FIT RESCUE · GUIDE

Garmin activity not showing after a sync: how to get it back

The watch recorded the activity, the sync seems to work, but the activity is not in Garmin Connect. Before anything else, find out whether the activity is still on the watch. Then you can import it by hand, and repair the file if it is refused.

Check my FIT file

Quick checks

  1. Is it in the watch’s history?

    If the activity is in the history of the watch, it was saved and its file exists. If it is not, the watch may have stopped before saving it: see the guide on a watch that died during an activity.

  2. Look at the date

    A watch whose clock was wrong files the activity under another date. Look at the days around it in Garmin Connect.

  3. Sync again

    Turn the phone’s Bluetooth off and on, then sync again. Garmin Express, with the USB cable on a computer, is another way to sync.

  4. Check the service

    Garmin Connect can be down for a while. If many people have the same problem on the same day, wait and try again.

Import the file by hand

If the activity is still missing, copy its .fit file from the GARMIN/Activity folder of the watch with the USB cable, then drop it on the Import Data page of Garmin Connect on the web.

If Garmin Connect answers “Import Complete”, the activity is back. Any other message means the file has a problem: that is the moment to check and repair it.

If the import is refused

Open the file in FIT Rescue. The diagnosis shows whether it is cut, has a wrong size or checksum, or lacks its summary, and the repairs rebuild what can be rebuilt from the recorded points.

If Garmin Connect answers that the file “has already been uploaded”, the activity exists in your account, perhaps under another date or hidden by a filter: Garmin Connect compares start times.

What FIT Rescue repairs

  • Tell you whether the file of the activity is complete
  • Repair a cut-off file, a wrong size or checksum, a missing summary
  • Give you a file to import by hand, or GPX, TCX and CSV exports

What it cannot do

  • Sync problems between the watch, the phone and Garmin Connect
  • An activity that the watch never saved and whose file does not exist
  • An activity deleted from Garmin Connect: it has to be imported again from the file

Check the activity file

Drop the .fit file from the watch: you see whether it is complete and why it may be refused.

Check my FIT file

Questions

Why is my activity not in Garmin Connect after syncing?

The sync may have failed for this activity, the file may be damaged and refused, or the activity may be filed under another date. The checks above sort out these cases.

How do I import an activity by hand?

Copy the .fit file from the GARMIN/Activity folder of the watch with the USB cable, then drop it on the Import Data page of Garmin Connect on the web.

Can I recover an activity deleted from Garmin Connect?

If its .fit file is still on the watch or in a copy you kept, yes: import that file again. FIT Rescue cannot bring back a file that no longer exists.

Does FIT Rescue sync with Garmin Connect?

No. It never connects to an account: it reads the file you give it, on your device, and gives you a file to import yourself.

Sources

Related guides

FIT Rescue tools

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