Garmin Connect is down worldwide – but there’s a workaround

Garmin Connect is currently down worldwide, with users – many of whom, curiously, seem to have achieved a personal best today, whether running or cycling – taking to Twitter to vent their frustration. Read on for a workaround that will enable you to keep your data and upload it once the service is back.

The facility has been down for several hours now, affecting users in countries including the UK, the US, India and South Africa, and the situation is ongoing according to tweets posted shortly after 1.30pm BST time by Garmin, which says it is “working to resolve this situation as quickly as possible.”

This outage also affects our call centers, and we are currently unable to receive any calls, emails or online chats. We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and apologize for this inconvenience. (2/2)

— Garmin (@Garmin) July 23, 2020

One Twitter user who posted earlier today about the problems he was having uploading  his “pretty sweet 5k time” received a number of replies from other people around the world who were similarly unable to upload their activities.

Hey @garminuk any idea when the server will back up for Garmin Connect? Got a pretty sweet 5k time this morning that doesn’t count unless it’s uploaded to Strava 😜 Thanks in advance. pic.twitter.com/GpfAaGl6st

— Andre 4000 (@Drebeatit) July 23, 2020

Besides being unable to upload activities, the outage means that other features on Garmin devices cannot be used, such as creating new routes or sharing bike rides or runs to Strava.

Data on devices such as Garmin smartwatches or bike computers won’t be lost, however, and can be posted to services such as Strava manually by connecting it to a computer via USB, downloading the .fit file from the activities folder, and then uploading it from the computer to the website. On Strava, there's an option to upload activities manually from a drop-down menu that appears on the top right on the desktop site, and on the top left on their mobile app.

Obviously, at the moment that’s not an option if it’s Garmin Connect or Garmin Express that you want to interact with.

It’s not the first time this year that users of the company’s products have experienced difficulties.

In February, we reported how a road.cc reader said he had been left with “a very expensive paperweight” after he downloaded the latest firmware onto his Tacx Neo smart trainer, one of a number of users to have experienced such a problem.

> Garmin introduces repair option following complaints from Tacx Neo smart trainer owners

In response Garmin, which bought Tacx in early 2019, introduced a flat rate repair option to support owners whose units were out of warranty.

A spokesperson said: “We are aware of the comments on social media and continue to address Tacx product repair inquiries.

“The purchase of a Tacx trainer includes an initial two-year warranty. After the original warranty expires we will offer customers a flat rate repair option within our standard service phase.

“For a period of time during the integration of the Garmin and Tacx product support teams, a subset of legacy trainers did not have this option available for customers. This was not intentional, and the Garmin and Tacx teams have worked to ensure we make this option available, effective immediately.”