re-activating my inReach mini was very non-intuitive, poor user experience

Thanks for the heads up on this. I'll be suspending my membership for a few months after my backpacking trip this weekend. I remember the device needing a clear view of the sky at initial activation and even that wasn't the most intuitive setup experience. It sounds like turning the subscription back on is even worse. There need to be some additional help/prompts to tell you what to do here. This is such a great product, but the experience is a huge mess at times. 

So, the re-activation process is exactly the same as the original activation process.

Once you suspend service and sync, the device knows it no longer has an active subscription. GPS and navigation features still work, but you can't use Iridium satellite messaging, SOS, etc. Every time you power up, the device reminds you that it needs to be activated. You can either do so or you can ignore it and use the non-communication features.

If you say you want to activate, it's going to take you through several screens to complete the process. The device does not know that it was previously activated. So this experience is identical to the original activation sequence.

It starts by telling you to go to the web site. Just go on past that screen. Then it gives you the IMEI and the auth code - which is what you would need to register with the web site. Go on past that.

I don't remember exactly how it goes next. But somewhere in here, it will finally tell you to go outside with a clear view of the sky. At that point (or on the next screen - can't remember?), it will run through the actual activation. Just keep moving to the next screen until you get to that point. There's a short checklist that appears on the screen, showing you each step of the process. It's best to set the device down with a clear view of the sky and wait for this to complete. Typically (standing still so you don't accidentally block the sky view), this will take less than 5 minutes. Once or twice, I have seen it take 10 minutes or more - but that's very rare.

Eventually, you will hear a chirp and see the "activation successful" screen.

Like all things inReach, you want to try this at home well before you need it. It does require that the Garmin servers be up and that the account activation services be available. They're reliable, but outages do happen.

The confusing thing is that it's not clear that you need to keep hitting the enter button to cycle through the pages, especially the one with the IMEI and auto code, since those aren't actually used for re-activating.  There, it tells you to go to the web page, where it tells you it's already activated.  Nothing anywhere that I could see (on the web or device) indicates pressing "enter" will take you to the next step.  It really feels like you've hit a brick wall at that point.

So it's kind of the same process, but not really.  The stumble was that I re-activated on the web, and there was no indication exactly how to get the device to acknowledge it.  Might seem obvious once you've done it, but definitely not before that.

As an end user, I'd really think that once it's reactivated, connecting to the inReach through the phone would let it know.

As I pointed out, it was my mistake for keeping getting distracted during the process, and not getting it working before heading out.  But the process really is extremely unclear, which helped lead to me getting distracted.

Is there actually a technical reason why syncing the device once you've re-activated your account doesn't re-activate the device?

I believe so. Essentially, the Iridium network must be involved in the process. I guess, and it’s only a guess, that that part has to be initiated by the device.

Totally agree with your assessment on the poor UI. I’m also technically savvy (e.g. I converted my old Mac Mini to a Chromebook) and found myself second guessing what steps to take. For example, at the initial setup it says to use the Garmin Messenger app when you should use the Garmin Explore app.

After four hours and 3 full resets I was finally able to obtain a weather forecast. I believe changing from GPS Only to Multi GNSS made the difference. But who knows.

all depends on whether the device was just suspended or deactivated. This is two diffenrent things.

When in was deactivated, you need to go through the whole procedure, you need to enter IMEI and code and confirm all then by having the unit outside

if t was suspended, then unsuspend is more simple, just do it on the website. You can then test it outside with the build in test.

Unless something has changed, I don't think this is accurate. See my post earlier in the thread. A device which has been suspended DOES have to go through the outdoor portion of the activation sequence when you un-suspend.

The confusing thing is that the device UI leads you to believe that you must go through the whole registration process on the web AGAIN. That is not true. To un-suspend:

Go to explore.garmin.com and resume your service. This does not require re-registration (you don't need the IMEI or authorization code). Just log into your existing account and reactivate.

Go outside with the device. Tell it you want to activate. Follow the on-screen directions. EXCEPT that any time it tells you to do something on the web, don't DO anything - just behave as if you HAD done the web thing.

you might be right, I am in fact not exatly sure how to handle single device account in this matter.

I just know it from prof accounts where I suspend and unsuspend devices almost weekly and never had to go outside for that.

All I have to do is to select new plan (other then the suspended) and assign a user to the device. After abt 1-5 min the device is full active (indicated on the website) and does not require any other attention, the unsuspend operation I do from home office located some 100km distance of the warehouse, thus can not go out and make any outside procedure.

I did so far not unsuspend personal account device. I will try it and see if this is different.

it is different with deactivated devices, e.g when I am moving them from one account to another. Then it needs whole procedure.

That is true. Real deactivation (removing the device from the account, or removing the account entirely) does require the whole process.

I don't have any experience with professional accounts. :-D