Why Isn’t My Garmin Tracking My Sleep? – Complete Solutions

The answer to why isn’t my garmin tracking my sleep is right in this guide!

We will go over all possible scenarios for your Garmin sleep-tracking problem and address the issue as efficiently as possible.

We will even let you know what the Garmin community thinks of this problem and what their recommendations are.

Let’s learn more!

Your Garmin watch may not be tracking your sleep if the watch is running low on battery or if the sleep tracker is disabled. Next, the OHR feature could be turned off or you may not be wearing the watch correctly, which often is the cause of the problem.

Now when the introduction is over, let’s learn how to fix the problem in minutes!

Why Isn’t My Garmin Tracking My Sleep At Night?

The Activity Tracker Sleep Mode is the feature on your watch that will create the sleep info for you.

If the setting was changed or you’re not getting a good night’s sleep, there may be disturbances in the schedule created by our watch.

Let’s review the proven causes for when the Garmin watch isn’t tracking your sleep:

• The watch is not worn while the user is sleeping!
• The Optical Heart Rate Sensor (OHR) feature is disabled
• The Activity Tracker Sleep Mode is set to “OFF”
• The battery of the Garmin watch died in the middle of the night

You should note that the OHR feature is working non-stop to track your heart rate and indicate that you’re currently sleeping.

This requires some battery and if your Garmin device isn’t charged, there’s a high chance that the battery will die. Users should inspect that!

Let’s look up the best solutions to troubleshoot the sleep issue with your Garmin watch.

How to Fix When Garmin Not Tracking Sleep?

Solution #1 Charge the Watch & Reboot

Let’s begin with something more simple. You should reboot your watch and then charge it to make sure no device trouble occurs during the night.

If there’s a temporal bug preventing the watch from tracking your sleep statistics and saving them, a reboot should help the problem.

Turn OFF your Garmin watch with the power button and then start it back up!

Now, plug it into a charger and let it collect electricity for an hour or so.

Just before you go to sleep, equip the device onto your wrist and make sure that you get into a comfortable position in your bed.

Your watch should enable the tracker as soon as you fall asleep.

Note: Make sure that the watch is receiving charge while plugged in.

Solution #2 Enable the “Activity Tracker Sleep Mode”

The “Activity Tracker Sleep Mode” is the feature that writes down your sleep statistics.

If you haven’t enabled that feature, your watch could still detect that you’re asleep, but none of your sleep statistics will be written inside the Garmin Connect app.

Here’s how to toggle the sleep mode within your Garmin watch’ settings:

1. On your watch, press and hold the UP button until the main menu appears.
2. Now scroll sideways and highlight the Settings button.
3. Use the “Select” Button to get into the settings tab.
4. Use the sideways scroll again to enter the “Sleep” configuration.
5. Make sure that Activity Tracker Sleep Mode is enabled from that very tab.
6. Exit the settings and check if your watch would track the sleep now.

Note: In the sleep tab, there are other configurations that are available for your watch. Check them out to configure your sleep stats even better.

Solution #3 Turn on the OHR Feature

Even if you enabled the “Activity Tracker Sleep Mode”, the OHR (Optimal Heart Rate Sensor) feature must also be enabled.

The OHR feature is your watch’s ability to track your heart rate and detect when you’re asleep, so statistics based on that could be created.

To enable the OHR feature, follow these instructions:

1. From the home screen of your Garmin watch, press the bottom button for 3 seconds.
2. Scroll down to the next tab and press the Gear Icon.
3. Next, head to Wrist Heart Rate.
4. At the bottom of this next page, press the Status Button at the top.
5. Wait for the Status to turn green.

Note: If the OHR feature status is green, this means that the feature is turned on.

Solution #4 Secure the Watch On Your Wrist

Many users who have both the OHR feature enabled and the activity sleep tracker, still can’t get their sleep info saved.

This could be because you’re either wearing the watch on your wrist incorrectly or it falls off your wrist as a result of during-sleep movements.

Secure the watch on your wrist the correct way and have it tightened over the night!

Even if it is a little tight for your wrist, this is the best way that will ensure that the watch will track your heart rate, detect sleep times and create a sleep statistic for you.

Using the regulators on the leash of the device, tighten the grip on your wrist before going to bed.

Alert: Do not over-tighten the watch since this can slow down the bloodstream!

Solution #5 Reinstall the Garmin Connect App

The Garmin Connect app is responsible for creating your sleep time results.

According to the Activity Sleep Tracker Feature, the results of your sleep sessions will be displayed in the Garmin app. A problem with the app will interfere with the readings.

The best way to resolve this problem is to cleanly reinstall the Garmin platform!

Follow these instructions to get the Garmin Connect app reinstalled from your device:

1. Open your device’s Settings.
2. Go to the Storage Unit.
3. Enter the App Section.
4. Use the search field or manually locate the Garmin Connect application.
5. Initiate an uninstall of the Garmin Connect app and wait for it to be removed.
6. Head back into your device’s App Store or Google Play.
7. Download the Garmin Connect app and wait for it to be installed on your device.
8. Sign back into your Account and re-enable both the OHR and the Sleep Tracker.

When the Garmin Connect Application has been cleanly reinstalled on your smartphone and you’re connected with your Account, test whether the device will track your sleep.

In case it doesn’t, then the problem is most likely deeper so we should proceed further! 

Tip: Make sure to allow automatic updates after the app’s reinstallation.

Solution #6 Factory Reset the Garmin Watch

If nothing worked in your favor so far, then the best thing you could do is to perform a Factory Reset on your Garmin watch.

This is the most powerful method so far!

This is going to flush the device’s software and resolve any firmware-related bugs that are preventing the device from tracking your sleep properly.

In addition, a factory reset is also recommended for storage and hard drive-related issues with your Garmin watch.

Here’s how to perform a factory reset on the Garmin watch in easy-to-follow steps:

1. First, shut off the Garmin watch by pressing and holding the Power Button.
2. Wait for the watch to completely shut down (its screen should go blank).
3. Once the device has powered off, locate the Back/Lap Button.
4. Press and hold the Back/Lap button.
5. While holding the button, Turn ON your watch.
6. Release the Back/Lap button and wait for the watch to prompt you with the reset.
7. Make sure to select “Yes” at the “Clear user data” prompt.
8. Run your Garmin watch’ setup once again to restore the basic user’s config values.

When the device has been reset, test whether the functionality is now back!

Alert: After the reset, all of the settings configurations will be gone, so make sure to enable the OHR and Sleep Track Timer.

Quick Recap:

Thus, the solution to your Garmin watch sleep tracking problem is to reboot the device and enable the OHR feature. Also, ensure that the Sleep Track Timer setting is set to “ON” and if nothing works, revert your Garmin watch to factory defaults!

Wrapping Up:

In this guide, we’ve learned why isn’t my Garmin tracking my sleep and how to solve the problem in a matter of minutes!

In case the issue is persistent and you couldn’t find the solution in our guide, then seek further help by contacting Garmin Customer Service!

To discover more Garmin Watch solution guides and methods, don’t forget to check our technical blog and follow us for more. Good Luck!