Did Your Fitbit Stop Tracking Your Steps? Here’s How To Fix It

The Fitbit is one of the first activity trackers that hit mainstream appeal, and that’s thanks to its sleek design and many great features. One of the primary features is tracking your steps as you go about your day or during a workout. Unfortunately, these devices can run into accuracy issues, and the tracking might stop unexpectedly. So, how can you solve this problem?

Make sure you’re wearing your Fitbit snugly on your non-dominant wrist. The device must be against your skin, not over any clothing. You can try re-syncing the device with your smartphone to troubleshoot accuracy issues. Alternatively, you can unpair and re-pair your devices through the Fitbit app.

Most tracking issues are caused by minor bugs and hiccups. Luckily, you can easily resolve most of these issues with a few key tricks. Let’s take a look at each one in detail.

Why Did My Fitbit Stop Tracking My Steps?

There are several possible reasons why your Fitbit (on Amazon) stopped tracking your steps or encountered issues. Your device may encounter accuracy issues or software bugs — or it simply needs to be charged.

Here are a few possible reasons why it’s not tracking properly:

• You’re not wearing your Fitbit correctly
  
• Your Fitbit is low on battery life and needs to be charged
  
• You need to restart your device or smartphone
  
• You need to re-sync your device and smartphone
  
• Your Fitbit needs a software update

Make Sure You’re Wearing Your Fitbit Properly

Where you wear your Fitbit and how you wear it can affect your step count. Accuracy issues can typically be resolved by wearing your device properly.

Here are some considerations to keep in mind:

• Try placing your Fitbit on your non-dominant arm. Your non-dominant arm moves less and is less likely to cause accuracy issues.

• Ensure your Fitbit is flush against your skin, not over clothing.

• Ensure your device fits snugly around the wrist. Loose-fitting Fitbits can cause extra movements and create accuracy issues.

• Avoid wearing your Fitbit next to loose accessories like bracelets, bangles, or other gear.

• Ensure your device and wrist are dry and free of debris. Although the tracker is waterproof, it can run into accuracy issues if you aren’t careful.

Check That Your Fitbit Is Syncing With the Fitbit App

Syncing issues can result in accuracy problems and misleading activity reports. You’ll need to ensure your Fitbit is syncing with the app correctly to avoid issues. Make sure you’re connected to WiFi before following the steps below:

1. You can reset your device syncing by force-quitting the Fitbit app.
   
2. After you force-quit the Fitbit app, launch your smartphone’s settings. Disable the Bluetooth feature, wait at least 30 seconds, and re-enable Bluetooth.
   
3. After enabling Bluetooth, launch the Fitbit app and check if the device is syncing. If you’re still encountering syncing issues, restart your smartphone. Restarting your device and fixing minor bugs allows the apps to run smoothly.

You can also manually sync your devices through the Fitbit app. Simply open the app and click your profile icon. Select your device’s name and click ‘Sync Now‘ to manually sync your devices.

You May Need a Software Update

In some cases, you might need to update your device’s software to resolve tracking issues. You can follow the steps below to update your Fitbit software:

1. Launch your Fitbit app and click the ‘Today‘ tab.
   
2. Tap your profile icon and select your device’s image.
   
3. You’ll notice a pink update button if an update is available.
   
4. Click the update option to upgrade to the latest firmware.

How to Unpair and Re-Pair Your Fitbit to Your Smartphone

You might need to unpair and re-pair your Fitbit to your smartphone to resolve tracking issues. You’ll want to sync your Fitbit with the app to save any data beforehand.

If you sync your data beforehand, you won’t lose any information since Fitbit stores data on their servers. Here’s how to unpair and re-pair your devices:

1. Launch the Fitbit app and select the ‘Today‘ tab.
   
2. Click your profile icon and select your device’s name.
   
3. To remove your device, click the trashcan icon or scroll downwards and select ‘Remove This (Your Device’s Name).’
   
4. Follow the on-screen prompts to delete your device from your Fitbit profile.
   
5. Now you’ll need to add your device again. Click the ‘Today‘ tab and select your profile picture.
   
6. Select the button that reads ‘Set up a new device.’
   
7. Follow the on-screen prompts to re-pair your Fitbit to your device.