Fitbit starting day with about 50,000 steps :(

[cathyd1000]

Last weekend I woke up one morning with over 50,000 steps, the next day about 45,000. I keep my fitbit One on my nightstand at night and clip it on when I get dressed.  I contacted customer support but I didn't hear back so I googled the issue and couldnb't find anyone with a similar problem,  I did find out about powering it down, while connected to a computer and did that several times, but when it came back on it still had the steps. My husband suggested leaving it off longer, so i left it off overnight and it was fine the next day. 

When I did hear back from customer support, I was very disappointed with their response.  Even after fully explaining the issue, they sent me a link about how to get better accuracy, and stride length... which had nothing to do with this issue.  I let it go since it was working normally Monday and Tuesday, and then Wednesday I woke up 45,700 steps. I contacted them again and they basically said sorry about that, we let our engineers know, but don't have an answer for you.  This morning I woke up to 54,100 steps. 

I sent them photos of yesterdays and today's readings, and let them know that I was not happy.  Right now my Fitbit is basically useless.  I am going to have to disconnect it from My Fitness Pal, so that I don't have to keep using a calculators to figure out my real daily calories.

I am hoping someone may have had this problem and knows a solution. 

[PureEvil · Accepted solution]

Hello @cathyd1000,

Welcome to the community!

Turning off the Fitbit: You can turn off the One although it's a bit of a hassle, most of this is the same procedure as restarting it:

1. Plug it in to charge (make sure you see the battery level when you plug it in).
2. While it is charging, press and hold the button for 20 seconds.
3. Unplug it from the charging cable.

If you have done this correctly, then a short tap of the button won't display anything (that's how you can tell that it's off), but a longer tap should wake up the device and give you the firmware message 'FITBIT 6.60'.

Getting tons of steps overnight: That said, I suspect the problem with your getting tons of steps is that you have something on your nightstand that imparts vibration (like an oscillating fan).  There have been accounts of folks leaving their Fitbits on a nightstand like that and getting tens of thousands of steps overnight.  My advice is to put it elsewhere where it won't get that vibration, or better yet, wear it while you sleep (with the included wrist band) so that it may track your sleep.  It was designed to do that.

'Deleting' your steps: If you go to the activities page (at the very bottom), you can manually enter an activity.  If you enter a 'Driving' activity during the time you slept, it will 'delete' your steps for that duration.  This isn't perfect however.  Those 'deleted' steps still count towards your lifetime total, your badges, and any challenges in which you're participating.

I hope this helps.

[cathyd1000]

Thank you Pure Evil!!! I do have an air purifier on my nightstand.  I don't always put my fitbit on the nightstand, so that could very well be it.  I will leave it somewhere else tonight.  Thanks for the tip about deleting the steps, I will do that. 

[RobertoME]

Hello @cathyd1000, I wonder how it goes with the great recommendation from @PureEvil? I experienced the same issue a while ago and the issue was resolved by changing my tracker of location. I'm sure the issue has been resolved and everything is okay now, but I just want to follow up with you that your tracker is working as it should.

Let me know and I'll be around if you have some questions. 

[cathyd1000]

I forgot to update. Yes moving the Fitbit off my night stand solved the problem. Thank you @PureEvil

[MHereward]

This sounds like my problem, too. But can't be nightstand issue as I wear it overnight! I think it came when I paired my phone? I've unpaired but still racking up the steps! 

[Williger]

@MHereward if you wanted to share pictures of your activity logs here, I'd be happy to look at them with you, and possibly together we can figure out what's happening. Often, there's a really simple solution. 

[TeganEngler]

I am having this issue with my Versa 2. I wore my watch to bed last night  (no night stand with any vibrations of any sort) and I woke up with 45k steps on my watch. I've reset it and it's still there. 

I wear it on my non-dominate hand. 

[WendyVHart]

The oscillating fan thing totally described my situation! Thank you for the tips!

[sharkman8258]

I have the same issue. Sleep with it on every night and yesterday morning 45,000 steps, this morning 59,000. I would really like to know what is going on. Spend that much for a smart watch you expect it to operate correctly.

[Jas7921]

I have the same issue for Charge 4. Have you been able to resolve?

[ManuFitbit]

Hi Everyone. 

In order to have the community better organized, I'll proceed to close this thread. 

If you want to share ideas, have any inquiries or need help about other concerns please visit the community.