Garmin smartwatches are stuck on a 'triangle of death,' and here's a potential fix

Garmin makes some of the best fitness-oriented smartwatches and excellent fitness trackers on the market. Most users usually have no complaints about them, but sometimes, they do face issues with their Garmin watches. We’ve spotted numerous user reports about Garmin watches stuck on a blue triangle bootloop after initiating a GPS-related feature, and the fix is to seemingly factory reset the device to remove a faulty update file. Garmin is aware of the issue and is investigating it, too.

What is the issue with Garmin smartwatches?

Reddit user G1GARF highlighted how their Garmin Forerunner 265 has been stuck on a bootloop after the user tried to track their workout. The user attempted various troubleshooting steps, like holding the power button for two minutes, plugging in the watch, etc, but nothing seemed to work. The watch remained firmly stuck to the boot logo, which many users have begun referring to as the “triangle of death.”

Which Garmin smartwatch models are affected by the bootloop issue?

Plenty of other users chimed in, saying they are facing this bootloop issue across different models, including—but not limited to—the Forerunner 165, Forerunner 255, Forerunner 255 Music, Forerunner 955, Forerunner 965, Garmin Venu 3, and Garmin Epix Pro 2. However, users with Forerunner 645 and Instinct 2 say they aren’t affected (yet), while we’re seeing mixed reports on the Fenix 7 and Fenix 8. It’s possible that users on the unaffected watches may not be triggering the bug that causes the bootloop.

What does Garmin say about the bootloop issue?

We reached out to Garmin for comments, and this is what the company had to say on the issue:

Garmin is researching reports of devices displaying a blue triangle when starting a GPS activity. A reset by pressing and holding the power button may restore functionality. We will provide more information on a permanent fix when available.

What is technically happening?

As Reddit user weathergraph so helpfully put together, Garmin has seemingly pushed a broken update to one of the watch subsystems, GPE.bin, which is likely related to GPS functionality. Once this broken update is downloaded and installed on the watch, triggering a GPS-related activity or feature on the Garmin smartwatch will likely crash the device and cause it to bootloop. This has caught many users off guard, as their watch began bootlooping right after they started to track a workout, which ironically is one of the most popular use cases for a smartwatch.

What are the potential fixes for the Garmin bootloop issue?

If your device is already bootlooping, the “fix” is to factory reset the device to get rid of the faulty update file. Here are the summarized steps from Reddit for the Forerunner 955, though the buttons could vary across models:

1. Power off the watch by holding the Light button (top left) for up to thirty seconds. Ensure the watch is switched off and not just bootlooping again.
2. Press and hold the Back button (bottom right) and Start/Stop button (top right).
3. Gently press the Light button briefly to power on the watch while holding the Back and Start/Stop buttons. After the short press, let go of the Light button.
4. Once you hear a beep, release/let go of the Start/Stop button, too, but continue holding the Back button.
5. Once you hear the second beep, let go of the Back button.
6. Your Garmin smartwatch should be reset.

Once your smartwatch has been reset, you can set it up but without connecting to a phone or Wi-Fi, as you will end up downloading the broken update once again. You can sync through USB with Garmin Express on a computer, but you must remove the broken update file (present in the Garmin > RemoteSW directory) before disconnecting the watch. Given that the watch will eventually download the faulty update again when it is connected to your phone, this isn’t a permanent fix either, but it could be enough to get your watch out of its bootloop and back into a working state.

Over on the Garmin forums, user Stanislav Bures comments that the watch doesn’t need a factory reset per se. You just need to connect to a computer, which you can do by holding the Start button for 30 seconds when plugging into the PC. If the connection succeeds, you can delete the file in the Garmin > RemoteSW directory.

We ideally recommend backing up your data whenever you play around with device files, but that is not possible in this case since the watches are bootlooping. If you don’t want to bother with the factory reset steps, you can wait for Garmin to present an official remedy for the situation.

Have you faced the bootloop issue with your Garmin smartwatch? Which model? Did you try the fix, and did it work for you? Let us know in the comments below!