Charge 3 won't pair

[bmacsdc]

Trying to pair new Charge 3 with Samsung S8. The Bluetooth sees the Charge 3 but doesn't pair successfully. I have tried 2 ways, without success:

- Restarted both the Charge 3 and phone

- Fitbit app account page, tap on set up a new device, select Charge 3, tap on 'set up your Fitbit Charge 3' and nothing happens. Any suggestions?

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[kfz]

yeah these UX pains are half a decade old

[Maqr4life]

To have sync working properly you must sync your watch with the app in your phone at least once a week. If you miss sync it, the watch's flash memory goes full not leaving enough space to the Bluetooth I/O area in it.

I found that once I cleared the user data to my watch( Swipe to the right -> Setting - >  About - Clear USer Data) it worked for me. I tried all the articles and tips, restarted, turned of power save mode to my phone, reinstalled app etc... and none worked.

As you know I lost all my data for over 3 weeks usage in it hence I recommend you all to keep it sync once a day min just in case you change phones etc.

At least its working just as fine for me.

[Jeffers1]

Thank you!  Tried all the other tips multiple times, this finally worked.  Unfortunately I lost all data back to December 19th, wish I had noticed it wasn't syncing before it came to this point.

[Michellehowe]

I was already set up I just can't pair now

[Wildfitness]

I tried everthing and nothing that support tell work. That´s the note for other user. 

SO MY ADVICE BEFORE WASTING YOUR TIME LIKE MINE , FIRST THING GO TO SETTINGS ON DEVICE AND ERASE DATA. even the fitbit rep couldnt solve this problem ...but i did !

[Roadrunner-99]

As so many users here have written, the syncing and pairing issues are beyond frustrating. Had the same  issues and nothing worked except for clearing the data on the device. So, if you want to save yourself some time and are willing to lose data, do this as your first option.

But what is frustrating is that this is a known issue and seemingly it is up to users to figure it out and any updates don't seem to entirely take care of it. Needless to say: clearing and losing un-synced data is not an overly sophisticated solution to a known and common issue.

Fitbit, sort it out; as it stands, this will be my last Fitbit. If you can't sort out common Bluetooth issues you may not do too overly well in the future.

[ColoradoTigress]

For the first time in over a month, my Charge 3 isn't a $150 brick! Thank you so much for helping me fix it!!!!!

[martarita]

I'm having the exact problem. I tried calling Fitbit Tech Support. Talked to basic rep, we tried the basic resets, phone reset, installed and reinstalled the app, the phone Galaxy S8 is compatible, put the Charge three on the charger, did a soft reset on the charger, nothing. Transferred to Specialist 1. Did a force stop in Settings - Apps - Fitbit, cleared cache in Storage and cleared data, and made sure that all permissions were on in the Fitbit app.  STILL didn't work, transferred to Specialist 2. Did a whole bunch more changing of settings and turning devices on and off, uninstalling and reinstalling, STILL DIDNT WORK.  2nd Specialist said they would pass all of my account information on to Specialist 3 Department. She promised that they would email me with their contact information. 24 hours later, I still have not received the email.  As soon as I hear from Fitbit Support 3, I will pass on the information.  Sorry to anyone who is having similar issues, I feel your pain. 🙂

I have done everything suggested to get this issued fixed. I have spoken to 3 representatives at Fitbit. The first was the basic representative, the second was specialist 1, the third was specialist 2. We tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Fitbit app, had the Charge 3 on the charger, did a soft reset on the Charge while on the charger, did a hard reset on the Charge 3, still will not sync with bluetooth. I have a Galaxy S8 and a brand new Charge 3. We did a Force Stop on the settings - apps - Fitbit, also a clear cache and clear data with all 3 FitBit reps, and the Charge 3 STILL won't sync to bluetooth.  The 3rd specialist representative told us that we would be receiving an email with contact information to call or email the next level up of support. He or she could not tell us when the email would come, but promised it would show up eventually. I felt that he or she said that just to get us off the chat box. It's 24 hours later (it's a weekend), and neither my husband nor I have received the email. I will give it until Tuesday by end of day to be resolved, or I will be sending my FitBit back and looking for an alternative tracker company.

I've done everything suggested in these posts, and spoke to 3 reps at FitBit. IT STILL DOESNT SYNC to my Galaxy 8!

Moderator edit: merged reply

[SunsetRunner]

I've been having this exact same issue and been working on it for several hours for the last 3 evenings.  Did anyone find a solution???  I bought this the day it came out in October and haven't been able to use it for months now.   

[DanM6]

My problem is slightly different.  I have to renew the pairing every morning.  This morning is especially hard.  I remove the charge3 from my bluetooth list, and search.  After a few searches it finds it.  I then put the phone in the charger and push the button. 

Usually this works after 10 minutes of effort.  But, 10 minutes a day is problematic.  I rarely had this problem with my charge 2, the band connection just broke, and after a year of using superglue, I got a new fitbit because I didn't think it would work again.

You do a good job of what a fitness tracker should do.  But, these little issues mean that I (and millions of others) will probably go to Apple or someone else when they have a decent product.  I don't know if you realize it, but the fate of your company hangs on these problems being solved.

[Username170]

Pairing, unpairing, uninstalling, reinstalling, Bluetooth on, Bluetooth off, reboot, re-reboot, all the suggestions in the links just waste our time and this cute little wristband refuses to transfer their data to the phones or to the PC no mater what I do, leaving me with an overpriced wristwatch I have to remove and charge up once a week...

Wiping all the data on the think got it to sync with android, and all my fooling around and troubleshooting just resulted in more data lost...  I am now going to start making the posting of Charge 3 reviews my mission in life until I receive a full refund or a firmware update that works every day.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Lenahz89]

Where did you buy it from? It should have st least a one year warranty. I bought mine from Best Buy but it’s still within the two weeks so it’s going back tomorrow because I’m having the same issues. Call their customer service phone number they should replace it for you with it being that new, they told me I would be eligible for a new one since I bought it from best-buy and it automatically has a one year warranty. Good luck!

[syoung079]

I'm having the same issue.  It won't sync, so I've been unpairing and repairing, until today.  It won't pair at all.  I don't feel like I should be unpairing and repairing to get it to sync in the first place but now it won't do anything.  I figured I would do a work around and sync it through bluetooth on my computer but another slap in the face is that the Charge 3 is mobile setup only.  Way to go Fitbit.  How about working on getting this to work or giving me a refund.  I have barely had this for 30 days and paid $160 for something that I can't do anything with.  I loved my Charge 2 and NO ISSUES with it until it just stopped charging 2 years later.

For the people saying to delete the data and then it synced, I might be a **ahem** but what do you mean and how exactly did you do that.

[Username170]

If you have run out of other possible fixes, the data delete workaround is to go to settings->about tracker-> delete user data... you should NOT have to do factory reset, but I have heard that worked for someone...

The sooner you do it, the less data you lose. I  plan to do it every time I charge the phone. It does not delete the data from my Win 10 or android App,

[syoung079]

I tried everything and spent my entire day off today on this.  I tried changing all the setting on phone.  Tried it with wifi on and then off.  It finally worked when I did a factory reset on the fitbit (swipe left, go to settings - about - clear data).  Then on my phone, I went into my settings - apps - fitbit - storage - and i cleared both data and cache.  Then I tried to pair again with bluetooth and it paired in less than 30 seconds.  I lost a weeks worth of data but at least I don't have a $160 **ahem**.  I'm still debating on returning this because I got it for Christmas so the return window should still be open and honestly, it shouldn't be this DIFFICULT to get something to work.

Side note: I also ordered a wireless sync dongle in the hopes that I can get it to sync with my computer so I can at least have some use of it when this happens again because it will happen again.  I really hope the developers are working on fix for this.  This is my third Fitbit and I would really hate for it to be my last.

[WendyRia]

How do you manually restart the Fitbit?? 

I got my partner the charge 3 and can’t pair it with his iPhone 8! Just keeps searching and can’t find the Fitbit. So frustrating !! 

[Isadore]

Went through all those "try this list of 10 things "   no help.  Finally got it to sync again.  Hard reset 3 times. remove and reinstall the app on my galaxy9.  Reboot the Win X computer the charge cable is in.

Good thing this is my wifes device, I would have stomped it to death.  I WILL NEVER BUY A FITBIT. This is my wifes 3 one, and I always get the brutal end of getting these **ahem** devices to sync.

[WendyRia]

How do you manually erase the Fitbit ??

[swilson317]

This thread started in October 2018. It's now February of 2019 and this is STILL an issue. Fitbit needs to FIX THIS! NOTHING is working! Pairing a device with Bluetooth should be a simple task. Maybe you guys need to talk to people at Plantronics, Bose, or any other manufacturer of devices that support Bluetooth to find out how to design your devices! <heavy sigh>

[redskinsrahrah8]

Same here.  Tried everything.  **ahem** - going back to the old fashioned pedometer.  Not happy with the HELP on Fitbit.