During any activity that uses a map (hike, walk, run, cycle) the map has a blank background - how do I change it?

Abi over 1 year ago

Hi all, hoping someone can help me.

During any activity which uses a map, such as hiking, walking, running etc - the map only shows a blank white background. The GPS is enabled, and my phone has signal. Toady, I downloaded a map from All Trails and saved it as a course, which I hoped would work, but when I tried to use this on the hike today it showed the same blank white screen. The route red line was there but there was no background on the map, so it was really difficult to follow.

Hopefully I'm missing something minor and this is a quick fix. My husband has the Fenix 6 Pro and his loads maps without an issue - it shows contours of the terrain and roads including road names. Much easier to look at!

I've already tried a soft reset, and a full factory reset, but nothing has worked. The GPS definitely works, because the activity shows with an accurate map on the Garmin / Strava app once it's finished and uploaded.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

Top Replies

silentvoyager over 1 year ago +1

If this is a non-pro non-sapphire Fenix 7, I believe it is shipped without pre-installed maps. You have to download maps first.

You can do that via Garmin Express application on PC or Mac, or directly…

All Replies

0 2529455 over 1 year ago

Interesting. It looks like all maps have been deleted, even the world base maps.

Follow these instructions to download the maps once more

support.garmin.com/.../

0 Dr Phil over 1 year ago

Have you enabled any maps? Settings for an Activity, Map, Configure Maps

0 silentvoyager over 1 year ago

If this is a non-pro non-sapphire Fenix 7, I believe it is shipped without pre-installed maps. You have to download maps first.

You can do that via Garmin Express application on PC or Mac, or directly on the watch if you connect your watch to WiFi.

Also, don't confuse maps with courses. What you load from All Trails is not a map but just a navigation course - that red line that you see on the blank screen. Maps can be used without courses just like courses can be used without maps. Also, you don't need your phone to be connected to use a map. Once downloaded, maps are stored on your watch and can be used offline.

0 Abi over 1 year ago in reply to silentvoyager

Really useful, thank you. I downloaded the Europe map and it seems to have worked. Really grateful for your help!

0 Abi over 1 year ago in reply to Dr Phil

Thank you Philip, I downloaded the Europe map and it seems to have solved the issue. I was perhaps silly for presuming it would come pre-downloaded!

0 Abi over 1 year ago in reply to 2529455

This appears to have worked, thank you. I was naive to presume the watch came with pre-downloaded maps. Thank you for your help :)