Old Flex not syncing to computer (don't use on phone)

[Woofgang]

Haven't used my Fitbit Flex for 4 years. Just found it, charged it (shows full charge) and popped the bit into a wristband and went for a walk. I have resisted changing as I have about 30 wristbands (leopard, pawprints, sold colors, multicolored etc.) and I really used to love them all, so now that I've found it again, want to keep it so I can still use the various wristbands. Anyway, signed into my account after the walk and it shows the last activity as being Nov. 2016, 0 steps today etc. It's fully charged now but the computer is saying the fitbit battery is low, and it is not registering any data from tonight's walk. Have tried to reset using a paperclip and the pinhold, nothing. Help!

[Odyssey13]

Hi @Woofgang If your Fitbit has been sitting about with a dead battery, it's possible it's not going to revive. All you can do is keep restarting it in hope of a spark of life. You'd want to be sure to have the latest firmware on the Flex and the latest app on your mobile device. 

Which phone do you have and is it on the list of compatible devices? click to see

You try anything here on the article for trouble syncing? see if any of this helps - click to read

[Woofgang]

Thanks for the reply @Odyssey13.  I have tried everything I found online and through the help sections/FAQs on the FitBit page, and nothing has worked.  It's strange because it doesn't "appear" that the battery is dead as the light indicators increased to 5 lit dots after I charged.  I wore it around for an hour or so to see if it would pick up my movement, and it lit up to 1 dot so again, it appeared it was working.  But it won't sync.  When I look at my dashboard, it tells me that my battery is low (I show full charge on the device)  and shows zero activity.  I'm not sure what the problem is but I just bought a new flex (glad I could still find a new one given my collection of wristbands) so I'll just start over.  Thanks!

[Odyssey13]

@Woofgang  that's how my old Flex acted right before it died. As for your new Flex, remember that these were retired a few years back, so the battery may have died completely. Good luck and let us know how things go for you.

[Woofgang]

Yikes, hadn't thought about that!  The "new in pkg" Flex I just ordered may have been sitting on the shelf for a few years and may be dead also.  That would not make me happy.  

[Odyssey13]

Well, just so you know the age - Flex was replaced by the Alta series, which has been replaced by the Inspire series.  The Flex was discontinues around 2016. The oldest Flex an owner mentioned on the forums was five years old and they wore it daily. See if you can return it if it doesn't work. 

[Woofgang]

Hi Odyssey13 - I received the new Fitbit and had the exact same problem.  I fiddled around a bit more and found that the problem was related to my computer AND to the device.  The device needed to be updated, I needed a driver for the dongle AND I needed to use on a Windows10 machine.  I just have not gotten around to updating my desktop (which is where I keep all my stuff like this) so I used my work laptop which is Windows 10 and got the driver for the dongle, updated the device however was still not able to sync to the machine.  So I put the app on my phone (thought I was going to have a similar issue as I have a Note 8 and haven't upgraded that yet either, but no fear, work iPhone in the background if needed) but for whatever reason, it is syncing to my phone.  And after all that, I'm not as enamoured with it as I was when I bought the thing in 2012.  How about that?  LOL

[Odyssey13]

I loved my Flex, then as time went on and I tried the Blaze, it was my favorite. It seems that over time our interests change and the latest gadget has more to offer. I'm waiting for my Alta HR to die to find my new favorite. So if you've lost that intense feeling for the Flex, you checking out the new styles of Fitbit?

[Woofgang]

I will do that but I'm going to open it up to all activity trackers and health monitors.  I'm still not happy abot all these new wristbands I won't be able to use!