Most Garmin watches ship with a small array of pre-loaded watch faces, enabling you to prioritise the data most important to you. Or freshen that display look depending on the occasion.
You can select analogue-style hands with no additional data, or a digital clock packed with information like steps, calories, remaining battery life, seconds and the date. Each watch face can also be customized with colour accents for the foreground and background too.
Before you get hung up on the built-in options, there’s also a massive array of third-party options on the Garmin Connect IQ store – some cramming every data point imaginable onto the display. If you’re a little bolder you can even make your own watch face from scratch.
Change the watch face on a Garmin
This method varies somewhat depending on the watch you own, but on devices like the Garmin Forerunner, Fenix, Quatix, Venu, Descent and Delta, here’s how to change the watch face quickly and easily.
1. Hold down the Up button on the watch and select Watch Face. Handily, it’s the first option.
2. A scroll bar will then appear on the left side. Press the Up and Down buttons to scroll between the options. Here, you’ll see the five watch faces you have pre-installed, plus the option for Add New (more on this below).
3. When you’ve found the watch face you’d like to use, hit Select.
4. You’ll be given three options here: Apply, Customize or Delete.
5. Select Apply to choose the watch face.
Note: If you have a Garmin Vivoactive or Epix watch, you need to access the Watch Face option via the Settings menu. Hold Up to bring up the menu and scroll down to Settings > Watch face. Then, follow steps 2 to 5.
How to customize a Garmin watch face
If you want to customize the watch face you’re currently using, or one you’ve just selected, it’s easy. Repeat steps 1-3 listed above. Then, instead of selecting Apply, select Customize. This will open the watch face editor.
From here, use the Up and Down commands to move between the options to change the Dial, Layout, Hands, Seconds, Data, Accent Colour, Background Colour. Press the Select button to choose your option.
You can then use the Up and Down buttons to move between the available options for each aspect of the Watch face, such as changing the dial style, or changing a data point from steps to calories. When you see the option you’d like to choose, press Select.
When selecting Data, it’s likely you’ll have more than one option field to customize. Hitting Select will move you onto the next field, until you’ve customized all of the data options on the watch face. The same applies to Accent Colour, where you’ll be able to customize the colour of multiple individual areas of the watch face.
Add a new watch face on a Garmin
As well as the visible pre-loaded watch face options, you can select add new faces from the Watch Face selection screen. This will give you access to new watch faces that are hiding away in the background. Here’s how to do it.
Hold Up, select Watch Face, then hit down until you reach Add New. Hit Select and scroll through available options. When you find the face you want to deploy, hit Select again. Here, you’ll have the option to Apply, Customize or Delete. To save any changes, choose Done.
Install new watch faces on a Garmin
Although the Garmin-made watch faces are varied and almost instantly customisable with designs, colours and data points, there are plenty of developers out there coming up with their own unique take on the watch face. This is where the Connect IQ app store comes in.
1. If you haven’t downloaded the Connect IQ mobile app, you can grab it through the iOS App Store and on the Google Play Store. Then, log in with your Garmin account details.
2. Open the app and scroll down to Digital Watch Faces. Here, you’ll see the top-rated and most downloaded watch faces created by the community. Crystal, GearMin and NoFrills are among the most popular.
3. Hit Download and it will be added to the queue.
4. Next, open the regular Garmin Connect app, tap on your watch and choose Appearance > Watch Faces. Here, you’ll see the watch face under the Not Installed section.
5. Tap on the watch face in question and hit Install. You’ll be notified when complete.
6. The next time your watch syncs with the Connect app, the new face will appear on your screen. You can also follow the steps outlined above to customize the watch face, if the developer has added those options.
How to make your own Garmin watch faces
If you’re feeling ambitious and creative, Garmin has made it easier to make your own watch faces. To do this, you'll need to access the Face it watch face builder. That is found inside of the Connect IQ Store app, which you'll need to down separately from the Connect IQ app.
Once downloaded, head to the Face it tab, where you can pull in your own images, pick from digital and analogue-style designs, letting you add some additional widgets and pick color scheme.
Once you've finished creating, you'll need to sync it over to your device, where you'll be able to find the newly created watch face in the same place we described for adding new watch faces.
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By Chris Smith
Chris has more than decade of experience writing for the UK's foremost technology publications including TechRadar, T3 and more.
A freelance journalist based near Miami, Florida, Chris has written for Wareable since its inception in 2014. From reviews of the latest fitness devices, and in-depth features on bleeding-edge wearable devices, to future-gazing interviews with some of the industry's brightest minds, Chris covers the lot. He also writes about sport for The Guardian and is the author of many technology guide books, while also dabbling in film, music, beer, travel and political commentary.
When he's isn't smashing away at the keys of his MacBook, Chris can be found at his favourite craft breweries, dangling his rod in the warm waters of the Florida Keys, or exploring the Shropshire countryside.
You can follow his on Twitter but beware, it's mostly sporting and political hot takes, occasionally interspersed with tech-based tweets.