Is there a way to force a total system shutdown on a Sense watch?

[Yago-nj]

I love my Sense.  At least I did until today.  Today when I woke up, the Sense would not sync.  I did the steps recommended by Fitbit:  1) turn bluetooth on phone off and on; 2) shutdown fitbit app on phone and restart; 3) reboot phone; 4) force reboot of watch by holding haptic switch down for 10 seconds.

The watch reboot caused the watch to bring the fitbit logo up and then it cycles off after 2 seconds.  Then the watch makes a very short vibration and screen goes blank.  Then after 3 seconds of blank watch screen, fitbit logo returns.  Cycle repeats forever.

I would like to fully turn the watch off and try to restart it from scratch.  I saw someone said this can be done by waiting for the battery to run out but this will take 5-6 days.  Is there any other way to fully turn OFF the watch?

[LZeeW]

Hello @Yago-nj and welcome to the Community.  I think you should contact Support for more help.  You need to be able to interact with your Sense to shut it down.  Don't wait several days for the battery to run out.

[JohnnyRow]

Agreed, as @LZeeW said, if you cannot interact with your Sense now, nothing to do, but in the future, a few thoughts.

1) To clarify terms, holding in haptic button for 10 seconds is called a restart.  It is always safe to do and is a good first step for debugging any problem.

It sounds like what you are looking for is a factory reset, which is an extreme action.  It loses any modifications you have made to the device app such as order of apps, shortcuts, maybe alarms, wallet entries, and probably any data you have accumulated since your last sync.  Use it very cautiously.  With all that said, it is available right on your wrist in the Settings menu.

2)  If it does not sync exactly when you want it to, that is not necessarily a catastrophe.  Often the solution is to wait an hour or two and try again.  Contrary to common belief, it is possible to continue without instant gratification.

[Yago-nj]

JohnnyRow,

Thanks for your reply.  My experience is that the "restart" (push haptic button for 10 seconds) is not always safe.  That was the event immediately before my Sense went into its endless loop.  When I called support, they thought the Sense is trying to update itself but is caught in a loop.  I want to end the loop and get back to where I can use the watch UI to interact with the watch.

Any ideas on how to stop the endless loop?

[Yago-nj · Accepted solution]

Thanks to https://community.fitbit.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4883065 (LizzyFitBit)!  She recommended the following in a post April 24 and it worked for me to factory reset the watch.

It is possible to reset The Sense And Versa 2 / 3using the button. I am not sure if it is any different from the normal "Hard Reset", but worth a try?

• Press and hold the side button until the screen turns off.
• After the screen turns off, you should feel a short vibration.
• As soon as you feel the vibration, release the side button and immediately press and hold that button again.
• Keep pressing until the Fitbit logo appears and disappears, and then once again, immediately release the button and press and hold it until you feel another vibration.
• After you feel that vibration, release the side button, this final vibration indicates you started the factory reset for your Fitbit.

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