Restart Charge 3 without cable

[House_of_adam]

Can we get an improvement to restart the Charge 3 without the cable? It seems to disconnect from the phone pretty regularly and I don't carry the cable with me since the battery life is so long.

Thanks-

[MarreFitbit]

Welcome on board @House_of_adam, it's nice to see you here! Unfortunately, there's no way to perform a restart without the charging cable. As soon as you get home you can try the following steps to restart your tracker:

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. When you see a smile icon and the tracker vibrates, the tracker restarted.
5. Unplug your tracker from the charging cable.

If your Charge 3 is not syncing as expected, to get a complete troubleshooting steps, please see: Why won't my Fitbit device sync? . 

For anything else you would like to see implemented in the future, consider visiting our Feature Suggestions board. This is a space where Community users can post features, ideas, and suggestions that they'd like to see in future Fitbit products, accessories, and software and top-voted suggestions get relayed to our product team for review. 

Let me know if there's anything else I may assist you with.

[House_of_adam]

Can restarting without the cable be an improvement for the future?

[MarreFitbit]

Thanks for getting back @House_of_adam! You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs.

Let me know if you need further assistance! 

[Elenie]

Given how buggy Fitbit devices & software are and the need to restart devices regularly you'd think the engineers would have built-in a way to do this.

So frustrating. This kind of annoyance is a constant feature with Fitbit. Why on earth do you need to connect the charger to reboot the thing? If you expect me to put up with the thing locking up, freezing, not syncing (endless list) I need to understand why is been made so inconvenient to correct?

An answer please for all Fitbit users.

[ehink]

I agree, if they can not make this thing sync more reliablly then there should be away to restart without a cable. I use to have an amaze fit that worked great at half the cost of this charge 3 and getting ready to return to it. Need to see if I can still return this charge 3. Had sync issues with an earlier fitbit pebble but thought it was just due to new product.

[c3resegrr]

This has happened to me 3 times in as many weeks. I'm going to buy another charger just for resetting at the office, but it drives me crazy to financially reward the company for a auto-bricking device.  Battery has been over 50% when I get home and finally do the reset so that's not it.

[Glowtape · Accepted solution]

Settings -> About -> Reboot Device

[MarreFitbit]

Welcome on board @c3resegrr! Sorry to hear you've been having inconveniences with your Charge 3. May I know what is the issue that requires you to restart your tracker? I'll be more than glad to help. 

Hey there @Glowtape! Thanks for jumping in here and for sharing some steps in order to reboot Charge 3. I think what you're trying to provide is the Factory Reset or Clear User Data. To get more information about this, see: How do I erase my Fitbit device?

I'll be around, let me know if you need help! 

[Glowtape]

No, it's a regular plain reboot, as the option says. I've used it before and it didn't erase anything. The factory reset/clear user data option is listed separately above the reboot one. It even tells you it's going to reboot without data loss. You guys should be a little more aware of your own devices you're supporting.

[c3resegrr]

normal use and wear, with no app interaction such as exercise tracking. symptom was screen went black and unresponsive, touch button no longer caused a vibrate, but the green light stayed on for a few hours until the battery died, even after i took off the watch

[Dmcn1]

Im having the same issue with mine, although vibrate button is working still just a blank screen.  When I try to reboot the smiley face doesn’t appear.  Very frustrating.

[LakersBall]

+1 to this - works fine, explicitly states it won't erase user data. So much easier than trying to hold down the most awkward button in existence

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@Glowtape wrote:

Settings -> About -> Reboot Device

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[Flo71]

Thanks reboot in settings of the device worked for me so much better than starting to get charging cable!!! Pity this happens so often my device is only 3 days old has happened 2 times already !!!

[JennyAM]

I agree a reboot without charger is needed.  i have to reset my Charge 3 at least 5 times a week (sometimes more than once a day) as the Bluetooth stop syncing!

And YES, I have checked my phone's Bluetooth (before anyone with Fitbit tells me to turn off and turn on my Bluetooth) and the phone is NOT the issue.  My phone doesn't lose Bluetooth connectivity with any other devices and I have even tried to sync it to my work phone (when it won't sync to my personal) and it won't sync with that device either.  So now, I have to wait until I get home (where my charger is) to "reset" my Fitbit to get my data.  Very frustrating.  The least they could do is give everyone two chargers when you buy the device if they aren't going to fix the issue!

[Digityman]

None of my stats were working (heart rate, steps...) and I didn't have my charger cord to reboot.  I just changed the watch face to something different and it acts like a little reboot.    All my stats are back now (although it didn't capture my steps all day.....)

[RiseAndShine]

@JennyAM, the option is already there (earlier posts have indicated it). Swipe 3 times from the main tracker screen to the left, you'll see Weather and Settings screen => tap on Settings. From there swipe up till you get to About - tap again and swipe up till you get to Reboot Device. As a note, I've seen some users indicated that their device issues were resolved once their used Clear User Data (it will clear data from the tracker, NOT from the data saved to the server. Thus, you shouldn't be able to lose your progress if you sync your tracker before using this option). Hope you can make it work!

[Peetee]

@Digityman This was the best reply ever! Change the clock face seems to work perfectly. I was stuck at work after walking 6,000 steps and noticing that I didn't have any steps recorded. Then I noticed that it wasn't turning on when you twist your wrist as it usually does. I found the fix for that, but not matter how many times I turned it on and off it still didn't work. So a reboot was going to be the only option. After scrolling for miles down this string I found your post and it works a treat...now working perfectly! Just 6,000 steps behind!

[JennyAM]

Hooray!!!   Thank you for sharing that as I would never have found it.

[Kuchious]

Changing clock face worked perfectly. I had a black screen held button on side forever, did nothing except vibrate 3 times. Left charger at home, while traveling abroad. Changing clock face made the check mark appear, then I could change it right back to the one I hadn’t before. Works fine now!!