The Greatest 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 here are among the greatest underrated options of Garmin watches (accessible 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

Left is the flashlight (it is brighter at midnight, I promise). Proper is what you get if you lengthy press on the sundown time complication.
Credit score: Beth Skwarecki

Shortly get again to the house display screen

This works on all of the touchscreen watches: Wherever you might be, regardless of what number of menus deep, simply cowl the display screen along with your palm. The display screen will go darkish, and if you activate it once more (by tapping the touchscreen, flicking your wrist, or hitting the highest left “mild” button), it will likely be again on the dwelling display screen.

Pull up a flashlight

Double press the sunshine button (high left). Even when your watch isn’t outfitted with an LED flashlight, this may activate the flashlight app that shows brilliant white pixels to supply a tender mild. It is helpful for going to the lavatory in the midst of the night time, 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 problems

In contrast to on an Apple Watch, you possibly can’t faucet a complication to get extra details about it. I assumed that meant the problems weren’t interactive. However no—it is advisable to lengthy press the complication, and then you definately get the information. My dawn/sundown complication pulls up a round chart with dawn, sundown, nightfall, and daybreak instances (and an possibility to take a look at totally different dates or areas). You can even use this to get extra info on problems that have been on by default and also you by no means fairly discovered what they’re. 

Garmin Share

The watch on the left is sending a exercise to the watch on the correct.
Credit score: Beth Skwarecki

In case you run with others, or like to debate exercises with a good friend who additionally makes use of Garmin, you’ll love the Garmin Share characteristic, which lets you beam a exercise (or course map) to a different particular person’s watch. “What’s a Norwegian 4×4?” my husband may 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. 

How you can ship gadgets with Garmin Share: 

1. Hit the Begin button as should you have been going to start out an exercise. 

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

3. You’ll see a display screen that claims Able to Obtain. Scroll right down to see all of your shareable gadgets (exercises, programs, and many others) and select one. 

4. 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 turn into accessible to pick.

How you can obtain a exercise with Garmin Share: 

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

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

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

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

Sundown alerts

You possibly can set every kind of alerts in your watch. In the future I used to be poking across the menus, simply interested by what was in there, once 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 acquired 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 just a little 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 just a little 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 approach out.

A scorching secret is a shortcut—one thing like, lengthy press the START button (high 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). 

Among the helpful options you possibly can map to a scorching key embody: 

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

• Broadcast coronary heart fee (in an effort to see your HR on fitness center tools) 

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

• Flip the touchscreen on or off

• Deliver up a stopwatch or timer

Discover my telephone

Credit score: Beth Skwarecki

It is a customary smartwatch characteristic nowadays, however I maintain seeing individuals uncover it for the primary time, so right here’s your public service announcement: Maintain the LIGHT button (high left) to get that wheel of little shortcut issues. Choose Discover My Telephone, and it’ll.