Charge 3 won’t restart

[CSmith480]

Plugged my charge 3 in and held the button down but nothing happens.  Tried multiple times.  I know I’m pressing it because I feel the fives buzz, but after a few seconds it just goes dark instead of restarting.

[NellyG]

If your charge 3 screen is working go to the settings app on the watch and scroll down to About and select restart. That is an alternative way to restart.

[TuringTested]

My charge 3 is in a similar situation but

• When I plug it in to charge as part of the reboot process, the screen doesn't change to the battery percentage, but it does turn on and vibrate when power goes in.
• When I try holding the side button, the screen turns on, it vibrates a few times then the screen goes black.
• the touch screen is not responding to touch, so I cannot access the about screen to choose restart from there either.

[MissElenx]

Mine is exactly the same. Any advice please? 

[TuringTested]

I was able to access the app on my phone and it was still sync'ing with the charge3. So following the advice of someone else on here I changed the clock face on the watch. Then I was able to use the touch screen to restart the charge 3 by scrolling to the settings menu then about then reboot. Then I changed my clock face back.

Incidentally, I normally use the "Asymmetrical clock" because it has steps, heart rate, and a large digital time. Do you use the same one? Are these problems associated with particular clock faces? On a separate note, it would be nice if it also had a small date at the bottom right.

[lroth]

I have been having the same problem for a couple of days! I found your response and I went into my clock faces and I was using the Asymmetrical clock as well! I did what you suggested and changed the clock face and once it saved I was able to use the screen again! Thanks for your tip!

[PickleNick]

Thanks this helped me.

My FitBit's screen had gone blank and wouldn't light up, but would still count steps and sync with my phone. It also wouldn't restart with the side button (only three vibrations then nothing), so I changed the clock face and it restarted. I STILL wasn't able to restart with the side button, so I restarted with the option under menu > Settings > About > Restart. Now my FitBit will restart with the side button when the battery displays when plugged into my computer.

FitBit Charge 3 is great but what a faff.

PS I'm also a fan of the Asymmetrical Clock!

[bbrejcha]

Mine is not booting either.  I can get the smile face tho.

[Jdtimer]

Same problem - unable to restart the Charge 3.  Swipe on screen not responding.  My screen was however set to display Stats Heavy..... I changed it to Analogue via the phone app and was then able to control (swipe) the screen again... bit flakey for my liking.  They probably need to have a serious look at the backend code to clean up the glitches.

[Bellabee40]

I noticed you had the same problem I'm having now. Just wondering if you found a fix?

[Jdtimer]

Sorry, nothing to add since that comment.  It has not been a problem since.  The display (mine was set to Stats Heavy) seemed to have something to do with it.... on changing the display back to Analogue (via my iPhone) it appears to have returned to normal...   Hope your issue gets resolved..  good luck.  jT

[Bellabee40]

Thanks

[Catslat]

My screen went black last night, but still vibrated. This had happened before, so I changed the clock screen in the app. (This helped before), but nothing. So I thought maybe I should try to remove my watch and reinstall in the app Wrong move!! Now I can't re-add my watch to the app because I can't see the pin code that shows up on the screen. This is so frustrating,  I don't know what to do now. I've tried to restart by plugging in and holding down the button, but just get a bunch of short vibrating bursts. I'm so upset @ Fitbit for not working on this issue!

[Bellabee40]

I'm not sure what to tell you. After trying to restart several times it fixed itself. Granted I had to brush up on my military time skills, but I was just thankful it was fixed. The sad part is no one has 'the fix' not even Fitbit. I hope you can get it figured out. I feel your frustrations. 

[Nj1989]

Hi I had the same would not restart and screen would not turn on, tried with plug in wall about 50 times and nothing, tried in my laptop and worked first time

[GabeHenson]

Any fix for this so far? I unpaired my Fitbit as well? Quite disappointing that a product that is 1 year old has so many nagging issues? How do we proceed to get a refund on this?

[AstroTiger]

mine wont either. Although Fitbit replaced it.

my new one does reboot etc. a bit narked i went for a good ride the other day but i couldnt stop the excercise.

i solved the problem but will say the tech is a bit flakey. its not the finished product.

[rimata]

I just tried to get a refund, but they only give one if you report issues within 45 days. I purchased a Charge 3 with a Fitbit discount in May 2020 to replace an Alta HR that only lasted 2 years. By July 2020, I realized I never received vibrating notifications, and that it wasn't an issue with my settings. Customer Service had me mail it back to them, and then they shipped another one out to me. The one I received vibrates, but the screen is always black. I couldn't even link it to my account because the screen doesn't light up. I now have to mail THIS ONE back to Fitbit and await ANOTHER replacement. I wanted a refund instead of the offer for a discount for another device, but I guess the only option is a worthless back-and-forth through snail mail with the hope that the THIRD Charge 3 I receive will actually work as promised. Next time, I'm getting another tracker from another company.

[AngeleneK]

I have attempted to shut down my watch without it connected to my charger, with it connected to my charger by pressing the button on left side, I have a charge 3 with zero results.  I've also gone into the settings on the watch itself and done as you suggested with going to 'settings' 'about' and selecting restart, again no results.

So I rebooted my iPhone with no results either!!!  My issue with watch is that it no longer vibrates and I can't seem to restart it.  Issue with Fitbit app is it's not recording my steps although records everything else.

Says on app that it can't connect to my charge 3.  

Any suggestions????

[Weasel709]

I'm currently having this problem and it's really frustrating. I can't get it to reset on the charger, I can't get the screen to come on even though I've tried several different clocks. I cant find where to reset it in the app so I'm lost there. Honestly I really think this would be an avoidable problem if Fitbit would just allow us to access the screen brightness and what we want to see through the app. I can almost guarantee that my kids were messing with it and they've some how dimmed the screen.