Charge 3 counting too many steps

[Pkitass]

My Fitbit charge 3 

counts my hand movements as steps.

I wear it on my non dominate hand but every time I move my arm up or down it counts those movements as steps. 

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[MTglass]

I actually don't mind it overcounting as long as its consistent then you can measure your progress but to double the count from one day to the next is ridiculous and it never did it to start with, bought it on launch day am wondering if the first batch had issues as is not unusual.

[Gerrymagic]

I returned mine and bought a Garmin Forerunner 35. Same price approx but far more features incl gps. Steps over counts by about 7 to 12 but + or- 10 is acceptable. Charge 3 was out by 20 and the hr monitor would stick at a high number for several minutes 10 min once. Charge 2 was good, 3 awful.

Sent from my iPad

[kyledre]

Just bought a Charge 3 Special Edition about an hour ago and activated it in my truck in the parking lot. 0 steps, as it should be. Drove about 35 minutes down the highway and now it says 391 steps. Haven’t even gotten out of the vehicle yet. I’ll restart it tonight when I get home, but if that doesn’t fix it, I’m returning it tomorrow.

[SunsetRunner]

Good Morning, I brought mine on Friday and all was ok over weekend. Before I even got up this morning it said 7 steps. Then when I put a leg out it said 13. Went to make a cuppa it said 149  😕  I don't want to take it back so will phone the helpline. 

[Gerrymagic]

My Garmin overcounts by 7 to 10% but only on walking.

Sent from my iPad

[IndyAmy]

It won't change. You either have to just accept it as I did lol. Or return it. 

[JulieA1019]

I’m so disappointed! I was so excited to get a Fitbit but my main reason was to monitor my afib so the steps weren’t important but I don’t want something that doesn’t accurately calculate. I’m also thinking of returning. After seeing your post I’m going to try the reset fix and see if it helps. This forum has been helpful. 

[agentmom]

I found putting the Fitbit Charge 3 on my left hand but setting it as my dominate hand, turning on the GPS, setting the weight and height correctly and just getting out and taking a good walk, solved the problem.

After a couple walks the Charge settled down and started counting steps correctly.  It just has to get used to you and your stride.  

[CAAS]

I have now tried all advised fixes and still counting to many steps. Is there any more advise or should I take it back for a refund?

[Gerrymagic]

I changed to a Garmin. It has GPS but overcounts the steps by 10% on average

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[abbys1031]

This had not been solved. I have a desk job and have "earned" 18,000 steps in one day. This is outrageously inaccurate. I want real results. Fix this!

[kyledre]

On July 4th I went on a motorcycle ride through some canyons near my house.
While in my saddle bag, my Charge 3 counted 41,483 steps and 510 floors.

Some day I hope to help it reach its personal goal of 100k steps and 1k
floors in 24 hrs. 🙂
--

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[SFSailLady]

So, I suggest trying what PDXSeth suggested.  Since doing the below, it seems that the FitBit has stopped counting steps while I am typing or moving my arms while sitting.  Fingers are crossed.  I walked across the room and it counted my steps.   But it has stopped counting my typing.  If I really care about the GPS I can turn it on before I go for a hike.  Thanks Seth, hopefully this is the key.

01-06-2019 10:00

So, I figured it out. Turn GPS off on the Fitbit. From the front screen:

1) Swipe left..

2) Select exercise.

3) Swipe down.

4) Turn GPS off. Now, it should count accurately.

This won't work for everyone, since some of you use ONLY your Fitbit when you go for a run. I use my phone and a running app, so this works perfectly. I use the GPS on my phone, so I don't need Fitbit's GPS. 

As far as I can tell, my steps have been very accurate since I turned GPS off on the Fitbit.

[SFSailLady]

So, I figured it out. Turn GPS off on the Fitbit. From the front screen:

1) Swipe left..

2) Select exercise.

3) Swipe down.

4) Turn GPS off. Now, it should count accurately.

This won't work for everyone, since some of you use ONLY your Fitbit when you go for a run. I use my phone and a running app, so this works perfectly. I use the GPS on my phone, so I don't need Fitbit's GPS. 

As far as I can tell, my steps have been very accurate since I turned GPS off on the Fitbit.

[Trish33]

How do I restart my Fitbit charge 3

[TeriK55]

Hi I found this reply on the forum, I resent my tracker today and placed it on my wrist and checked 100 steps.   The tracker record 138 steps.   Help - NB initially it seemed to be working fine but it suddenly had a bit of a melt down one day - gave me a huge recording at the beginning of the day then reset to a much lower more realistic number (the changing numbers also appeared on my phone).  Ever since that happened my tracker seems to over-record the number of steps

[EgleH]

I have the same problem too. Just moving my arm is adding steps all the time. 

The thing is, I believe it was not the case when I got it like half a year ago. I noticed this being super innacturate only like a week ago. Maybe there will be an update that can improve this? Or was it an update that actually caused it?

[SunsetRunner]

The charge 3 is an expensive piece of trash. I apparently did 2500 steps in my sleep, and another 5 or 6 thousand every 2 hours at my desk at work. I read the forums and tried EVERYTHING. I was loosing weight by counting calories and treadmill workouts at the gym. It counted 18,556 steps today and I did not walk except to my car and back and did .5 miles on the treadmill at the gym. It does not read my heart rate correctly (measured 130-150 all day when I went to see the nurse at work, it was 81) and doesnt notify me of texts and calls on my phone, but "sync" happens every few minutes. My cellphone recorded 3,111 steps today to the fitbit's 18,556. Thats a huge difference- especially when on a calorie budget. This is a cheap piece of trash, assembled by teenagers in China for pennies. My cellphone does everything this does, cheaper and better. YOU ARE WASTING YOUR MONEY. I cannot stress enough- DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT! It reports random readings, unrelated to reality and tricks you into thinking you are burning calories when you are not! Weight loss can be achieved through some relatively minor changes. I have never spent so much money on some product that I can easily beat with a spreadsheet of what I ate and what the treadmill at the gym says I burned in my workout. 

[Kate2020Fit]

I’m really disappointed. Should have read more recent posts on the Fitbit Charge 3 before purchasing. I just got my watch but have experienced the same issues I’ve been reading about. Counting way too many steps while driving and moving my arm in any way. Since the first post I saw was from 2018, you would think Fitbit would have fixed this by now. Restart and walking 100 steps doesn’t work. I’m in IT, very patient and know how to troubleshoot...tried this process a few times. Still just shocked that this very expensive watch is not smart enough to do what it’s supposed to do. Returning it tomorrow.

[Gerrymagic]

Sent from my iPad

[Frosted6]

My Charge 3 does the same thing. I dried my hair and got 400 steps.  What good is it if it's not accurate?