How to Download a FIT File from Your Garmin Watch
Pull your activity file straight off your Garmin — here is how, on Windows and Mac.
Your Garmin watch or bike computer stores every activity as a .fit file in its internal memory until it syncs. You can grab that file directly without going through Garmin Connect, which is useful when the activity has not synced yet or you want the rawest possible file.
Option A — Plug the watch in (Windows)
Works with Fenix, Forerunner, Edge, Epix, Instinct, Venu, and every current Garmin device.
- Plug the watch into your computer with the charging cable. Make sure the cable is a data cable, not a charge-only one — some third-party cables only carry power.
- Unlock the watch screen if prompted.
- Open File Explorer. The watch appears under "This PC" as a named device (not a drive letter).
- Navigate to Internal Storage → GARMIN → Activity.
- Copy the .fit file. Files are timestamped: 2026-04-20-061433.fit means April 20, 2026 at 06:14:33.
Quit Garmin Express before you plug in. If Express is running in the background it may lock the connection and prevent File Explorer from seeing the device.
Option B — Plug the watch in (Mac)
Modern Garmin watches use MTP, which macOS Finder cannot read. You need a helper app.
- Download OpenMTP from openmtp.ganeshrvel.com (free, cleaner UI) or Android File Transfer from android.com/filetransfer (Garmin’s official recommendation).
- Quit Garmin Express completely — it blocks MTP connections.
- Plug the watch in and open the MTP helper app.
- Navigate to GARMIN → Activity.
- Drag the .fit file to your desktop.
If the Activity folder is empty, the activity has already synced to Garmin Connect and been cleared from the device. Grab it from Garmin Connect instead — see the fallback method below.
Option C — Pull it from Garmin Connect after sync
Fastest if the activity has already synced.
- Go to connect.garmin.com on a computer and sign in.
- Click Activities → All Activities in the sidebar.
- Open the activity you want.
- Click the gear icon (top-right) → Export Original.
- Unzip the downloaded file. The .fit file is inside.
The mobile Garmin Connect app does not have a .fit export option. Use a laptop, or open connect.garmin.com in mobile Safari / Chrome and request the desktop site.
Which option should I use?
If the activity has synced and you just want the file quickly: Option C (Garmin Connect) is fastest.
If the activity is fresh off the watch and has not synced yet, or your watch is acting up and not syncing: Option A or B (direct USB) is the only way.
If you have a pile of old activities to grab, request a full account export at garmin.com/account/datamanagement/exportdata — Garmin emails you every .fit file within a few hours.