Garmin Explore Web - Recent Threads

Zombie message won't go away from MapShare page

6125703 — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 19:35:38 GMT

When I was testing out my inReach Mini 2 and MapShare page before a trip, I sent a check-in message "to mapshare" and it appeared on the sidewalk where I did the test.

Even after I deleted the message and adjusted the visibility timestamp for my MapShare, this lone check-in message continues to appear and seems to cause the MapShare page to zoom by default to this location near my home. I can't figure out what else I can do to purge it. Edit: it shows on the map while the "messages" section indicates zero messages.

During the trip, I did several tracking sessions which appeared as intended on the MapShare. I have since deleted them in my Explore map collection, and they disappeared in MapShare too. Edit 2: the check-in timetamp is also earlier than the time cutoff I set on my MapShare settings.

I am not sure I sent any actual messages during the trip, so that zombie message might be the "most recent" I ever did. I'm not sure.

Has anybody else seen this behavior? I want to clear the slate so there is no personal location content in the page until my next trip. And I'd want it to zoom to whatever wilderness routes I decided to share for that trip, not to this location near my home!

GPX track imported into Garmin Explore shows incorrect distance and does not render in desktop app

9742874 — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 21:23:46 GMT

Hi,

I am experiencing two issues with Garmin Explore when importing a GPX track file.

Issue 1: Incorrect track distance

When I import a GPX file containing a <trk> element, the distance displayed for the track is significantly wrong. The track should be approximately 126 km, but Garmin Explore shows ~310 km as length.

Notably, the elevation profile chart for the same track correctly shows the x-axis ending at ~126 km, which matches the expected distance. This suggests the app is calculating distance differently in the track summary vs. the elevation chart.

Additional observations:

The GPX file has been validated — coordinates are correct (WGS 84, lon/lat order) and the track consists of a single `<trkseg>` with no gaps.
When using "Copy as Course" on the imported track, the resulting course correctly shows ~126 km, but the course only retains two points (start and end), losing all intermediate shape points.
Adding `<ele>` elevation tags to the GPX track points has no effect on the elevation profile — the app appears to ignore them and use its own terrain data instead.

Issue 2: Track not visible in Garmin Explore desktop

The same GPX track file does not render in the Garmin Explore desktop application, while it does appear correctly in the Garmin Explore mobile app and on the Garmin map service (explore.garmin.com). No error message is shown — the track simply does not appear.

Troubleshooting already attempted

Downsampled the track: from ~5900 points to ~590 points (keeping every 10th point) — no change in behaviour for either issue.
Added `<ele>` elevation tags: to every track point with plausible values — the elevation profile was unchanged, confirming the app ignores GPX elevation data entirely.
Used "Copy as Course" as a workaround — this gives the correct distance (126 km) but discards all intermediate points, making it useless for navigation.

File details

The affected tracks are publicly available here: share.garmin.com/U7YS77OR55, you can look at stage1.1_route.gpx as an example. Some additonal info on the files:

GPX version: 1.1
Created with: GDAL 3.12.0
Track structure: single `<trk>` with single `<trkseg>` with ~5900 `<trkpt>` elements
Coordinate system: WGS 84

Could you please clarify the following:

How Garmin Explore calculates track distance for imported GPX files?
Why the distance shown in the track summary differs from the elevation chart distance?
Why "Copy as Course" discards all intermediate track points?
What the rendering requirements are for the desktop application?

Thanks!

Toggle Map Visibility for Collection EYE hides all activities in Map view including the one you wish to view.

6756833 — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 22:44:49 GMT

Hi Guys, I am new to the Garmin Stable and have a Inreach Mini2, Garmin Explore Web (GEW) and Garmin Explore App (GEA). I think I have all the units syncing correctly. I have completed a number of Activities on the Mini2 and synced them with the GEA and can view them on the Samsung 24S. They even appear to sync up correctly to the GEW. I walk regularly in the same general area so many activities are overlapping previous activities. What I wish to be able to do is show individual Activities on the Map View screen. The key to this appears to be related to the “Toggle Map Visibility for Collection” EYE. If I turn off the eye on the collection header line all the activities disappear and all that remains are a few Black Dos representing the activity I wished to view. I have cleared out Browser History, Cache, Temporary files to no avail.

On very rare occasions this has sort of worked but I can’t work out the logic of it.

Any help greatly appreciated. The Map View already looks like spaghetti and unusable.

Export/Import

HP Drifter — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:07:16 GMT

Hi all. Setup: InReach Mini2, Android w/Explore App, Explore Web. This question is about using Explore Web.

The red arrow in both images is an Activity that I converted to a route in Web then exported to my pute and then imported into a non-Garmin web software. It works and appears as one would expect and looks the same as a route I drew in Explore Web and imported in the same manner.

The purple arrow is a route/course/track or something that a few years back I also created from an Activity and converted to something somehow, but I do not know how I did this and have been unable to re-create it. It has many more points and resembles exactly the nature/shape of an Activity. I would like to be able to use this type of import again in the non-Garmin software as it shows exactly where I traveled, but I have no idea how I created it.

That file (purple arrow) and the file type represented by the blue arrow get exported every time in the GPX file even if I have hidden everything on the map screen entirely. The blue arrow files import as very course line, maybe lines drawn between 10 minute intervals. Where are they coming from? Is it not possible with Web to simply select one file and export it?

Import/Export in Web is so very confusing and extremely difficult to figure out.

Thanks,

William

How do I remove a device from garmin explore?

TourleTour — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 12:14:20 GMT

I have my Inreach and my Fenix both connected to explore. For some reason this means that every course that goes onto my fenix gets sync'd to my inreach and fills up the memory. I get no value from having the fenix connected to Explore so I want to remove it. I looked at garmin support, but it suggested I go to explore, select the device, and select "Remove Device". There is no "Remove Device" option. So can anyone tell me how I can achieve this, or even just get it to stop syncing every course?

Thanks

So many aggravating inconsistencies and dead-ends

6125703 — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 21:36:22 GMT

I dipped back into this to prepare for a mountain trip. I wanted to make some courses and have them on my FR255 watch for primary navigation, my inReach mini 2 (as backup navigation), and my inReach MapShare so others can see my intended route along with my satellite tracking points.

I think I finally found a couple flows that may work, but they are clumsy in different ways.

Create a course in Garmin Connect web or mobile (like I usually do for my FR255), export to GPX on my laptop, import to Explore website as a "route" which reduces it to 200 points.
Create a course in Garmin Explore mobile and "share" to Google Drive so I can then open/share it into Connect Mobile.

But I rediscovered so many gotchas along the way.

First, what does this distinction between "tracks", "routes", and "courses" even mean in Explore?? It is so opaque in the website and then the mobile app doesn't really distinguish them in the "saved" list.
The website also cautions about needing routes for syncing to "inreach devices", but then my inReach Mini 2 seems to call things "courses" and it's all very confusing.
A default course from connect creates an absurd behavior when using it to navigate on my inReach Mini 2... a 3 mile course is alerting me every 50 feet or so with a long chirp and generic "flag" icon alert. I guess it's celebrating that I reached each point in the GPX file? I've read that turning off turn guidance before I export the course to GPX from Connect may fix this, but I haven't taken it out for another outdoor test to verify yet.
Any "course points" created in the Connect course seem to turn into disembodied waypoints in Explore that aren't even attached to the imported route. You can delete the route and the waypoints remain on the map like a ghostly reminder of the past.
Some of the web UI suggests importing to a "track" instead of a route, but this makes some hideous pile of individual point flags on the Explore map.
The Explore website doesn't have any way to create "courses" or "tracks" even though it knows they exist. It can create routes and waypoints or make a "track" via import.
The website route creation doesn't seem to have any logic at all to follow roads or trails. You just have to draw line segments like it is 1980.
The Explore mobile app only knows how to create courses and waypoints. At least it can follow roads and trails, but it is annoying to have to do this on a little phone screen instead of a laptop with a mouse and a bigger screen to zoom and pan around! Conversely, Connect website pretty much does all the same things as Connect mobile and so I prefer the website for making courses normally for my watch.
Comparing Explore mobile and Connect for course creation, the map detail for trails is quite different. And, Connect offers "popularity" routing as an option instead of following the trail network.
Every kind of import/export flow seems to lose any metadata like a course name.
There seem to be many ways to accidentally click into an empty section on the Explore web left sidebar and then the arrow to go back out is missing. My only option seemed to be reloading the whole page and starting over on the explore homepage.

It's not that my complaints are exhausted, but I think the Garmin Forum may be running out of bullets for my bullet list...

Map to aerial view when zooming in?

PeteGl — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 14:20:42 GMT

Is it possible to stop the view changing to aerial when zooming in?

Am I crazy? (Explore vs. Connect sending course to Enduro 3)

Fredrik_Coulter — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 16:04:29 GMT

I've got an upcoming 20 mile hike, for which I plan to use my Enduro 3. I've downloaded the GPX file for the hike. If I import the file to the Explore web site, everything looks good. It's listed as a 19.79 mile hike, but that's fine. So I send it to my watch, which claims it's a 98.84 mi hike.

I then go to the Connect web site. I import the same GPX file there, and again everything looks good. Same mileage, etc. I make sure the name is different so I can differentiate it from the previously imported version. So I send it to my watch, which claims it's a 19.79 mile hike.

What the heck is going on? Why does Explore turn my course into a 100 mile course while Connect leaves the route untouched at 20 miles?

Garmin Explore Map page not loading Tracks

Mike G — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 01:06:38 GMT

For roughly the past week, I've been unable to see my tracks in Explore Web.

As you can see at the bottom of this screenshot, I have 353 tracks saved. They DO show on the map, but they never load in the sidebar - the spinner keeps going indefinitely (have left it for hours, no change). Same result across multiple browsers on multiple devices. Clicking a track on the map does pop up an info box, but does not load the track name and the edit and collections buttons are non-functional.

Obviously this severely degrades the functionality of the product. With it being across many devices, this looks like it's on the server side of things. I did a full reset on the device and re-synced it with no change.

Course in Garmin Explore Web has multiple lines (though everything OK in Connect and in Android app)

DJGShef — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 14:51:48 GMT

The course is shown in a confused jumble of lines linking waypoints, as per the image.

The course was originally imported to Connect from Komoot and looks fine in Connect. Having synced to Explore, it also looks fine in the Explore app. I have had this issue on some other uploaded courses and don't understand why.

Any suggestions?

Inbox shows nothing but an empty screen and then throws an error message.

johnrg56 — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 18:55:18 GMT

The attached image shows what I am referring to. I expected maybe to see something regarding my message activity.

Icons are limited? Or is it possible to add icons?

6815840 — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 09:18:17 GMT

When adding/modifying a waypoint you can select a matchingicon. However, the number of icons standard available in Explore do not match the real situation. For instance, when i make a waypoint to a ferry, i cannot select a matching icon.

So, my question is:

Can i add my own waypoint or is it possible to add waypoints from a (Garmin) library or such?

something not working... when i try adding an address in search bar

bowiezx9 — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:38:20 GMT

AS of a week ago when ever i type an address into my search bar on my Explore garmin on my PC,

it always just says something went wrong, will not search for an address.

if i put in a GPS coordinates it always says something went wrong.

why is it suddenly doing this??????

Tracks appear on map as a set of ugly blue triangles?

La Vita e Bella — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 12:02:06 GMT

Why do tracks on web appear as lots of blue triangles and not like a line as in BaseCamp or CalTopo?

I just can't find the way how to chnage this?

Garmin Explore web page not updating

7247567 — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 13:29:36 GMT

Hello Forum ...

I need some help here. My original Garmin 66i failed and I bought a new one. I cancelled the subscription on the old one and the new one is working great and downloads its data to the Android app on my phone as it should ... BUT ... there is no connection to the Garmin Explore web page EXCEPT the real time tracking data when I am out on a trip. So, I do not get any waypoints or activities downloaded onto my Map Share map. There has to be something wrong with how the new unit was established. I called Garmin and he walked me through everything I had already done, but seemed to have no answers for this.

I had a look on my phone into my Garmin Account for Data Management and saw this line ITW_DS_EM_GLOBAL with its Status Revoked. I do not recall doing anything that would stimulate this. What does this mean and can it be part of my problem and if so, what can I do about it?

Thank you.

Waypoints not showing in list or map - Alpha 100

3421323 — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 07:56:20 GMT

We have an older model GPS Alpha 100 and none of our waypoints are showing in the list. We have plugged it into basecamp app and they are showing there but can't get them to show in the GPS. Any ideas

Tracks not appearing on Garmin Explore website

3832550 — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 03:18:55 GMT

I am using Garmin GPSMAP 65 which syncs to mobile Garmin Explore app on Android smartphone. Tracks and waypoints are visible on the app.

On Garmin Explore website however, only waypoints are synced and visible. I cannot see recent tracks.

I confirm all visibility toggles are ON, all map filters are OFF, and ZERO tracks in the library [ Tracks (0) ].

I have tried clicking the location icon to centre the map (as advised by answers to various posts here) but there is no response. Location is turned ON but the website does not make a request to use location.

I have tried with both Chrome and Edge.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Many quirks in Garmin Explore iOS App, maybe due to wrong usage?

7550516 — Sat, 27 Sep 2025 11:29:30 GMT

Hello all,

I am new to the Garmin ecosystem with a brand new Fenix 7 Pro

I’m just coming back from two weeks hiking where I first used my Fenix 7 to be guided in the mountains.

To build my itinerary, I have tried using Garmin Explore. However, I found the app very difficult to use to build a route. Main quirks I have noted are:
- The app sometimes doesn’t want to follow a trail and goes into « straight line » definition (yes, the straight line option is deactivated)
- I find that the ascent estimate is very wrong, sometimes a few hundred meters away from reality (or from a course made in Connect)
- Creating random POI on my course (unwanted) while I still look for the way to create my own (e.g. for mountains huts)
- Courses created with Explore don’t seem to have the turn by turn navigation

Overall I found it very difficult to use, and switched to Connect which has its own quirks (no hiking trails, only popularity heatmaps that follow the trails, internet connection required, …).

Has anyone experienced the same as I do? Am I using the app wrong? Or maybe are those known issues?

thanks.

There is a problem with mapshare.

2294540 — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 00:40:36 GMT

The map on the explore.garmin.com shows my correct location. Mapshare shows a location that is more than a year old. Any attempt to locate fails. How do I fix this?

Lost a track without warning when I accidentally renamed over it

4700415 — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 12:53:38 GMT

I accidentally renamed a new track to the name of an old track, and the old track was lost without warning.

I know this was 100% my fault, but it would have been friendly if I'd been given a warning that an old track has the name and would be lost.

BUG: MapShare website updates loses tracking

pstoppani — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 16:26:23 GMT

As of today, MapShare web page update eventually stops shows tracks and requires an browser refresh to show current tracks.

This is a pain because a refresh zooms out, forcing one to have to re-zoom in when tracking.

library

7073980 — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 06:11:39 GMT

There is no library or collections option or button listed on my Garmin Explore map website. How can I edit or delete collections.

is it possible to export activities to explore from edge 1040? I also have Fenix 7x

3691758 — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 06:27:28 GMT

routes from explorer on 1040 device appear. but activities from garmin1040 do not appear in explorer web

Garmin Explore Web just gives an error message "An error occurred while processing your request".

7500977 — Sat, 16 Aug 2025 17:45:29 GMT

Trying to access Garmin Explore Web on Windows: No access at all. Is the site down? Or has somebody the same problem?

Can’t add contacts on Garmin Explore website

9756898 — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 08:13:06 GMT

Hi,

I have an inReach Mini (first generation), and I’m trying to add contacts through the explore.garmin.com website so I can sync them with the device.

However, I don’t see any option to add contacts on the Explore website — the “Contacts” section only displays my own information, with no button to add new ones. I’ve tried using multiple browsers, but no one displays such an option.