The Best Hidden Features on Your Garmin Watch

Garmin watches like my beloved Forerunner 265S have so many options buried of their menus that you could be not have found among the finest ones. Listed below are among the finest underrated options of Garmin watches (obtainable on Forerunners and different fashions), in addition to handy shortcuts you’ll end up utilizing on a regular basis. 

Shortcuts for getting round your Garmin watch

Left is the flashlight (it is brighter at midnight, I promise). Proper is what you get once you lengthy press on the sundown time complication.
Credit score: Beth Skwarecki

Shortly get again to the house display screen

This works on all of the touchscreen watches: Wherever you’re, regardless of what number of menus deep, simply cowl the display screen along with your palm. The display screen will go darkish, and once you activate it once more (by tapping the touchscreen, flicking your wrist, or hitting the highest left “gentle” button), it is going to be again on the house display screen.

Pull up a flashlight

Double press the sunshine button (prime left). Even when your watch isn’t geared up with an LED flashlight, it will activate the flashlight app that shows vibrant white pixels to supply a tender gentle. It is helpful for going to the lavatory in the course of the evening, or getting out of your child’s room at bedtime with out stepping on a LEGO. Oh—and you may shortly flip it off by placing your palm over the display screen.

Lengthy press your watch face problems

Not like on an Apple Watch, you’ll be able to’t faucet a complication to get extra details about it. I assumed that meant the problems weren’t interactive. However no—you could lengthy press the complication, and then you definately get the information. My dawn/sundown complication pulls up a round chart with dawn, sundown, nightfall, and daybreak instances (and an choice to take a look at totally different dates or places). You may also use this to get extra data on problems that have been on by default and also you by no means fairly found out what they’re. 

Garmin Share

The watch on the left is sending a exercise to the watch on the appropriate.
Credit score: Beth Skwarecki

If you happen to run with others, or like to debate exercises with a buddy who additionally makes use of Garmin, you’ll love the Garmin Share function, which lets you beam a exercise (or course map) to a different individual’s watch. “What’s a Norwegian 4×4?” my husband may say. “Right here, I’ll ship it to you,” I can reply, and he’ll have it in his on-watch exercise library in seconds. 

Find out how to ship objects with Garmin Share: 

1. Hit the Begin button as in case you have been going to start out an exercise. 

2. Scroll down till you see Garmin Share as an choice. Choose it.

3. You’ll see a display screen that claims Able to Obtain. Scroll all the way down to see all of your shareable objects (exercises, programs, and so forth) and select one. 

4. Your watch will say “In search of gadgets.” In case your buddy has opened up the receiving display screen, their watch mannequin and their identify will turn out to be obtainable to pick.

Find out how to obtain a exercise with Garmin Share: 

1. As above, go to the Begin button, scroll down, and choose Garmin Share.

2. You’ll see a display screen that claims Able to Obtain.

3. After they share the file, you’ll get an choice to say sure or no to downloading it.

You may also share a exercise by discovering it in your watch (as in case you have been going to do the exercise) after which deciding on Share as a substitute of Do Exercise.

Sundown alerts

You may set all types of alerts in your watch. In the future I used to be poking across the menus, simply inquisitive about what was in there, once I observed a “sundown” choice. 

I’ve this behavior of going out for a night path run with out checking how a lot time I’ve acquired till the solar goes down. It’s a recipe for remorse: Both I’ll want I introduced a flashlight, or I’ll want I had simply began my run a bit of earlier within the day. 

However now, that’s an issue of the previous. I went into Settings > Notifications and Alerts > System Alerts > Til Sundown, and set the time to at least one hour (1:00:00). Now, I get a bit of buzz on my wrist when I’ve an hour earlier than the solar units. If I’m dressed for a run however have been dawdling on getting out the door, that’s my cue. And if I understand I’m not going to make it again earlier than darkish, I seize a flashlight on my manner out.

A scorching secret is a shortcut—one thing like, lengthy press the START button (prime proper) to show sleep mode on or off. 

To arrange scorching keys, go into settings > System > Scorching Keys. There are seven you should utilize: holding the beginning, again, or down buttons, or urgent two buttons directly (begin and down, begin and up, again and lightweight, or again and up). 

Among the helpful options you’ll be able to map to a scorching key embrace: 

• Lock the gadget (nice in case you have a toddler who likes to play along with your watch)

• Broadcast coronary heart price (as a way to see your HR on gymnasium gear) 

• Change sport (in case you’re operating on the observe, however need to swap to a daily run when youngsters storm the sector for soccer follow)

• Flip the touchscreen on or off

• Carry up a stopwatch or timer

Discover my cellphone

Credit score: Beth Skwarecki

It is a normal smartwatch function lately, however I preserve seeing individuals uncover it for the primary time, so right here’s your public service announcement: Maintain the LIGHT button (prime left) to get that wheel of little shortcut issues. Choose Discover My Telephone, and it’ll.