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Garmin Workout Not Showing on Your Edge? Troubleshooting

Most Garmin workout problems are one of three things: the workout never reached the Edge, the Edge is using a different FTP than you think, or the file was the wrong kind for where you put it.

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Why isn’t my workout showing up on my Garmin Edge?

Usually because it never reached the device. A Garmin Connect workout only arrives after you select Send to Device and the Edge syncs; a FIT file only arrives if it was copied into the Garmin/NewFiles folder and the Edge was disconnected properly. Then look under Training › Workouts, not only the training calendar.

  • Copied over USB: check the file went into Garmin/NewFiles (not your downloads folder, and not as a .zip), then eject before unplugging. Restarting the Edge after copying is a common rider fix, though Garmin doesn’t document it.
  • Sent from Garmin Connect: see the next question.
  • Looking in the wrong place: a FIT file copied over USB is in Training › Workouts only, never on the calendar.
  • Unsupported device: structured workouts with power targets need an Edge that supports them. The guides here are checked against the Edge 540, 840, 1040 and 1050; for other models, check the manual.

Why is my workout in Garmin Connect but not on my Edge?

Saving a workout in Garmin Connect doesn’t send it. Open the workout, select Send to Device (or the send icon), choose your Edge, then sync it through the Garmin Connect app, over Wi‑Fi if you have set that up, or with Garmin Express over USB.

The Garmin Connect app syncs a paired Edge automatically when it’s within about 10 m (30 ft) of your phone. Wi‑Fi works once it’s set up through the app or Garmin Express. Garmin Express over USB is the fallback that doesn’t depend on your phone. Full steps in how to send a workout from Garmin Connect.

Why won’t Garmin Connect import my workout file?

Garmin Connect’s import is for activity files: rides that already happened. A FIT workout file describes a ride you haven’t done yet, and a course file is a route. Copy the workout file onto the Edge over USB instead, or rebuild the workout in Garmin Connect.

FileWhat it isWhere it goes
Activity (.fit, .gpx, .tcx)A ride that happenedGarmin Connect import, Strava
CourseA route to followGarmin Connect courses, or the Edge
Workout (.fit)A ride to do: steps and targetsThe Edge’s Garmin/NewFiles folder over USB

Why does my Garmin keep saying I’m above or below the target?

Power changes with every pedal stroke and every change in gradient, so a narrow range on instant power sets off alerts constantly. Watch a smoothed power field, ride the middle of the range, and check that the FTP on the Edge matches the one the workout was written for.

Also check the range itself: a 5-watt window outdoors is asking for trouble. On heart rate, remember it lags. It’s normal to be “below target” for the first minute of an interval. More in power, heart-rate and cadence targets.

What happens to my Garmin workouts when my FTP changes?

Targets written as a percentage of FTP, which is how SurgeIQ Lab exports them, follow the FTP set on your Edge: update that number and the watts move with it. Targets typed in as fixed watts in Garmin Connect stay where they are until you edit the workout.

Nothing to re-download for a % FTP workout: change the FTP on the Edge (on the Edge 1040, Menu › My Stats › Training Zones › Power Zones) and every workout uses it. Worked numbers are in why your FTP matters.

How do I skip an interval on a Garmin Edge?

Press the lap button to end the current step and start the next one. On the Edge 840, 1040 and 1050 you can also swipe up from the bottom of the workout screen to pause the step, repeat the previous step or move to the next; on the Edge 540, hold the menu button for the same options.

Use it at the end of a warm-up when you’re ready early, or to get out of an interval a junction has ruined. The full control table for each model is in how to start a structured workout on a Garmin Edge.

I missed an interval. How do I redo it?

Use the previous-step control (swipe up on the Edge 840, 1040 and 1050, or hold the menu button on the Edge 540) to end the current step and repeat the previous one. If traffic or a descent ate the interval, riding the rest of the session as planned usually beats cramming it back in.

If the next stretch of road can’t take another full interval, move on. The plan can absorb one missing interval; it struggles with a rider who chases every one of them. See riding intervals outdoors.

Why did my workout disappear or change after I edited it?

An edited workout is a new version that has to reach the Edge again. Send it from Garmin Connect again, or download the new FIT file and copy it over, then delete the old copy on the Edge so you don’t start the wrong one.

For workouts copied over USB, the old file stays on the Edge until you delete it, so you can end up with two workouts with the same name. Delete the old one from the Edge’s workout list. For scheduled workouts, Garmin’s fēnix 7 manual notes that sending scheduled workouts from Garmin Connect overwrites the training calendar on the device, so re-send the week rather than a single day if things look wrong.

In SurgeIQ Lab accounts (coming soon), editing a session rebuilds its workout, but the Edge only gets the new version when you download and copy it again.

Why doesn’t my Mac see my Garmin Edge?

Garmin’s Edge 1040 manual says Mac computers don’t detect the device by default and points Mac users to Garmin Express for working with its files. On Windows the Edge shows up as a portable device or drive you can copy files to.

If Garmin Express doesn’t get you to the folders you need, Route B in the export guide avoids the cable: rebuild the workout in Garmin Connect and sync from your phone.

Where to go next

How this guide was written

Fixes are based on Garmin’s Edge manuals (checked October 2026). Where a fix is something riders report but Garmin doesn’t document, such as restarting the Edge, we say so.

Sources