Fix: Fitbit Charge 5 Not Tracking / Counting Steps

For any fitness or health-related device it’s the measurement accuracy that matters the most. Design, custom faces, and other things are secondary as long as tracking fitness is your primary goal. But things started to get worse when the measurements are inaccurate or not working. That’s the same problem many people are facing with their Fitbit Charge 5 fitness tracker. If you are also in the same boat, don’t panic. There are a couple of nifty workarounds that can fix the Fitbit Charge 5 not tracking or counting steps problem.

Fitbit Charge 5 is the go-to fitness tracker for many of us to keep a track of our fitness goals. The device is loaded with pretty much all the features you would want. It can monitor ECG, good sleep, calories burned, and more. The fitness tracker has a built-in GPS, smart notifications, 20 exercise modes, Smart Wake, Silent Alarms, SmartTrack, Sleep Score, vibrant display, and notifies you when the heart rate goes below or above your threshold.

How to Fix Fitbit Charge 5 Not Tracking / Counting Steps Problem

Solution 1: Restart Your Fitbit Charge 5

A restart can fix many problems on your Fitbit fitness tracker. It can fix minor system glitches or a temporary software bug which might be the reason why your fitness tracker is not counting steps accurately.

Steps to restart your Fitbit Charge 5:

1. Connect the charger to the device.
2. Plug the charger into the wall socket.
3. Locate a button on the cable. It should be present on one end of the cable which is connecting to the adapter.
4. Tap the button three times. After a couple of seconds, your Fitbit Charge 5 will reboot.

Once done, check if the measurement issue is solved.

Solution 2: Remove Your Fitbit From the App and Add It Again

If you are getting inaccurate or no data, removing the Fitbit Charge 5 from the app and adding it as a fresh device can do the trick. Before you remove the device from the app, sync the Fitbit with the app to save the data.

The good thing with the Fitbit fitness trackers is that all your data are saved on the cloud servers. Hence, your data is safe even after you remove the device from the app.

How to remove Fitbit Charge 5 from the app

1. Open the app on your phone.
2. Go to the Account section.
3. Tap on Fitbit Charge 5 from the devices list.
4. Click on the trashcan or delete icon and follow on-screen instructions to remove the device from the app.

After you’ve removed the device, restart your Fitbit and follow these steps to add it as a new device on the app:

1. Open the app again.
2. Go to the Account section.
3. Tap on Set up a Device and follow easy on-screen instructions to link your Fitbit Charge 5 with the app.

Solution 3: Turn off the GPS

Turning on the GPS can fix problems with your Fitbit Charge 5. You should keep it turned off if you don’t use GPS. It will also save the battery.

Here’s how you can turn off GPS on your Fitbit:

1. Go to the Fitbit dashboard and tap on the Settings icon in the top-right corner.
2. Select your device.
3. On the lower end of the screen, you’ll see GPS settings. There you can turn it off.

Solution 4: Factory Reset Your Fitbit Charge 5

If none of the solutions have worked for you resetting the device is probably the last thing before contacting Fitbit customer support. This process will wipe all stored data on the Fitness tracker. Hence, sync your device first with the app so that all the data will be stored on the server.

Here are the required steps:

1. Swipe down from the screen to open the app menu.
2. Again swipe down until you find Settings.
3. Tap on the Settings app.
4. Swipe up and locate the Device Info option. Tap on it.
5. Again, Swipe up and select Clear User Data.
6. Tap and hold the 3-sec button to start resetting the device.

After you’ve reset your Fitbit Charge 5, put the device on your wrist, walk at least 50 steps, and make sure that the device is counting each step.

Fitness tracker devices keep us aligned with our fitness goals. It has become an essential part of our lives. And when such devices fail, we get frustrated as our fitness goals tend to go far away. I hope this guide was helpful to you in fixing measurement-related problems with your Fitbit Charge 5. Still, if you have any unanswered questions left, feel free to write them in the comments below.