Garmin Forerunner 255 – GPS Issues

DoDo 17 days ago

Hi everyone,

I’ve been having trouble with my Forerunner 255’s GPS for the past week. It suddenly stopped finding satellites when starting outdoor activities like running or walking. Until then, it worked perfectly.

I tried restarting the watch, syncing with Garmin Express and Garmin Connect to refresh satellite data. Oddly enough, it worked yesterday and I completed a run. But later in the day, it failed again.

During today’s workout the signal even dropped mid‑activity and hasn’t come back since.

Now, it just keeps searching without locking onto GPS – even after 30 minutes under clear sky. It’s very unreliable and I can’t figure out any pattern. I’ve tried everything except a factory reset.

Anyone else had similar issues? I'm on software version 23.20. Would really appreciate any suggestions!

Top Replies

Garmin-Hannah 12 days ago +0 verified

Hello,

Please look at our relevant articles:

Garmin Device Takes a Long Time to Acquire GPS or Not Finding a Signal

Improving GPS Satellite Reception

What Can Cause GPS Accuracy Issues on My Fitness Device…
7090282 12 days ago in reply to DoDo +3

I Have the same issue!

I've tried everything in the GPS-fix advise, reset the watch, installed the beta, but no improvement.

I have to wait for 1-5 minutes to get a GPS-fix. Once there is a fix, it…
DoDo 8 days ago +2

Hello @Garmin!

The GPS connection issues have been ongoing for quite some time and are still not resolved! The device is currently almost unusable. Please log this as a support ticket for investigation…
Mike 11 days ago in reply to 7090282 +1

I'm finding everyday more and more people complaining about this issue, not only here but on different forums like Reddit as well. I don't understand how this hasn't been escalated with Engineering yet…

All Replies

0 DoDo 12 days ago

Updated to beta version 24.07.

The very first activity was okay, then it cannot connect to GPS again, no matter what I do - rebooting, GPS soaking on a clear sky, etc

@Garmin, please help!

+1 Garmin-Hannah 12 days ago

Hello,

Please look at our relevant articles:

Garmin Device Takes a Long Time to Acquire GPS or Not Finding a Signal

Improving GPS Satellite Reception

What Can Cause GPS Accuracy Issues on My Fitness Device?

If those do not help, please contact your local support center! Thank you.

0 7090282 12 days ago in reply to DoDo

I Have the same issue!

I've tried everything in the GPS-fix advise, reset the watch, installed the beta, but no improvement.

I have to wait for 1-5 minutes to get a GPS-fix. Once there is a fix, it works good, but I do not want to wait for 5 minutes everytime i go for a activity.

My husband has a fenix 7pro, with GPS fix <10 seconds, just like my 255 used to....

So Garmin: please help with better suggestions than a link to improve GPS reception !

0 Mike 11 days ago in reply to 7090282

I'm finding everyday more and more people complaining about this issue, not only here but on different forums like Reddit as well. I don't understand how this hasn't been escalated with Engineering yet. This is a GPS Watch, and the GPS doesn't work correctly. I certainly didn't buy it to tell me the time.

0 DoDo 8 days ago

Hello @Garmin!

The GPS connection issues have been ongoing for quite some time and are still not resolved! The device is currently almost unusable. Please log this as a support ticket for investigation.

Thank you.

0 DoDo 7 days ago

I have found a partial workaround - deleted the RemoteSW Folder and re-synced again with Garmin Express, which resolved the problem temporarily. It found GPS immediately.

Unfortunately it dropped again during mid workout after 2 hours of perfect work :((

0 4357668 3 days ago

Mine can something take up to 20 minutes to get a lock. Really horrible. I have tried all the suggestion, which at best work temporary.