Google Fit not tracking steps? 10 best ways to fix it

You have several health tracking apps, but nothing seems to come close to Google Fit in terms of accuracy and usability. Google Fit is free for all users and it’s pretty good.

Google Fit can count your steps without relying on a smartwatch or fitness tracker. It analyzes the distance you have traveled along with the speed to provide you with accurate walking tracking. Just take your phone and leave the rest to the Google Fit app.

While Google Fit is largely bug-free, it can sometimes show you problems. Recently, many users have reported that Google Fit is not tracking steps issue. According to them, the Google Fit app does not track the steps, even if the app is kept in the background.

Fix Google Fit not counting steps on Android

If you are experiencing a similar problem with the Google Fit app, continue reading the guide. Below we have shared some easy methods to solve Google Fit doesn’t track steps on Android. Let’s start.

1. Reboot your Android device

Google Fit pulls information from your device’s sensors, such as accelerometer and gyroscope, to provide you with all health data.

Sometimes bugs and glitches prevent such sensors from working properly, causing Google Fit app activity tracking to fail. So if that was the problem, you should reboot your Android device.

A simple restart ends all background processes and solves many problems. Long press your phone’s power button and select the Restart option.

2. Disable power saving mode

Android power saving mode is very useful as it saves battery life. However, sometimes the power saving mode can become a culprit Google Fit does not track activity.

Android power saving mode works differently on smartphones. If your phone’s power saving mode is too aggressive, the Google Fit app will close in the background.

So if the Google Fit app isn’t tracking your steps, it’s best to turn off power saving mode. Here’s how to disable low power mode on Android.

1. Open your Android app drawer and tap Institutions.

2. In Settings, tap the Battery.

3. Now scroll down and tap on the Energy saving mode.

4. On the Power Saving Mode screen, Switch off the power saving mode switch.

This will disable power saving mode on your Android smartphone. After turning off the battery/power saving mode, use the Google Fit app for a while; the number of steps is now displayed.

3. Disconnect third-party health tracking apps

The Google Fit app is feature-rich and designed to connect with other health apps like Strava, Sleep as Android, etc. to provide more detailed information.

However, when the Google Fit app encounters sync issues, steps or other health information will no longer be displayed. So, if you use any other third-party health app on your phone, it’s best to disable it.

1. Open the Google Fit app on your phone and tap your profile picture.

2. On the profile screen, tap the Settings gear icon top right.

3. In Settings, scroll down to it Google Fit data and personalization.

4. Then tap Manage connected apps.

5. Now open the connected health app and select Detach.

For example, you can disconnect third-party health apps from the Google Fit application for Android.

4. Make sure activity tracking is turned on

Google Fit app asks for Consent to Activity Tracking during installation. If you accidentally declined the permission request, Google Fit won’t track any activity. That’s why you need to make sure that activity tracking is enabled in your Google Fit app. Here’s what to do.

1. Open the Google Fit app on your smartphone.

2. Tap the at the bottom right profile icon.

3. Now on the profile screen tap on the Settings gear icon top right.

4. Now scroll down to Settings and enable the toggle for Track your activities.

That is it! This will enable activity tracking in the Google Fit app. From now on, the Google Fit app will use your phone’s sensors to track stats like steps and distance, even when the app is running in the background.

5. Allow Google Fit to track physical activity

If you want Google Fit to accurately track your steps and distance, granting permission for physical activity is essential. Granting the physical activity permission allows Google Fit to use sensors such as gyroscopes and accelerometers for more accurate tracking. Here’s what to do.

1. Long press the Google Fit app on your home screen and select App information.

2. On the App info screen, tap Rights.

3. On the App permissions screen, tap Fysical activity.

4. Make sure the physical activity permissions are set to Allow.

This permission allows the Google Fit app to access your physical activities and provide more accurate tracking information.

6. Let Google Fit run in the background

The latest versions of Android are smart enough to end the process that leads to battery drain. So there is a chance that Android prevents the Google Fit app from running in the background to save battery life.

When this happens, the Google Fit app becomes inactive in the background for a few minutes. So you need to allow the Google Fit app to run in the background through the battery settings.

1. Long press the Google Fit app icon and select App information.

2. On the App info screen, tap Battery usage.

3. Under Battery use, turn on the switch for Allow background activity.

That is it! This allows the Google Fit app to run in the background.

7. Force close the Google Fit app

If you’re still having the problem, you can force quit the Google Fit app. It’s pretty easy to force quit the Google Fit app on Android. Here’s what to do.

1. Long press the Google Fit app on your Android home screen and select App information.

2. On the App info for Google Fit screen, tap the Force stop app.

That is it! This will force the Google Fit application to quit and stop any background processes that were running. After the power has stopped, open the app again.

8. Clear the cache of the Google Fit app

Sometimes a corrupted or outdated app cache is the culprit because Google Fit is not tracking steps on Android. You can easily solve such problems by clearing the app cache of the Google Fit application on Android. Here’s how to do it.

1. Long press the Google Fit app icon and tap the App information icon.

2. On the App info screen, tap Storage usage.

3. Next, tap on Storage usage at Clear cache.

That is it! Here’s how to clear the Google Fit app cache on Android. Now open the app again and see if the Google Fit pedometer works properly.

9. Remove and add your Google account

As the Google Fit pedometer still doesn’t work, try removing and re-adding your Google account.

We don’t know how, but this trick has worked for many users. Here’s how to remove and add your Google account on your smartphone.

1. Open the App drawer and tap Institutions.

2. On the Settings screen, tap the Users & Accounts.

3. Now tap on your Google account.

4. On the Google account screen, tap three dots and select Delete account.

Once deleted, reboot your phone and navigate back to Manage Accounts. Scroll down and select Add account and add your Google account again. This should fix Google Fit not tracking steps for Android issues.

10. Reinstall the Google Fit app

If nothing has worked for you so far, reinstallation is your last resort. Reinstalling the Google Fit app fixes the issues caused by corrupted app installation files.

It’s pretty easy to reinstall the Google Fit app. To do that, long press the Google Fit app icon and select To delete.

This will uninstall the Google Fit app on your phone. Once uninstalled, open the Google Play Store and reinstall the Google Fit app. This should solve the problem of Google Fit not tracking distance correctly.

Use pedometer apps for android

While Google Fit may be a free and popular step tracking app, it is not the only one. There are even hundreds of pedometer apps available for Android smartphones.

And most of the pedometer or pedometer apps for android are free to download and use. So if you can’t solve the problem in the Google Fit app, you can use another one pedometer apps for android.

Pedometer apps like MyFitnessPal, Joggo, Runkeeper, etc. offer better features than Google Fit. You also get other options for tracking your health with the third-party pedometer app for Android.

If you rely too much on the Google Fit app to track your steps, pedometer not working problem can be frustrating. But you can follow all these methods to fix it in no time. The methods we shared will definitely get Google Fit’s pedometer working again.