Fitbit Versa 3 is losing time – Troubleshooting Guide

One of the more common issues that affect Fitbit Versa 3 smart watch users is that their watch loses time. The Versa 3 does not keep time, as it ought to. We will try to help you in restoring time sync on the Versa 3 watch through a systematic approach towards troubleshooting and resolving the issue.

Potentially, Versa 3 is unable to keep time because it is unable to sync with the Fitbit app. A whole lot of reasons may cause this. But, one of the most common causes for the Versa 3 to lose time is that it may have a bad connection or a lost Bluetooth connection with the Fitbit app.

Let us review some of the most common steps that could help in resolving the issue with Versa 3 not keeping time.

Check the firmware on your Fitbit Versa 3

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The first thing that you would need to do is to make sure that the Fitbit Versa 3 is on the latest firmware update. The latest firmware for Versa 3 is the VERSION 36.128.5.49. This firmware update also contains the Fitbit OS update. Fitbit OS update is important to ensure seamless working of the Fitbit app.

If your Fitbit Versa 3 is not running the latest firmware, please update it to the latest version of firmware for the Versa 3 watch.

In some cases, updating the firmware has resolve the issue of the Versa 3 not keeping time. So, it may be worth checking to see if the issue with time is resolved after this step. If not, let us move to the next step.

Check the clock face on Versa 3

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By any chance, if you are using a 3rd party developed clock face on your Versa 3, try to replace that with one of the clock faces developed by Fitbit. Using a Fitbit developed clock face or the default clock face on the Versa 3 will rule out issues with the 3rd party clock faces. If changing the clock face to the default Fitbit clock face resolves your issue, you would be a lucky Versa 3 user.

Unpair the phone with Fitbit Versa 3

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To rule out the problems with Bluetooth connection between the phone and the Fitbit Versa 3, it is suggested that we drop the existing connection and attempt a new one. We will unpair the phone with the Fitbit Versa 3 smart watch. Before unpairing the phone, we will also uninstall the Fitbit app.

After unpairing the phone, we will restart the phone and also restart the Fitbit Versa 3. Instead of creating a new connection at the time of restart, we will install the Fitbit app. Once Fitbit app is installed, we will allow the Fitbit app to initiate a Bluetooth connection with the Versa 3 smart watch. This is like resetting the Bluetooth connectivity between the Versa 3 watch and the Fitbit app. And, we are allowing Fitbit app to self-discover the Versa 3 smart watch.

Many users have had their issues with time sync resolved with this step of re-establishing connectivity between the Versa 3 and the Fitbit app. Do remember to remove the existing connections before creating new Bluetooth connections.

If the Versa 3 fails to keep time after this step, we will attempt the next step that involves resetting the preferred time zones setting on the Fitbit dashboard or the Fitbit app.

Disable Automatic Time zone selection on Fitbit App

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One of the possible reasons for the Fitbit Versa 3 to lose time is the automatic time zone setting on the app. We will use the instructions below to ensure that the time zone is not automatically set for sync by the Fitbit app. We can do this step through the Fitbit app or through the Fitbit.com dashboard.

Resetting time zone through Fitbit app dashboard

1. From the Fitbit app dashboard, tap the Account icon.
2. Tap Advanced Settings.
3. Under Time Zone, turn off the Set Automatically option.
4. Tap Time Zone and select the correct time zone.
5. Sync your Versa 3 smart watch.

At this point, if there were issues with the time zone settings, your issue should have been resolved. The Versa 3 watch should be keeping proper time.

Resetting time zone through Fitbit.com dashboard

1. Log into your fitbit.com dashboard and click the gear icon   Settings  Personal Info.
2. Under Advanced Settings, find Time zone and choose your time zone. Time zones offset by the half hour are not supported. If the time zone is correct, then try to choose another Time zone. Basically, we want to reset the Time zone settings.
3. Click Submit and sync your Fitbit Versa 3.
4. Now, go back to the Time zone settings and choose the correct Time zone on the dashboard.
5. Click Submit and sync your Versa 3 smart watch.

Resetting the time zone settings should help in resolving the issue with the Versa 3 not keeping correct time. However, if your Versa 3 smart watch is still not keeping the correct time, we will take one more final attempt to resolve the issue.

Do a factory reset of the Versa 3

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By now, we have already performed the following key steps to resolve issues of the Versa 3 not keeping time –

• we have made sure that the Versa 3 is on the latest firmware
• we have made sure that the connection between the phone and the Versa 3 has been reset
• we have made sure that the correct time zone settings are in place on the Fitbit app
• if we already had the correct set of time zone settings on the Fitbit app, we have made sure to reset the time zone settings to force a sync again.

Assuming all these steps have failed in resolving the issue, we are left with one final attempt to make the Versa 3 keep time.

We will do a factory reset of the Versa 3 smart watch to try and refresh everything on the device. Most users should see the sync issue resolve after a factory reset. We keep factory reset as the last option, so that there is minimal disruption to user data captured through the Versa 3.

Doing a factory reset has helped users to resolve the time sync issue between the Versa 3 smart watch and the Fitbit app. We hope this resolved your issue too. But, if your issue with time sync remains unresolved, then you are out of alternatives at this point. So, call the Fitbit customer support team and request for further assistance. They may have you go through the troubleshooting steps again. But, your eventual hope may be a replacement of the Versa 3 by the Fitbit customer support team.