Charge 5 won't work unless it's connected to the charging cable

[M.Brooke12]

Fitbit will connect to charger. It will vibrate when plugged in or restarted (using button on charger) it will show the logo but nothing else- just goes black again. Anything else I can try or is it done? 

It went blank on 02.01.24- we went away so I just left it at home and now trying to get it going 🙃 


Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[ED57]

If you updated the firmware in the last couple of weeks, you are not alone with the blank screen issue.

[M.Brooke12]

Thanks for your reply, where do we go from here? I'm not sure if I have updated it recently or not? 

[MarreFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi there, @M.Brooke12. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. It's sad to hear that your Charge 5 is not responding to anything. I understand where your concern is coming from. I will be glad to help you with this! 

Since your Charge 5 is vibrating while it's connected to the charger or when you perform a restart, please connect your Charge 5 to the charger and try the following the following steps while it's connected to the charging cable:

• Unpair your Charge 5 from your phone's Bluetooth and Fitbit app.
• Unpair other Bluetooth devices that you may also have paired to your phone's Bluetooth settings.
• Force quit the Fitbit app.
• Turn off other Bluetooth connections when not in use. This can help to prevent connectivity issues or Bluetooth interference.
• Shut off your phone and turn it on after 1-2 minutes.
• Turn on the Bluetooth on your phone.
• Plug it into the charging cable and open the Fitbit app.
• Set up your Charge 5.
• If there is no connection, restart your Charge 5.
• Once your Charge 5 is paired and syncing, please proceed to set up your other Bluetooth devices to your phone again. 
  
  

With the steps above, what I want you to do is to pair your Charge 5 first to your phone's Bluetooth settings before any other Bluetooth device is connected to your phone. 

@ED57 Thanks for stopping by in the Fitbit Community Forums. I'm sorry to hear that you the screen of your Charge 5 has gone black after the update. Let me help you! 

To better assist you, please make sure you've restarted your Fitbit device as suggested here How do I restart my Fitbit device?. If the restart doesn't work try to change your clock face. If this fixes the issue, you can change your clock face back to the original clock face.