Walmart so I'm at a loss as to why my Charge 5 charger is not standard.  Since it happened to you, too, there's probably some explanation, but i doubt if we'll ever know why.  I also bought a new charger from Fitbit.  If I can use the new charger, with the button, to restart my Fitbit, all will be good.  The Charge 5 is still under warranty, so if I can't get it to work, they said they'd replace it.