Garmin owners can use their smartwatches again after the tech giant released a fix for the bug that had caused devices to crash worldwide.
Reports of the problem began on Tuesday (January 28), when users trying to access the GPS feature were met by a blue ‘triangle of death’ display.
Others couldn't use their Garmin at all, with devices stuck on the bootup screen.
In response, Garmin advised users to "press and hold the power button until the device turns off, then power it back on, and sync with the Garmin Connect app or Garmin Express," in a statement on its website. But many users reported that this 'fix' wasn't helping.
Now the smartwatch giant has issued a series of official fixes, which can be accessed differently depending on your device, and initial reports are that they are working.
Instinct Series 3 users can access the fix by opening Garmin Express on their computer, restarting their device, and re-registering with Garmin Express.
Forerunner, Vivoactive, and Venu users will have to reboot their devices to factory settings, before using Bluetooth to reconnect to the Garmin Connect app.
The bug caused a wide range of Garmin devices to crash on a global scale.
Out of 65 reader responses, 53 told our sister site Tom’s Guide that they’d experienced GPS issues with their Garmin smartwatch.
Other Garmin devices like the Edge range of cycling computers have also received fixes.
Users with the following smartwatches reported crashes:
- Garmin Forerunner 165
- Garmin Forerunner 255
- Garmin Forerunner 265
- Garmin Forerunner 955
- Garmin Forerunner 965
- Garmin Fenix 8
- Garmin Fenix 7
- Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2)
- Garmin Vivoactive 5
- Garmin Venu 3
- Garmin Venu 2
- Garmin Lily 2
- Garmin Lily 2 Active
Irate Garmin users took to social media to complain about the issue. The video below video, posted to X by user @leonagraham, shows a crash in action.
. @Garmin @GarminUK @GarminFitness when are you going to fix this?! #garminbluetriangle #garmincrash #GarminDown pic.twitter.com/jwvhtxmafJJanuary 29, 2025
While these crashes inconvenienced many, for some, they were a major roadblock in training plans. Garmin's top-of-the-range GPS and fitness tracking features are used by athletes worldwide to train for their next challenge, whether it's an ultra-marathon or a daunting mountain ascent.
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