In this troubleshooting document, we talk about an issue that frequently impacts Garmin smartwatches.
Issue summary
Garmin watch is disconnecting from the paired smartphone repeatedly. It seems like the watch cannot remain connected to the smartphone.
Issue description
Many Garmin smartwatch users (especially the Fenix series) report that they experience an issue of frequency disconnects between the Garmin smartwatch and smartphone.
No matter what, the watch refuses to remain connected to the paired smartphone.
As a matter of reference, you can check the thread to know more details about the affects of frequent disconnections between a Garmin smartwatch and the paired smartphone. In this case, a user complained about disconnections between his Fenix smartwatch and the paired smartphone.
The paired smartphone could be an Android phone or an iPhone.
You could also read about similar complaints shared by reddit user. The reddit thread is quite old. A very old Garmin thread also reports a similar issue of rapid disconnection between Garmin watch and the paired smartphone.
A Fenix 6 user reports frequent disconnection between the Garmin Fenix 6 and paired smartphone.
On this thread, a Venu user reports frequent disconnection between the Garmin Venu and paired smartphone.
Resolution
The issue of frequent disconnection between the Garmin watch and the paired smartphone has been attributed to the way the Connect app works and behaves.
For the connection to be maintained between the Garmin watch and the paired smartphone, you require the Connect app to be always running on the paired smartphone.
The Connect app must never go to sleep. On a similar basis, the Connect app must never be turned off as part of the power saving settings of the paired smartphone.
The Connect app must work in the background at all times on the paired smartphone. If the Connect app sleeps or is forcibly brought to a stop, it will cause the connection between the paired smartphone and the Garmin watch to drop.
You will want to ensure once you have the watch paired with the phone, that you keep the Connect app open and running in the background on the phone. If a background refresh settings is available, ensure this is enabled. You will also need to avoid using any Battery Save or Power Save mode on the phone.
A Fenix 6 user (epxeriencing frequent drops between the Garmin watch and the paired Android phone Samsung S23) confirmed that he found the Connect app in deep sleeping apps in his Samsung S23. Removing it from there and putting it in the “Never auto sleeping apps” setting found under the Battery section in settings did the trick for him.
If the Connect app is in an active state, and you continue to experience connection drops between the Garmin watch and the paired smartphone, you may follow the instructions below to reset your watch:
- Ensure the watch is powered off.
- Press and hold BACK and START/STOP.
- Press LIGHT to power the watch on while holding these two buttons.
- After the first beep release START/STOP.
- After the second beep release the remaining button.