In this article, I provide a range of tips and explanations on what your Garmin smartwatch can do that you might not have known. Garmin smartwatches are known for their elegant design and versatile features, making them more than just a heart rate monitor—they're perfect for an active lifestyle.
You might have just bought your first , maybe you bought a new one or have had it for a long time. Regardless of your category, there are certainly many features on your , that few know about. is especially known for its advanced features that help you optimize your activities, whether you're running, cycling, or swimming.
Many of the features on your Garmin smartwatch you might have noticed but not known what they mean. has indeed packed a long list of useful features into their smartwatches that many of us may not be using. Therefore, I have compiled a list of features that you might benefit from—if you just learn to use them.
Create Intervals on Your Watch.
Your can greatly assist you with your intervals.
If you're out running and feel like doing intervals, you can easily use the watch's “back/lap” button. When your watch is tracking your run, pressing “back” starts a new kilometer count. If you want to run intervals of 500m, just press “lap/back” when your watch hits 500m; from there, the watch will start a new kilometer count.
If you want a bit more control over your intervals, you can also set them up before your run on the watch or in Garmin Connect.
You can set which intervals to run. You can configure the intervals by time and distance, or set them to be open if there's no fixed end time. Similarly, you can set how long breaks you want between each interval and how many repetitions you want.
All this is, of course, very helpful when you're out running your intervals, but it also allows you to dive into the data of the intervals when you get home. If you're running with a heart rate monitor, there's plenty of opportunity to thoroughly analyze data from each interval.
See a guide to setting up intervals on your watch here:
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Garmin Coach
Need a personal running coach?
offers your very own personal running coach. Through Garmin Connect app, you can choose your running goal, your current fitness level, and the coach you want. Garmin Coach then provides a personalized training program for you, which you can access in Garmin Connect on your computer or in the app on your phone—it also uploads the training to your watch so you just need to start your training and run exactly as your watch tells you.
Choosing Units on the Phone
Some measure their runs in kilometers while others use miles. Some prefer speed in min/km, others in km/h. Whether you want to measure in miles, kilometers, centimeters, pounds, or feet, you can change this under “system”:
- Hold the "Up" button
- Select "System"
- Select “Units.” Here, you can choose which formats your units should be measured and weighed in.
When you start your Garmin watch for the first time, it's often set to a 12-hour format. If you want the clock to show 23:30 instead of 11:30, go to “system,” “Time.” Here you can switch between 12-hour and 24-hour format.
Additionally, under “system,” there are many options for small adjustments, such as turning off sounds, adjusting backlight, etc.
Use "lap pace" instead of "pace" for a steady tempo
When you start your Garmin watch on a run, it shows your current pace by default. If you're running at a pace of 5:30 and speed up to a 4:30 pace, your watch will show you the pace you're running at now.
If you want a steadier pace, press the “down” button once to get to a new screen. Now your watch will show you your lap pace, which is the time you'll run the current kilometer on if you maintain the same pace for the rest of the kilometer. This will give you a steadier pace on your runs.
Setting Up Data Fields
has made a series of pre-set screens as standard, containing distance, timer, pace, lap distance, lap time, etc. If you want to change this, do the following:
- Enter the running function on your watch
- Press the "Up" button
- Select “Run Settings”
- Select "Screens,” where you can change the pre-set screens and customize the data fields displayed on your watch.
Performance Condition
You might wonder why after 6-20 minutes into your run, this screen appears on your watch.
These are your performance condition values.
The performance condition feature measures your heart rate, steps, and pace on the current run and compares it to how you usually perform on your runs. Based on this, the watch estimates how you're capable of performing on the current run. If you run with a lower
at a given speed compared to usual, the watch gives you a “+” score, indicating you're able to perform better today than usual. Performance condition is measured on a scale from -20 to +20. Each point is about 1% of your VO2-Max value. So if your watch indicates +4, it's a good day to push your pace, whereas you might slow down if you have a performance condition of -4.
If Trouble Strikes? - Incident Detection
NOTE! – Garmin advises that this feature is not used for emergency calls alone. Always call 911 if trouble strikes.
If an accident happens on your run, you can activate incident detection on your Garmin watch. Your watch sends an alert to your emergency contacts. The message includes a live-track GPS link, so your close contacts can see your current location.
NOTE! Your watch must be Bluetooth-paired with your phone for this feature to work.
Body Battery
Your Garmin watch combines your sleep quality, activity data, heart rate variability, sleep tracking, fitness tracking, and stress levels to assess your overall body battery. Your body battery is the amount of energy you have left in your body—and thus indirectly a measure of how tired/energetic you are. Your body battery is measured from 0-100. Garmin divides your body battery into intervals: 0-25 is low reserve energy, 26-50 is moderate reserve energy, 51-75 is high reserve energy, and 76-100 is very high reserve energy.
Find My Phone
We all know the problem. Where did I put my phone again? Garmin has created a feature to solve this! Hold the “light” button, select “find my phone,” and your watch will make your phone emit a loud sound, making it easy to find. If you've muted this feature, Garmin also ensures that a field on the sides of your watch face turns greener the closer you get to your phone. Conversely, it turns redder the farther you get from your phone. This function requires Bluetooth connection to your phone. So it's most useful if you misplace your phone at home, work, or similar, and not so useful if you left your phone on holiday abroad last week.
Find My Watch
The opposite function exists too.
If you misplaced your watch, you can use your phone to go to the Garmin Connect app. Choose “find my device,” and your watch will ring and vibrate, making it easy to find. This function also requires Bluetooth connection.
Disable Notifications
Not everyone wants to receive smart notifications on their watch. If you're one of those who would rather do without notifications, you can easily turn them off.
- Hold the “Up” button
- Select “phone”
- Select “Smart notifications”
- Press “status”
- Select “off”
Create Your Own Backgroundand customize your watch face via Garmin Connect IQ
If you want to personalize your Garmin watch or just want a different background, you can do this with Garmin Connect IQ. In the Garmin Connect IQ app, Garmin offers a wide variety of watch faces that you can download to your watch. You can also upload and tailor your own watch face, which you can then sync to your phone.
Through Garmin Connect IQ, you can also download various apps for your watch. For example, you can download music apps, weather apps, and calendar apps.
Menstrual Cycle Tracking
This feature might not be relevant for everyone, but for about half of the world's population, it can be useful. With Garmin Connect IQ, you can download a widget that tracks your menstrual cycle. When you track your menstrual cycle with your Garmin watch, you also receive information about physical and emotional symptoms, menstrual and fertility predictions, and health and nutrition info.
You can learn more about this feature in the video below.
Hot keys
Some features are used more than others. It's therefore convenient to access the functions you use most often. With "hot keys," you can assign frequently used functions to specific buttons.
- Select 'system'
- Select 'Hot Keys'
- Select functions
The following features are available only on select Garmin models.
Navigation (find home)
If you're out running and perhaps having trouble finding your way back – okay, maybe not on a jog around your neighborhood, but perhaps on vacation or similar. The feature works by allowing you, when you've run part of your route, to press pause and then hold the "up" button, where you can choose "navigation."
On some of "find-home navigation" is only possible with "Track Back," showing you the way home the same way you came.
On some of Garmin's top models, you can choose a route home, where the watch shows you a different way back than you came.
On some Garmin watches, you can view navigation on a topographic map with real turn-by-turn navigation, similar to a car GPS. However, this feature consumes significant battery, so it's good to have a long battery life before use.
Navigation (suggest route)
Your watch can also suggest routes for your run. Just tell the watch how far you want to run and in which direction, and it will provide three different route suggestions. This is a great feature if you're tired of running the same path every time or if you're in a new place and need suggestions.
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Navigation (download, load, and follow route)
You also have the option to download GPX files, which are files with specific routes. You can download them to your watch, load them, and then be guided through the selected route.
Transfer music to your watch
If you want to listen to music on your watch, some watches can handle it. Most watches have music control, while some models allow you to listen to music directly from the watch. You transfer music to your watch by downloading Spotify or Deezer via the Garmin Connect IQ app. A Spotify Premium account is required to listen to music on your watch. Once you've downloaded Spotify or Deezer and connected your watch to WiFi, you can choose which playlists from Spotify to download to your watch.
Garmin Pay
On some watches, like the Garmin Forerunner, it's possible to pay with Garmin Pay. This is very convenient and allows you to run without needing to carry a phone or credit card to make purchases during your run. With Garmin Pay, you always have a credit card at hand – literally. It's easy to pay when you need a coffee after your morning run.
See a guide on how to install Garmin Pay here:
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And if you want to see how to pay with Garmin Pay, you can find a guide in our inspiration universe. It's called: Garmin Pay - Pay with your watch - how it works
If you're unsure if your watch has a specific feature, you can find your watch at Garmin.com to see its specifications.
