Garmin Watch Not Charging: Causes & How to Fix

Having the battery on your Garmin wearable device not charging when connected to a power source can be quite scary and frustrating. A number of reasons can cause this to happen. Fortunately, a number of easy solutions exist also, so if you’re experiencing this, don’t panic yet.

Charging issues are not uncommon in electronic devices. It is advised to charge your watch for up to one hour before concluding that the battery is faulty, even if the watch’s display is blank and does not indicate that it is charging.

garmin watch not charging

Garmin Watch Not Charging: Likely Causes

It is easy to want to believe that the fault with a device that is not charging sits squarely on the batteries, but it isn’t always so. Several reasons may cause your Garmin watch not to charge and they include:

  1. Faulty sockets
  2. Faulty charging cable
  3. Failed AC adapter
  4. Faulty batteries
  5. Software updates
  6. Metal tarnish on charging clip

Garmin Watch Not Charging: How to Fix

If you find yourself faced with this issue on your device, here are a few easy tips to try:

Charge for an hour

Whether the device display is blank or not, charging it for up to an hour is advisable when a Garmin watch does not charge. Sometimes the battery is just really low and needs the boost.

If the battery still does not charge after an hour of having it plugged into electricity,  the battery may indeed be faulty.

Clean the charging accessory

To make sure, you can clean the contacts and charging clips on the charger with rubbing alcohol, pencil eraser, eyeglass cleaner, or electric screen wipes and try charging again. Leave the device to charge once more for another hour.

Plug into a different socket

As easy as this sounds, it might just be the solution. Oftentimes, the charger and device are not the problems at all. Plugging the charger into a different socket will immediately solve the problem if the first socket it was plugged into was faulty.

Change the charging cable

If you have confirmed that the socket is fine, the next thing to investigate is the charging cable. Try disconnecting and reconnecting the charging cable. If this doesn’t work, try using another cable. If the cable is faulty, the new cable would charge the watch without problems.

Use another AC adapter

As there are different components to the charging accessory, each part of the said charging accessory may have a part to play in any charging issues the device may have. If your Garmin watch is not charging, try changing the AC adapter.

Do a soft reset

A soft reset may be all that is required to get it functioning properly again and will not affect any information on the device. To carry out a soft reset, connect the watch to a computer.

Next, press down on the power button until the watch goes off. Press down again on the power button to switch it back on and then leave to charge until 100%.

The watch may not have a power button and so connecting it to a computer with a charging cable may be the closest alternative to a soft reset that is possible.

Update the software

Your Garmin watch may not be charging because its software is no longer up to date; check for available updates and run them. Running a software update would rectify the issue and restore the charging function of the device.

Replace the battery

Charging issues are often not battery related but if after trying all the aforementioned solutions, the watch is still not charging, then it is safe to conclude that the battery is faulty.

Garmin watches use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that are not replaceable by the users of the devices. If the batteries are faulty and require to be changed, you can have it done by the Garmin support team.

Wrap-up

Whatever the reason for the charging issue, whether charging accessory or battery-related, there are easy solutions that can restore your wearable device to its original self.

So before you hurl your beloved Garmin watch out in frustration, you can try these easy tips. The solution might be a swab of alcohol or an email away.