Blog Post

Garmin Down

Mick C • 26 July 2020

Manual sync from your Garmin Device to Strava

As all of us Garmin users have experienced, Garmin Connect and Express have been taken offline. It’s not been confirmed by Garmin, but it is reported by several sources this is due to ransomware attack. Nobody knows how long the services will be down for. Whilst it isn’t a critical service it does leave us cyclists, runners, and walkers unable to sync our activities to Strava, if that’s what you do like me.

But don’t worry – whilst the Garmin servers are offline you can still share your runs, rides, and walks with Strava. There is a manual way to upload your activities to Strava while Garmin is down. Here’s how:

All you need is:

Your Garmin watch or cycling computer.
The USB charging cable that came with it.
A computer with a USB port (practically any computer will do).
An internet connection.

Then simply follow step 1 to 5 below. Remember once Garmin’s servers have recovered and normal syncing resumes, it might create duplicates of activities you have manually uploaded. These can simply be deleted from Strava if that happens.

Step 1

Connect your Garmin device to your computer with the USB cable and wait for it to be recognised like a standard flash drive or memory stick.

The cable for Garmin watches either slots into the back or clips on to the side. Garmin cycling computers usually accept micro USB cables in a slot on the back.

Step 2

Open the drive associated with the Garmin device and navigate to the Activity folder.

For non-music devices, this is under the folders Garmin > Activity.

For music devices, this is under the folders Primary > Garmin > Activity

Step 3

You will see a collection of “.FIT” files. Each of these files contains your individual recorded activities.

Find the latest one sorted or labelled by date.

Step 4

Log into the Strava website and navigate to strava.com/upload/select to manually upload a file.

Click on “Choose files” and navigate to your Garmin device. Find the latest .FIT file in the Activity folder as above and click “Open”.

Step 5

Review your activity. Here you can rename it, change your gear, such as your shoes or bike, and label it a workout. When you’re happy, hit “Save and view”. That’s it. The activity will now appear in your feed.