My Fitness Tracker Isn't Tracking Steps Accurately

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction

Your fitness tracker is supposed to record various things like steps, calories, and time. When it fails to do that, it feels like there's no point having the tracker. Don't worry. This guide will walk you through fixing any issues you have with your fitness tracker not recording your steps.

Tools You'll Need:

• Your fitness tracker

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Before You Begin:

• You must have access to a computer with iTunes installed.
• You must have that thing for the other thing so you can do the thing.

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How to Fix the Issue

While you can correct your fitness tracker not tracking your steps by calibrating, not all fitness trackers offer this option. Some brands like Garmin and Samsung will require you just to restart the tracker. Other brands like Polar and Lintelek require a full factory reset to restart the tracker.

2. Fitness Tracker Accuracy Tips

• While calibration is optional, doing so will give your fitness tracker greater accuracy. Each brand has its own way to calibrate, often with a first run or walk. Refer to your manual to learn how to calibrate.

Example Calibration

For some trackers calibration is as simple as a mathematic equation. Find out out by walking (or running) over a short distance and then dividing that total distance by the number of steps taken. You can enter different stride lengths for running and walking for maximum accuracy.

1. From the Fitbit app dashboard, tap the Account icon.
   

1. Tap Advanced Settings.
   

1. Tap Stride Length.
   

1. Adjust your stride length according to the equation you did earlier.
   

• Use your non-dominant arm for your fitness tracker. It moves less than your dominant arm and is statistically less likely to cause damage to your tracker.
• Wear your tracker against your skin, not over clothing.
• Fitness trackers are not as accurate as chest straps. Unless the readings you're receiving are very inaccurate there should be nothing to worry about.
• Keep your tracker charged. Low battery power could cause inaccurate readings.

3. Fitness Tracker Make Question

To continue, we need to know what kind of fitness tracker you have.

4. Calibrate

Make Sure Calibration is On

1. On your iPhone, open Settings.
   

1. Tap Privacy.
   

1. Tap Location Services.
   

1. Make sure that Location Services is turned on.
   

1. Scroll down and tap System Services.
   

1. Make sure that Motion Calibration & Distance is turned on.
   

1. Continue with the steps below.

Calibrate

1. While wearing your Apple Watch, go to a flat, open outdoor area that offers good GPS reception and clear skies.
2. If you have Apple Watch Series 2 or later, you just need your Apple Watch. If you have Apple Watch Series 1 or earlier, bring your iPhone for GPS. Hold your iPhone in your hand, or wear it on an armband or waistband.
3. Open the Workout app.
   

1. To start, tap Outdoor Walk or Outdoor Run.
   

1. Walk or run at your normal pace for about 20 minutes.
2. Whenever you walk or run outside using the above steps, your Apple Watch continues to calibrate the accelerometer by learning your stride length at different speeds.
3. Calibration can also improve the accuracy of your calorie calculations in the Workout app, and the calorie, distance, Move, and Exercise calculations in the Activity app. 

5. Restart

If your Apple Watch is charging, take it off the charger first. When your watch is charging, you can't restart it.

1. Press and hold the side button until you see the Power Off slider.
   

1. Drag the slider to turn off your device.
2. After your watch turns off, press and hold the side button again until you see the Apple logo.

6. Additional Information

To better assist you, please answer this question.

7. What's next?

8. Change Stride Length

While calibration is optional, doing so will give your Fitbit greater accuracy.

Calibration can be as simple as a mathematic equation. Find out out by walking (or running) over a short distance and then dividing that total distance by the number of steps taken. You can enter different stride lengths for running and walking for maximum accuracy.

1. From the Fitbit app dashboard, tap the Account icon.
   

1. Tap Advanced Settings.
   

1. Tap Stride Length.
   

1. Adjust your stride length.
   

9. Additional Information

To better assist you, please answer this question.

10. Restart Device

1. Plug the charging cable into the USB port on your computer or any USB wall charger.
2. Clip the other end of the charging cable to the port on the back of the tracker. The pins on the charging cable must lock securely with the port.
   

1. Make sure the button on your tracker is aligned with the button opening on the charging cable.
   

1. You will know the connection is secure when the tracker vibrates and you see a battery icon on the display. Your Charge 2 will begin charging.
2. Press and hold the button on your tracker for four seconds. When you see the Fitbit logo and the tracker vibrates, this means the tracker has restarted.
3. Unplug your tracker from the charging cable.

11. Restart

1. Plug in your charger and clip the other end of the charging cable onto the back of your Alta. The connection is secure when the tracker vibrates and you see a battery icon on your tracker's display.
   

1. 
   
2. Press the button on your charging cable 3 times within a few seconds, briefly pausing between presses. When the Fitbit logo appears and the tracker vibrates, you have successfully restarted your Alta.
   

1. 
   
2. Unplug the device.

12. Restart

A restart deletes any saved notifications.

1. Press and hold the Back (left) and Select (right bottom) buttons on the Blaze until you see the Fitbit logo. The logo should appear in less than 10 seconds.
   

1. 
   
2. Let go of the buttons.

13. Additional Information

To better assist you, please answer this question.

14. Restart

1. Hold the Light button down until the device turns off.
   

1. To turn it back on, tap the Light button again.

15. Factory Reset

1. Press the device key to view the menu.
   

1. 
   
2. Press Settings.
   

1. 
   
2. Swipe Right.
3. Press Restore Defaults.
   

1. 
   
2. Press the Check.
   

1. 
   
2. Your device has now been reset. You may proceed with the setup.

16. Factory Reset

1. Press the device's button. Hold it until "SLEEP" appears.
   

1. 
   
2. Quickly press the button five times, and keep holding after the fifth press.
3. Keep holding the button until the firmware version appears and the screen goes blank.
   

1. 
   
2. Press and hold the button again until it restarts.
3. Your device has now been reset. You may proceed with setup.

17. Factory Reset Your Lintelek Fitness Tracker

Reboot to Reset the Fitness Tracker

1. Open the VeryFitPro app.
   

1. Tap User.
   

1. Tap System Setting.
   

1. Tap Restart Device.
   

If you're still having issues with step tracking

18. Additional Information

To better assist you, please answer this question.

19. Restart

1. Push and hold the button on the side of your Polar M600 to turn it off.
   

1. Wait 10 seconds.
2. Push and hold the button on the side of your Polar M600 again.

20. Restart

1. Swipe in the main menu until you navigate to Settings.
   

1. Swipe to navigate to and then tap the Power button.
   

1. Push and hold the button on the side of your device until it turns on.
   

1. >

21. Restart

1. Push and hold the Power button for a few seconds.
   

1. Tap Power off on the screen.
2. Wait 10 seconds.
3. Press and hold the Power button till the screen turns back on.