Stuck in the triangle Garmin users face frustrating watch glitch
Many Garmin users are encountering a frustrating issue with their watches. The devices are repeatedly cycling through the “blue triangle” boot screen, leaving users unable to track workouts or even use basic watch functions.
Reports are coming in from users of various Garmin models, including the Forerunner 955, Forerunner 255, and Venu 3. This widespread issue has left Garmin scrambling to investigate and resolve the problem.
[update: Garmin has now issued a fix]
What’s going on?
It all starts when people try to use GPS features. The watch crashes, shows the blue triangle, and then just keeps rebooting. Some like to refer to this as “the triangle of death”.
A soft reset does not fix it, and people are losing data in the process. Imagine having a 300-day step streak only for it to vanish because of this bug—yeah, that’s a real story.
What’s making it worse is that this isn’t just one isolated case. Posts are popping up all over forums and social media, with users from all corners of the globe sharing the same frustration. And it’s not just one Garmin watch line – which makes it even more strange.
If you are facing the glitch, you can try a hard reset to bring life back to your watch. Any data that was already synced to your account will be safe. Once your Garmin is factory reset, you can pair it with your phone again and restore your data, including all your training history.
Another reported solution involves the following steps. This approach can restore the watch to an almost normal state, but you’ll need to disconnect it from Garmin Connect and forget the Bluetooth pairing before reconnecting it. Thankfully, the process will use your latest backup, so all your data will be restored.
- Turn off the watch, and wait a few moments
- When you hear the second beep, release the BACK button
- Press START and BACK (the two buttons on the right)
- Press the LIGHT button to turn it on (top left button)
- Once the watch starts, remove your finger from the power button (top left button)
- During the procedure, keep the two right buttons pressed
- When you hear the first beep (after a few seconds or so), release the START button (top right button) but keep the BACK button (bottom right button) pressed
Interestingly, the glitch is affecting both beta firmware users and those running stable versions. The timing and wide scope suggest a systemic issue, possibly related to a corrupted GPS file or an internal software fault. Something at the back-end. Whatever the reason, it’s turning watches into paperweights when all people want to do is track their workouts or just get through the day.
Garmin is (kind of) on it
Garmin’s support team has acknowledged the issue, stating that an investigation is underway. However, they have not provided a clear timeline for a fix or further updates. Affected users have been added to an email list for future communication. While this may reassure some, many are left frustrated, especially those relying on their devices for fitness routines and long streaks of activity tracking.

For now, Garmin support has advised users to avoid initiating GPS activities, which may trigger the glitch. Some users have resorted to alternative devices or apps to track workouts in the meantime, while others are simply waiting for Garmin to release a firmware update or fix the back-end problem. The other option is to do a workout that doesn’t involve GPS or disable GPS tracking in the setting.
The timing of this couldn’t be worse. It’s January, and loads of people are still grinding hard to keep their New Year’s resolutions alive. Whether it’s hitting daily step goals, sticking to a running plan, or just staying consistent, this glitch is throwing a wrench in everyone’s routine. Let’s hope Garmin finds a fix very soon.
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I can’t even softreset it. After powering down and starting the Venu 3, it just returns into it’s blue triangle cycle of death.
Same is happening on my 955 Forerunner, just a blue triangle!
A fix has been issued: https://gadgetsandwearables.com/2025/01/28/garmin-blue-triangle-fix/
Thanks for the quick article. I experienced this issue this morning, found your article, and was able to restore my watch. The only problem so far is it lost my body battery level (went from in the 90s to 39 after reset. Luckily, the watch did a backup last night.