Garmin investigating reports of watches displaying 'blue triangle' bug during GPS activities

Update 29/01/25 – 08:30 pm (IST): Garmin is now directing users affected by the problem to a dedicated guide on what to do if the watch doesn’t boot past the start-up screen. Additionally, user reports indicate that Garmin has stopped distributing the bugged file to users which means that users can reconnect unaffected devices without worrying about running into the problem.

Original article published on January 28, 2025, follows:

Many Garmin watch owners are reporting that their devices are freezing with a flashing blue triangle when trying to start GPS-based workouts like running or cycling. The problem appears to be widespread, affecting popular models like the Forerunner 255, 955 Solar, and even the newer Venu 3.

A post on Reddit about the issue has garnered over 350+ upvotes and 550+ comments within a few hours. Garmin has acknowledged the issue on its support site with a bright red banner on top, telling users to power their devices off and back on as a temporary fix. But many say that hasn’t worked.

The timing suggests that a software update might have gone wrong. Multiple users said the problem hit after syncing their watches or starting a GPS activity, with reports flooding in around the same time worldwide.

Some users on the Reddit post claimed to have tried factory resets, only to have the glitch return minutes later. One user joked the triangle felt like a “squid games abduction” prompt, while another mourned a 300-day step streak now in jeopardy.

One Redditor seems to have shared a potential workaround that involves deleting a specific system file linked to recent updates. It requires a bit of technical know-how but if you can’t stand the problem, you can check out their detailed explanation and guide below: (P.S. I’ve not tested this so proceed at your own risk.)

HERE IS WHAT IS HAPPENING AND HOW TO FIX:

Garmin pushed (and keeps pushing) broken update to one of the watch subsystems (GPE.bin). Once you sync the watch (no matter if phone/wifi/garmin epxress), the file gets pushed to Garmin/RemoteSW, and installed on restart, activity start, or some time trigger, which will cause the device to boot loop. This is basically a Crowdstrike 2.0.

IF YOUR DEVICE IS ALREADY BOOTLOOPING:

Here is how to factory reset – I added the steps that were not obvious to me:

1. Power off the watch. This can be done by holding the Light button (top left) for up to 30 seconds. ENSURE THE WATCH IS ACTUALLY REALLY OFF, NOT JUST BOOT LOOPING.
2. Press and hold Back (the bottom right button) and Start/Stop (the top right button).
3. Press Light briefly to power the watch on while holding the Back and Start/Stop buttons – ONLY PRESS LIGHT BRIEFLY, TO TURN ON THE WATCH, DO NOT CONTINUE HOLDING LIGHT (holding the light/power button for 10+ seconds will force restart the watch, which will interrupt this procedure).
4. After the first beep, release Start/Stop (so now you only continue holding the Lap button).
5. After the second beep, release the remaining Lap button. The reset is successful if the watch powers up and goes through the initial setup steps.

Note that you then need to remove 955 from phone bluetooth settings, and from the Conect app before connecting it again. This will not delete your cloud backups (if you use them).

AFTER THE FACTORY RESET:

Set up the watch without connecting to phone or wifi. Only sync with a computer through USB cable and Garmin Express, but you need to make sure you remove the broken update file before disconnecting the watch. It is also possible to restore the previous watch backup this way (Garmin Express → Tools & Content →Utilities → Backup, pick backup, let it sync, and again, remove the GPE.bin before unplugging).

Syncing through phone or wifi always downloads the broken update!

1. Turn off the phone sync (or watch bluetooth at all)
2. If you want to sync, sync through Garmin Express on a computer, but before unplugging, you need to delete the update file:
3. Quit (kill) Garmin Express
4. Open OpenMTP (or Android File Transfer) and display the device content
5. Delete all files (GPE.bin) in Garmin/RemoteSW/
6. Only then it is safe to unplug the watch

Thanks to Standa Bures for discovering this!

Others warned against syncing devices until Garmin patches the bug, comparing it to last year’s Crowdstrike IT chaos. While Garmin’s support team says they’re “researching” the problem, they haven’t shared a timeline for a fix.

For now, the advice is clear: If your watch still works, avoid starting GPS activities. If it’s already bricked, hold tight for updates.