Turn Off Your Fitbit: Google’s Four Device Groups and Steps
You can turn off your Fitbit only if it is in one of the four device groups on Google’s shutdown page, and that page sets the rule in its first paragraph: “You can turn off certain Fitbit devices to preserve battery life. If you don’t see your device listed below, it doesn’t turn off.”
The four groups Google lists are “Blaze”, “Flyer”, “Versa, Versa Lite Edition, and Versa 2”, and “Sense series, Versa 3, and Versa 4”. The same page adds: “Note that shutting down your device doesn’t delete any data.”
For a Charge, an Inspire or any other model missing from that list, Google’s restart page says: “A restart turns your device off and on without the loss of any activity data.”
The same shutdown page adds: “For battery preservation tips, see” “Can I extend my Fitbit device’s battery life?”
Which Fitbit models turn off
The table joins Google’s four shutdown groups with the control each one uses and what Google prints about turning each back on, all quoted from Google’s shutdown page. Every cell is Google’s wording.
| Google’s group | The control | Turning it back on |
|---|---|---|
| “Blaze” | “Shutdown” | “To turn Blaze back on, press any button.” |
| “Flyer” | “Press and hold the Power button on the right earbud for 1 second until the LED changes color.” | “If you turned on Flyer, you’ll hear the current battery level and number of connected devices.” |
| “Versa, Versa Lite Edition, and Versa 2” | “Shutdown” | “To turn your watch back on, press the back button.” |
| “Sense series, Versa 3, and Versa 4” | “Shut down” | “To turn your watch back on, press and hold the button until you feel your watch vibrate.” |
The words Charge, Inspire, Luxe, Alta, Flex and Pixel print nowhere on Google’s shutdown page cited below, and that page’s rule reads: “If you don’t see your device listed below, it doesn’t turn off.”
Turn off a Sense series watch, Versa 3 or Versa 4
Google’s steps sit under the heading “Sense series, Versa 3, and Versa 4”.
- “On your watch, open the Settings app”, then “Shut down”, then “confirm the shutdown.”
- “To turn your watch back on, press and hold the button until you feel your watch vibrate.”
If the watch will not respond to those taps, this site covers a Fitbit Versa 4 that is not working.
Turn off a Versa, Versa Lite Edition or Versa 2
Under the heading “Versa, Versa Lite Edition, and Versa 2”, Google prints two steps.
- “On your watch, open the Settings app”, then “About”, then “Shutdown”, then “confirm the shutdown.”
- “To turn your watch back on, press the back button.”
Turn off a Blaze
Under the heading “Blaze”, Google prints four steps.
- “From the home screen, swipe left to the” Settings.
- Tap Settings, then “Shutdown” “and confirm.”
- “To turn Blaze back on, press any button.”
- “Sync your tracker as soon as you turn it back on. If you don’t, the time may be incorrect.”
Turn off Flyer headphones
Under the heading “Flyer”, Google’s first step reads: “Press and hold the Power button on the right earbud for 1 second until the LED changes color.”
Google adds: “If you turned off Flyer, you’ll hear the current battery level. Flyer turns off automatically if you haven’t played music or received a phone call for 10 minutes.”
Charge, Inspire and the rest: Google’s restart page
Google’s restart page opens with the problems a restart is for: “Restart your Fitbit device to troubleshoot the following issues:” followed by “Your device won’t sync with the Google Health app”, “Your device is unresponsive to taps, swipes, or button presses”, “Your device’s display is blank or frozen”, “Your device doesn’t register steps or other data”, “Your device doesn’t show notifications or reminders” and “Your device is in a continuous reboot loop”.
Above its first device section, that page prints this after the word “Important:”: “Some Fitbit devices have small holes for sensors such as the microphone or altimeter. Don’t try to restart your device by inserting any items, such as paper clips, into these holes as this can damage your Fitbit device.”
The “Charge 5 and Charge 6”, “Inspire 3”, “Versa”, “Versa Lite, Versa 2, Versa 3, and Versa 4” and “Sense and Sense 2” sections of that page are quoted below. This article does not reproduce the other sections of that page.
Charge 5 and Charge 6
Under the heading “Charge 5 and Charge 6”, Google’s two steps read: “Swipe down from the clock screen to find the Settings app”, then “Tap the Settings app”, then “Restart Device”, then “Restart.”
Under the same heading, the branch labelled “If your device is unresponsive:” starts with “Connect your device to the charging cable.” and continues: “Press the button located on the flat end of the charger 3 times with one-second pause between each press. Then wait 10 seconds or until the Fitbit logo appears.”
Inspire 3
Under the heading “Inspire 3”, Google’s steps read: “Swipe down from the clock screen to find the Settings app” “and then tap the app to open it.”, then “Swipe up and tap” “Restart Device”, then “Swipe up and tap” “Restart”.
Under the same heading, the branch labelled “If your device is unresponsive:” reads: “Connect your device to the charging cable.” then “Press and hold the buttons on your tracker for 10 seconds.” then “Release the buttons. The tracker has restarted when it vibrates and the Fitbit logo shows up.”
Versa Lite, Versa 2, Versa 3, Versa 4, Sense and Sense 2
Under the heading “Versa Lite, Versa 2, Versa 3, and Versa 4” and again under “Sense and Sense 2”, Google prints one sentence: “Press and hold the button for 10 seconds until the Fitbit logo appears on the screen, and then release the button.”
The original Versa
Under the heading “Versa”, Google prints one sentence: “Press and hold the left button and the bottom-right button for 10 seconds until the Fitbit logo appears on the screen, and then release both buttons.”
For a tracker that stays dark after a restart, this site covers a Fitbit screen that is black and a Fitbit that will not charge.
Frequently asked questions
Does turning off a Fitbit delete anything?
Google’s shutdown page says: “Note that shutting down your device doesn’t delete any data.” Its restart page says: “A restart turns your device off and on without the loss of any activity data.”
Can you turn off a Fitbit Charge 6 or Inspire 3?
Neither name prints on Google’s shutdown page cited below, and that page’s rule reads: “If you don’t see your device listed below, it doesn’t turn off.” Google’s restart steps for both are quoted above.
Why does the control say Shutdown on one watch and Shut down on another?
Google’s page prints “Shutdown” as the control under “Blaze” and under “Versa, Versa Lite Edition, and Versa 2”, and “Shut down” under “Sense series, Versa 3, and Versa 4”. This article keeps each spelling where Google prints it.
Does a Fitbit keep syncing after it is turned off?
Google’s shutdown page does not say. The one sync sentence it prints is for Blaze: “Sync your tracker as soon as you turn it back on. If you don’t, the time may be incorrect.” For sync problems this site covers a Fitbit not syncing in the Google Health app.