I know how frustrating it is to walk for miles with your Samsung Watch wrapped on your wrist only to get inaccurate step count thereafter – or no steps at all. But why is your Samsung Watch not counting steps in the first place?
Your Samsung Galaxy Watch won’t count steps because you haven’t set it up for counting steps. Other reasons include buggy software, false movement detection, or immobile dominant wrist. It’s also possible that the watch could be loose on your wrist.
In this guide, I take a detailed look at each of these issues, with suggestion of what you can do to get your Samsung Watch back to accurate step tracking.
Let’s get started.
Why Is Samsung Watch Not Counting Steps?
The following table is a summary on why your Samsung Galaxy watch is not tracking your steps, as well as the recommended fix.
| Possible Cause | Quick Recommended Fix | |
| 1. | Samsung Galaxy Watch is loose on your wrist. | Adjust the band to a snug fit. Ensure it isn’t too tight or too loose. |
| 2. | You haven’t set up the watch to count steps. | On your Galaxy Watch press the Home/Power button > select the Samsung Health > Steps widget > add steps. |
| 3. | You’re carrying something or pushing a stroller. | Your Samsung Galaxy Watch won’t count steps if your hand isn’t moving. So don’t look at the step count when carrying something or when pushing a stroller. |
| 4. | Samsung Galaxy Watch is detecting false movements. | Ensure both your hands and feet move. Otherwise, the device won’t count steps accurately. |
| 5. | The software is not up to date. | Check for updates in the Galaxy Wearable app and install new updates if there’s any. |
Related Reading
9 Ways to Fix Your Samsung Watch to Track Steps Correctly
Here are things you can do to fix your Samsung Galaxy Watch if it’s currently not tracking your steps the way it should.
1. Adjust the Band to a Snug Fit
The number one reason why a Samsung Watch fails to track steps is a loose fitting on your dominant wrist.
Let me explain.
Every Samsung Galaxy Watch has a set of sensors that must make close contact with your skin to detect your motion. Therefore, the smartwatch must fit to a snug to do its job.
In actuality, two things can happen if the watch is dancing on your wrist:
- The watch won’t track your steps at all.
- It will count steps, but the results may be an over or an underestimation.
And to be clear:
It’s a no brainer to fix this.
Adjust the watch’s band to a snug fit. Ensure the fit isn’t too tight because you don’t want to hurt your wrist. At the same time, ensure the adjustment keeps the watch in one position for stable contact between the sensors and your skin.
2. Set Up the Watch to Count Steps
If you’ve worn your Galaxy Watch to a snug fit but it still won’t track the number of steps you take, there may be a problem with your settings.
Chances are you never set up the smartwatch to track steps, particularly if it’s a new model.
Go to your Samsung Galaxy Watch’s settings pages and check if step tracking is set up. If it’s not, complete the set up to start accounting for your steps.
- Press the Home/Power button to launch the app screen.
- Tap the Samsung Health.
- Select the Steps Widget.
- Tap add steps.
This widget will show on your home screen. Tapping it will automatically open your step count in Samsung Health.
3. Update Samsung Galaxy OS to the Latest Version
Google releases wearOS updates from time to time to fix reported bugs, upgrade security, and improve user experience.
So if your Samsung Galaxy Watch isn’t accounting for the steps you take, it’s possible that its wearOS is obsolete.
Upgrade the wearOS to the latest version to fix bugs and resume step tracking.
4. Don’t Worry About Step Counts When Pushing a Stroller
As I mentioned before, Samsung Galaxy Watches depend on hands and feet motion to track and count the number of steps you take.
So if you’ve carried something on your dominant hand or you’re pushing a stroller in the mall and you notice the watch isn’t logging your steps, don’t panic. Your Samsung Galaxy Watch will resume the step-counting job once you start swinging your hands again.
But there’s a problem.
While the smartwatch assumes that you aren’t moving, you’re actually losing some steps already. In my opinion, it’s important to account for every step you take.
Therefore, a quick fix is to ensure your dominant hand is always active. That means not carrying anything that could potentially keep your arm still, and not pushing a stroller with your dominant wrist.
5. Keep Your Feet and Hands in Motion
It could be you love pocketing as you walk down the street. Or maybe you’re a woman who likes to hold on to her pass when out running personal errands.
That’s fine if you’re wearing a fitness tracker or smartwatch just to add to your sleek outfit.
However, if you’re going to be using your Galaxy Watch as a device to keep track of every step you take, you had better be moving your body right.
Let me explain:
If you have your dominant wrist still but your feet in motion, the watch is more than likely to interpret that as false movement. At the hardware level, Samsung has trained the sensors to ignore such movements.
Therefore, the only best way to eliminate false movements and get the watch to track and count steps accurately is to ensure that both your hands and feet are in constant motion.
6. Allow Samsung Health to Access Galaxy Watch Sensors
Your Galaxy Watch 3, 4, 5, 5 Pro, Active 2, Active 3, or Active 4 won’t track, count, and log the step you take if you don’t allow the Samsung Health app the permission to access the sensors.
So if you haven’t had this option enabled yet, make the necessary changes to get the watch to work.
To do this:
- Open Samsung Health on your Galaxy Watch.
- Go to Settings.
- Scroll, find, and tap “Share Data with Devices and Service”.
- Next, tap Health Platform.
- Select Allow All or give permissions only to the sensor you accessed for step count.
- Tap Done.
And that’s it.
7. Don’t Look at the Watch Frequently
At the hardware and software level, Samsung built its smartwatch models, including Galaxy 3, 4, 5, 5 Pro, Active 2, Active 3, and Active 4, to work based on feet and arms movements.
Every time you stop to look at the watch, the device stops tracking your steps.
And if you make checking the watch more frequently a habit, you’ll end up with completely inaccurate results.
The best thing to do is to first complete your workout. And after that, you can turn on to the watch to check your stats.
8. Restart Your Samsung Galaxy Watch
If your Samsung Galaxy Watch model is ignoring or counting way too many steps, it could be that there’s a software glitch.
Fortunately, this is a no brainer to fix.
All you have to do is to restart the watch, which is a great way to fix potential errors such as wearOS glitches and freezing.
9. You Can Reset Your Samsung Galaxy Watch
So you’ve tried every fix that I’ve recommended in this guide, but your Samsung Galaxy Watch still can’t track, count, and show your steps?
You should reset the watch.
- Open the Settings screen on your Samsung Watch.
- Go to General.
- Tap Reset.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to reset the watch.
Wait for the watch to reset, and, once done, connect it to your phone via the companion app to start tracking your fitness activities again.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is My Samsung Watch Not Counting Steps on Treadmill?
Your Samsung Galaxy Watch is not counting steps on treadmill because your hands are not moving.
When on a treadmill, you tend to hold onto the grip bar from time to time. Every time grip the bar, your wrist stops moving, forcing the watch to assume that you’re not moving at all.
Step counting resumes when you let go of the grip and resume moving your hands and feet.
2. Are Galaxy Watches Accurate for Steps?
Samsung Galaxy Smartwatches are among the most accurate watches when it comes to step counting.
They automatically start to monitor your steps as soon as they detect that your hands and feet are moving.
Keep in mind that your Samsung Watch must be in synchronization with the health app for the step count results to be accurate.
3. Why is My Samsung Health Not Counting My Steps?
The Samsung Health is not calculating your steps because the app cache has dozens of temporary files, making it difficult for the app to function.
Simply delete all the temp files cached by the app, and it will start counting your steps again – and do so accurately.
To clear the cached files:
- Go to Settings on your Phone
- Tap on apps
- Look for Samsung Health and tap it.
- Go to Storage & Cache option
- Tap Clear Cache
4. Why is My Samsung Watch Not Counting Steps Accurately?
Your Samsung Galaxy Watch won’t count the number of steps logged throughout the day because you haven’t worn the watch correctly.
Loose connection also makes it difficult for the watch to track your heart rate.
The steps count results you are getting could also be inaccurate because only your hands are moving but your legs are still or vice versa.
Final Thoughts
Walking is one of the most common ways to keep fit. And being able to see the steps you take can go a long way to help you evaluate your progress and help you to exercise even more.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, 4, 5, 5 Pro, and Active 2 have built-in sensors that track and count steps based on your wrist and feet movement. And they do an incredible job of giving you an accurate estimate of the total steps.
Unfortunately, there are times when these smart gadgets jam and stop counting your steps. Other times, they count steps but fail to do so accurately.
However, given that I’ve addressed the issue in this guide, it should be easy for you to troubleshoot your watch the next time it fails to count steps accurately.
