Why Does Fitbit Flash Green? (Answered!)

Lights on Fitbits are somewhat streamlined these days, but they can still be pretty darned confusing if this is your first go at owning a smartwatch. 

There are different colors that can flash or be solid, and each combination means something totally different. 

That makes learning the ropes a tad confusing, to be sure.

When I bought my first Fitbit, I initially didn’t pay the lights much mind. 

But, after a few weeks of wearing it, I noticed that there were two green lights blinking on the back of the watch. 

Scratching my head and feeling rather perplexed, I started scouring the Internet to figure out what these blinking green lights meant.

I must admit, once I learned what these flashing green lights mean, I felt a mixture of relief and embarrassment. 

But I really had no clue what they meant at first, and I slightly panicked when I noticed them and could not figure out why they just would not stop blinking no matter what I tried to do.

Why Does Fitbit Flash Green? (Answered!)

Flashing green lights on the back of the Fitbit indicate that the device is reading for your heart rate. These sensors are supposed to be on and are necessary for many of the Fitbit’s functions. If your Heart Rate Detection is set to Automatic, then you will see these lights blinking throughout the day and night.

As it turns out, these little green blinking lights that you see on the backside of the Fitbit are for monitoring your heart rate. 

This is a core function of the Fitbit, so you actually want these lights to be there.

That shows you that Fitbit is doing what it is supposed to, tracking your biometrics.

Allow me to explain more about this so that you can rest assured that there is nothing wrong with your Fitbit.

What does Fitbit flashing lights mean?

There are quite a few different lights on your Fitbit. 

Lights might vary a little bit by model.

The Fitbit Flex, for example, lets you check your fitness goal status by using your finger to tap the tracker twice. 

The number of lights that illuminate are an indicator for how much of your goal you have completed with each light representing 20 percent of your goal met.

The blinking green lights are for the heart rate monitor.

If you don’t see any lights at all or are staring at a blank screen, initiate a restart or a forced reboot (which is also referred to as a long restart). 

A non-responsive screen, a black screen, or a blank screen can be rectified by restarting your Fitbit, which forces it to reboot the system.

Why does a green light flash on my Fitbit?

If you look on the back and see two blinking green lights, these are your heart rate monitors. 

The sensors are motion-activated and are trying to detect your heart rate while you wear the tracker.

What does it mean when your heart monitor flashes green?

If these lights are blinking green at you, rest assured that they are doing their job. 

They have sensed motion and think you are in motion, so they are trying to take your heart rate.

Many of the functions the Fitbit performs involve taking biometric readings, and this is just one of them.

How do I stop the green light flashing on my Fitbit?

Are those flashing green lights annoying you? That is one of the bigger complaints about lights among Fitbit users. 

These sensors are fairly important, sure, but the lights attached to them are just downright obnoxious for some folks.

If you want to turn this function off, though, you can.

Here are the steps you need to follow in order to accomplish this:

1. Go into the Fitbit app dashboard, then tap on the Account icon.
2. Tap on your device’s image.
3. Tap on Heart Rate, and then toggle it to the Off position.

That’s how easy it is.

Is the light triggered by motion?

As I already briefly mentioned, these heart rate sensor lights are indeed motion-activated. 

If the Fitbit is just sitting there, totally idle, then you will not see anything flashing at you. 

Or, at least, you shouldn’t. As soon as you move the Fitbit tracker, the lights should kick on since they are detecting motion.

Can I just turn the heart rate monitor off and have the green lights stop blinking?

If the heart rate monitor’s lights are annoying you and you find you just are not relying on this tracking tool, then you can simply turn it off. 

Here is exactly how you can go about turning off your Fitbit model’s heart rate monitor:

1. From your Fitbit, swipe over until you get to Settings.
2. Scroll down and locate Heart Rate.
3. Toggle Heart Rate to the OFF position.

Of course, you can undo this at any time by simply toggling Heart Rate back on again. 

Note that this might not work for all Fitbit models, as some users have had trouble getting their Heart Rate monitor to turn off on the Fitbit Versa Lite.

For whatever reason, even if you turn the Heart Rate monitor off, the Versa Lite’s lights will still keep blinking as though the sensors were still on and actively searching for your heart rate.

Closing Thoughts

There are many different light color and mode combinations on any given Fitbit model. 

Lights’ meanings can vary by model, but they are pretty much streamlined in this day and age. 

If you are getting annoyed by the Fitbit’s heart rate monitor blinking those green lights at you, you should be able to switch them off.

If for some reason you cannot get the lights to go off, it might be worth contacting Fitbit’s customer support services and running the issue by one of their agents.

Blinking green lights do not mean that your device is breaking down or doing something that it is not supposed to. 

They simply mean that your Fitbit is trying to take your heart rate since it thinks you are in motion. 

While they might seem annoying at times, they are part of one of the Fitbit’s most pivotal functions.