Charge 3 not tracking exercise

[Adrian.Faure]

My fitbit charge 3 no longer tracks my exercise. I would manually start the tracker which will work for the first few minutes, then a smiley face comes on and all exercise tracked is erased. It does not record any amount of exercise done. Please help... 

[MarreFitbit]

Welcome on board @Adrian.Faure, it's nice to see you here! You can restart your tracker from your wrist. From the clock face, swipe to Settings and tap Reboot Device. 

If your tracker is unresponsive, follow the restart instructions below.

1. Plug the charging cable into the USB port on your computer or any UL-certified USB wall charger.
2. Clip the other end of the charging cable to the port on the back of the tracker. The pins on the charging cable must lock securely with the port.
3. Make sure the button on your tracker is aligned with the button opening on the charging cable. You’ll know the connection is secure when the tracker vibrates and you see a battery icon on your tracker’s display. 
4. Press and hold the button on your tracker for 8 seconds. Release the button. When you see a smile icon and the tracker vibrates, the tracker restarted.
5. Unplug your tracker from the charging cable.

Give this a go and let me know the outcome! 

[Adrian.Faure]

I have given the restart a go, and will test this out tomorrow morning when I exercise again. Thanks for the help, I will let you know if it works. 

[MarreFitbit]

Sure thing @Adrian.Faure! I'll be here waiting for your reply.

Have a nice day my friend! 

[Rdh1314]

Just exercise between 4-6 times a week at moderate to high intensity and you really don't need the frustrating and disappointing FitBit.  

[Adrian.Faure]

Hi there

So exercise done and still not working. After you told me about the reboot I realised that's what is happening while I exercise. I will activate an exercise program and after a few min it will reboot, cancelling all tracked exercise I had just done. 

I thought I may have touched the side button, so I moved the watch to the other hand, and even tried upside-down on each hand. Which doesnt touch the side. But unfortunately would reset on its own.

The device was purchased in November, so fairly new and no damage. I wouldn't expect it to be a hardware issue? But I'm not expert.

Your help is much appreciated. 

Update: Hi @MarreFitbit

So through the day today my charge 3 has rebooted about 15 times now with nothing touching it. I will go down to unlock it and will get a long vibration black screen followed by a smile face and a long reload.

How can i stop this from constantly rebooting? 

[MarreFitbit]

Thanks for getting back and for the update provided @Adrian.Faure! I have reached out to our support team and created a case regarding your inquiry. Someone will be reaching out to you within the next 24-72 hours with next steps. 

Hey there @Rdh1314! I've seen that you got in touch with our Support Team recently. If you have any questions or concern about your tracker, please reply back to your support case. They'll be more than glad to continue assist you. 

If there's any questions present, let me know. 

[dobree49]

I had the same problem and tried your solution.  Sadly it did not solve the problem.  I am very disappointed with the charge 3 as I have to restart it every time I want to sync. It does not track or even show the exercises, just a dark screen.

I think I will have to return it.  I certainly hope and I will encourage the tech magazines to relook at their awards for this product, as judging from the forums this a serious problem with the charge 3.

[Sprocket07]

Hello,

I'm also having trouble with the Charge 3 not tracking exercise ... actually, got it a few days ago and it's not tracking anything, not steps, heart rate -- nothing. I've tried rebooting, setting goals, setting up workouts, activating/deactivating GPS, syncing with the app on my phone, etc., and when I get into workouts, to the screen that says 'Let's go!' I press the play button and nothing happens. And my stats still read zero despite wearing it all week. Is there a setting hidden somewhere that I need to turn on? Would appreciate new ideas as I'm finding it not at all intuitive. Very disappointed -- imagined I'd be able to turn it on and it'd be at least functioning as a basic pedometer straightaway ...

[dobree49]

Hi

Try this.  First make sure in the app you have chosen the exercises you want to track.  Then go to the bluetooth on your phone and press the i next to the charge 3  and forget the device.off,  Then reboot the fitbit by plugging in and pressing the side for 8 seconds.  Then reconnect to the bluetooth.

This worked for me.However, the problem keeps coming back, and I believe there is a serious issue with the charge 3.  It is happening too often and to too many people.

I hope that works for you.  Failing that write to fitbit they are generally pretty good about responding.

[Sprocket07]

Thanks for the reply, dobree49. I'll try this and I think I'll be able to find my way through the latter steps, but I'm having trouble withe the first step ... when you say choose in the app what exercises to track, do you mean choose which exercises I want the Charge 3 to auto recognise? Or do I need to choose them via the dashboard, in the 'Track exercise' option? When I touch that square it takes me to half a dozen different screens that I can scroll through (number of days, calendar, duration graph, distance, heart rate graph, calories burned), none of which I can actually interact with. Or is this option on the dashboard merely to display the exercises my device is supposed to track, so strictly speaking it should be called 'Tracked exercise', past tense...?!?

[dobree49]

I think I mean the auto recognise.  If you click on the number of days goal met then go into the settings ( top right)  it will tell you what you are tracking.

However, having said all of this my fitbit is now no longer syncing.  I believe there is a real software issue  given the number of issues I have seen.

Good luck

[Wouter77]

Hello,

I have a similar problem with my Charge 3.

When I want to use de exercise mode for a bike I get a message connecting.

This never changes to connected and the exercise is only partly recorded.

It tracks my time and heartrate but not my speed and distance (or only 2 meters J).

I also have to reset my Bluetooth of my mobile phone (Motorola G5) to reconnect/synchronize.

My auto-tracking is working, but I would like to use the full range of my device and the gps is not working with auto-tracking.

Grts,

[Teri_Runner]

Hi, I got charge 3 as a birthday present last month. It was tracking my daily exercise first 2 weeks. But now I’m having the same problems as everyone else here. 

No exercise is tracked. I have rebooted and set up. Done everything that has been shared on this forum. But no luck! 

Please adviae 

[Sprocket07]

Hi Teri_Runner,

I'd suggest getting in touch with Fitbit Support - they were really helpful with the issues I was having. If what they initially suggest doesn't work, let them know and they will work towards a resolution for you.

Best of luck!

[NassUK]

Hi, I have tried your suggestion and still Charger 3 is not tracking exercise!. I have trace this problem and looks like Fitbit has this malfunction over 3 years. I am very disappointed as I have tried all the solution has been suggested in Fitbit Community. What do you think I should do??? Thanks

[SezT]

I'm having the exact same problem with charge 3 only part recording in bike exercise mode. Time was tracked, but distance was terribly incorrect- for over 2 hour ride, it showed 1.7km and the gps map shown in the app was so far from accurate!

Also finding it extremely frustrating-almost impossible at times to get the charge 3 to stop tracking exercise once I finish my training.

Sad to say it, but I'm very disappointed with my choice to buy this tracker 😞

[SunsetRunner]

I had the same problem too. I rebooted my Charge 3 and restarted my watch several times but nothing happened. As soon as I loosened the watch on my wrist, the exercise days registered on the app with the active minutes. I read somewhere that the tracker won’t sync properly if it’s too tight. Maybe try that.. 

[Kmdc2013]

Hi Maria,

I just got my Charge 3 for Christmas, and just started using it less than a month ago when my Charge 2 literally broke apart at the gym! :)1)  I did the same routine at the gym tonight as last night, 30 mins elliptical and 30 mins treadmill. Tonight, the Fitbit only registered the elliptical In my daily exercise (and this is the only reason I have a Fitbit is to register my activity and calories burned!. I have tried turning my phone on and off. Playing with the bluetooth. Re-downloading the Fitbit app. Doing a reboot by going to settings on my charge 3. Nothing is working to get it to update and register the other exercise. And I’ve had this issue with having to try different solutions multiple times in the last week to get it to register exercise. I’m worried something is wrong with the tracker. 2)  Similarly, I am not able to reboot my Charge 3 by placing it in the charger and holding down for 8 seconds. The screen shows the battery, vibrates a few times then the screen goes blank. I’ve watched videos on rebooting to make sure I’m doing it right and nothing works. 
thank you!!

[NassUK]

Hi,
Unfortunately I have the same problem and got no response or solution from Fitbit!!. This miscommunication is going back as far as 2016, have seen so many posts about it but no solution. Very disappointed. I am on a mission to put people off to buy this fancy expensive s****.
Someone suggested if you loosening up the wristband it will make a different and it will solve the Communication!!, it hasn’t work in my case. I hope it will solve yours.
Good luck


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