# Connect Garmin Connect to Apple Health or Health Connect

**Updated:** 2026-10-21  
**Applies to:** iPhone · Android 14+ · Android 9–13 · Garmin Connect  
**Canonical:** https://www.stepsclubapp.com/help/connect-garmin

## Quick answer

> Turn on sharing and allow Steps. iPhone: Garmin Connect › More › Settings › Connected Apps › Apple Health. Android: Health Connect › App permissions (Samsung: Your health apps) › Garmin Connect. Then sync your watch.

**Quick check:**
Open Garmin Connect, let your watch sync, and keep the app open for a few seconds. Then check where your phone keeps steps. **iPhone:** Health › **Search** (**Browse** on iOS 18 and older) › **Activity** › **Steps** › **Data Sources & Access**. **Android:** Health Connect › **Data and access** › **Activity** › **Steps** › **Entries** (**See all entries** in older versions).

**Garmin Connect is there** (on iPhone, Health lists it as **Connect**)? It's sharing. If the number is low, see [when its steps arrive](#when-steps-arrive). **It isn't?** [Set it up](#set-up).

**On iPhone:**

  

**On Android:**

  

## Set it up

**iPhone:**

1. In **Garmin Connect**, tap **More**, then **Settings**.
2. Go to **Connected Apps**, then **Apple Health**.
3. Tap **Connect with Apple Health** and allow **Steps**.

**Android:**

1. Open **Garmin Connect** and go to its **Settings**.
2. Find **Health Connect**.
3. Allow **Steps**.

**On iPhone:**

  

**On Android:**

  

Then open Garmin Connect's home screen and let your watch sync.

**On iPhone:**

**Turning it on or off later:** in Health, tap your profile picture, then **Apps** (under Privacy), then **Connect** (that's Garmin Connect), and turn **Steps** on. Tapped **Don't Allow** the first time? Then start from Garmin Connect with the steps above. Once sharing is on, Health brings in up to two weeks of your past Garmin data.

Garmin Connect isn't in the list at all? It won't be if the only Garmin device on your account is an Edge bike computer.

**On Android:**

**Can't find it in Garmin Connect?** Its menus differ from phone to phone. Start from Health Connect instead: tap **App permissions** (on Samsung phones, **Your health apps**), then **Garmin Connect**, and allow **Steps**. Then open Garmin Connect and let your watch sync.

_Android 13 and older:_ Health Connect is its own app there. Install or update it from the Play Store first.

## When its steps arrive

After each watch sync. Your Garmin keeps steps on the watch until it syncs with Garmin Connect on your phone, then Garmin Connect passes them on.

**Good to know:**
  On iPhone, Garmin Connect passes steps to Apple Health only while it's on your
  screen. Close it partway and the rest waits until the next sync you do with it
  open. So after your watch syncs, leave Garmin Connect open for a few seconds.

On Android, Garmin Connect sends to Health Connect after each sync, and only sends: it never reads anything back.

## Put Garmin Connect first

Your phone counts steps too, and Apple Health and Health Connect keep only the count from whichever source is higher on your list. On iPhone, Garmin says this is the likely reason its steps don't show up with sharing on. Put Garmin Connect at the top.

- **iPhone:** Health › **Search** › **Activity** › **Steps** › **Data Sources & Access** › **Edit**, then drag **Connect** (Garmin's app, as Health lists it) to the top.
- **Android:** Health Connect › **Manage data** › **Data sources and priority**, choose **Activity**, then tap the three dots (⋮) next to **Garmin Connect** and **Move up** until it's at the top. _Android 13 and older:_ don't see **Manage data**? Tap **Data and access**, then **Activity**, then **App priority**.

**On iPhone:**

  

**On Android:**

  

## Things that trip people up

- **Your Activity rings don't move.** Garmin says its data doesn't fill Apple's Activity rings. Garmin steps still reach Health's step count, just not the rings.
- **It's a few hundred off.** Garmin counts with your wrist's motion, your phone with its own sensor. A small gap is normal: [Why are my steps lower than my watch?](/help/steps-lower-than-watch#few-hundred)
- **Today is behind but yesterday is right.** That's a sync that hasn't happened yet. Open Garmin Connect and let the watch sync.

## Why it works this way

Garmin keeps your data in Garmin Connect first, then copies steps out to Apple Health or Health Connect, the shared place on your phone. On iPhone, Garmin Connect copies only while it's on screen. That's why a watch that syncs all day in the background can still leave Apple Health behind until you open the app.

**In Steps Club:**
  **Settings › Step sync › Why is my number different?** names Garmin Connect
  when its steps haven't arrived yet and says they come when your watch syncs.

## Common questions

- [Why do my Garmin steps only reach Apple Health when Garmin Connect is open?](https://www.stepsclubapp.com/help#connect-garmin-iphone-open)
- [Garmin Connect is installed, but my steps aren't in Health Connect](https://www.stepsclubapp.com/help#garmin-not-in-health-connect)
- [Why don't my Activity rings move with my Garmin or Oura?](https://www.stepsclubapp.com/help#connect-activity-rings)
- [Steps Club says my app "hasn't sent steps since…"](https://www.stepsclubapp.com/help#writer-stale)

## Still off?

- [Garmin: Sharing your data with Apple Health](https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=lK5FPB9iPF5PXFkIpFlFPA)
- [Garmin: Sharing your data with Health Connect](https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=JToBEy0jfe6pIygark2Ui5)

## Sources

- [Sharing your Garmin Connect data with Apple Health](https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=lK5FPB9iPF5PXFkIpFlFPA) (Garmin)
- [Sharing your Garmin Connect data with Health Connect](https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=JToBEy0jfe6pIygark2Ui5) (Garmin)
- [Manage Health data on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch](https://support.apple.com/108779) (Apple)
- [Find your Health Connect data](https://support.google.com/android/answer/12201872) (Google)
- [Manage your Health Connect data](https://support.google.com/android/answer/12990553) (Google)