My zwift and Garmin aren't communicating anymore

General Discussion
1

Hi everyone,

I’m having persistent trouble getting Zwift to connect to my Garmin Forerunner 965. It used to work fine, but now it just won’t pair properly. On the Zwift app I see the device listed and it even shows connected for run speed, heart rate, and cadence — but when I try to start a run, the watch stays stuck on “waiting to connect.”

I’ve already tried all the usual fixes:

Forgetting and re‑pairing the watch in both Garmin and Zwift

Restarting both devices

Clearing old Bluetooth pairings

Checking permissions on my phone

Updating firmware and the Zwift app

None of these steps solved the issue. The watch keeps sending “Connect Sync Service” notifications, and Zwift still won’t recognize it properly when I try to run.

Has anyone else run into this problem recently? Any advanced troubleshooting tips or workarounds would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

2

Can you provide details about the trainer you are using, what you run the game on, and whether you have a second device with Companion app available?

I have not heard other reports like yours so I assume this is not a general problem, though that isn’t definitive if it’s something new.

3

@Paul_Southworth

Sounds like they’re pairing it to use with a treadmill rather than a trainer.

@Federica_Lucarelli

I assume you’re putting the device into virtual run mode?

4

Hello, thank you for your replies. I am using a treadmill and trying to pair the zwift with my garmin watch. I use the ‘Virtual Run’ on my Garmin watch. But I am stuck on Ready to Pair.

5

My watch garmin 955 solar use to pair with zwift run. Now it won’t. Found out one must use the “virtual run” mode in garmin and then pair with zwift. I make sure I am broadcasting HR but it still won’t pair. I am stuck in paring mode for HR. Any ideas how to fix it.

6

Sounds similar to what @Federica_Lucarelli asked about. Does this look familiar? I don’t know if she resolved it and I don’t have the answer.

7

@Federica_Lucarelli could you please confirm the date of the last time your watch worked normally with Zwift while running? And what software version you have on your watch?

8

@Katie_Higgins_Tridot could you please confirm the date of the last time your watch worked normally with Zwift while running? And what software version you have on your watch?

9

June 16th 2026 and garmin software version 29.05.

10

Same same. Has your issue resolved or still having connectivity issues?

11

Well this is a bit interesting…

12

Hello, I’m still having the same problem and I haven’t used my zwift app since beginning of August.

13

Interesting, however I have the new beta update 29.05 and still won’t pair. Didn’t fix the issue. I think it is more a zwift update that happened some time in June.

14

The version on my phone is 29.05 and I received some new updates just two days ago so i am strying to pair my device as I am writing this. Let’s see…

15

It’s working!! I am so happy right now. Thank you everyone, really appreciated :smiley:

16

Garmin’s 29.05 and 29.04 updates were both in August, so if your problem occurred before that, then it’s probably not related to the bug in 29.04 that was fixed in 29.05. Clearly this is not broken for everyone so I’m unsure what’s different in your case, but @AlanZ is still investigating for you

17

@Katie_Higgins_Tridot sorry to hear that the Garmin update didn’t resolve the connectivity issue for you too.

When you have a chance during your next Zwift session could you please record a video showing your watch and Zwift pairing screen when you first try to pair your watch and also include when it disconnects? If you are able to then complete a short test run of at least 0.8 km/0.5 mi (even if HR doesn’t work), and save the activity that should generate a log file that we can also review. I’d like to share both the video and log file with our engineering team so we can investigate further.