The Finest Hidden Options 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 greatest ones. Listed below are among the greatest 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

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 whenever you activate it once more (by tapping the touchscreen, flicking your wrist, or hitting the highest left “gentle” button), will probably be again on the house display screen.

Pull up a flashlight

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

Lengthy press your watch face issues

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 issues weren’t interactive. However no—you might want to lengthy press the complication, and you then get the data. My dawn/sundown complication pulls up a round chart with dawn, sundown, nightfall, and daybreak occasions (and an possibility to take a look at totally different dates or areas). You too can use this to get extra info on issues that had been on by default and also you by no means fairly found out what they’re. 

Garmin Share

If you happen to run with others, or like to debate exercises with a good friend 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 particular person’s watch. “What’s a Norwegian 4×4?” my husband would possibly 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. 

Learn how to ship objects with Garmin Share: 

Hit the Begin button as when you had been going to begin an exercise. 

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

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 many others) and select one. 

Your watch will say “Searching for gadgets.” In case your good friend has opened up the receiving display screen, their watch mannequin and their identify will change into obtainable to pick out.

Learn how to obtain a exercise with Garmin Share: 

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

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

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

You too can share a exercise by discovering it in your watch (as when you had been going to do the exercise) after which deciding on Share as an alternative of Do Exercise.

Sundown alerts

You may set every kind of alerts in your watch. Sooner or later I used to be poking across the menus, simply interested in what was in there, after I observed a “sundown” possibility. 

I’ve this behavior of going out for a night path run with out checking how a lot time I’ve obtained 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 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 1 hour (1:00:00). Now, I get a bit 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 key’s 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 use: holding the beginning, again, or down buttons, or urgent two buttons without delay (begin and down, begin and up, again and light-weight, or again and up). 

A number of the helpful options you’ll be able to map to a scorching key embody: 

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

Broadcast coronary heart fee (to be able to see your HR on fitness center gear) 

Change sport (when you’re operating on the observe, however need to swap to an everyday run when youngsters storm the sphere for soccer apply)

Flip the touchscreen on or off

Deliver up a stopwatch or timer

Discover my cellphone

This can be a normal smartwatch function nowadays, however I preserve seeing folks 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.