Garmin · Fenix · watch settings
Garmin Settings: the button-driven menu of a Fenix, twelve entries deep
A Garmin sports watch has no touch-first Settings app. Its menu is reached by holding a button and scrolled with two more, and it is organised around training rather than around a phone. This page walks the twelve entries as they stand on System 20 software for the Fenix line, explains what each one holds, and links every entry to a screen you can open.
- Newest release here
- Garmin System 20
- Versions you can open
- 2
- Top-level sections
- 12
- Rows in the tree
- 94
How Garmin organises its Settings
Connectivity comes first: the paired phone, Bluetooth, smart notifications and when they show during an activity, Wi-Fi, Garmin Connect and Garmin Pay. Activity Tracking sets the Move Alert, the step goal and intensity minutes. Sleep and Health holds the sleep schedule, Pulse Ox, Body Battery and the wrist heart-rate options with abnormal-rate alerts. Safety and Tracking is where Incident Detection, emergency contacts, Assistance and LiveTrack are configured.
Sounds and Vibe, Display and Watch Face cover the hardware: tones, backlight timeout, gesture wake and the always-on option, and the data fields on the face. Sensors and Accessories pairs a heart-rate strap or speed sensor and calibrates the compass and altimeter. Activity Profiles lists Run, Bike, Pool Swim and the rest. User Profile stores height, weight and maximum heart rate. System has language, time, format, Do Not Disturb, Auto Lock and data recording, and About shows the software, GPS and sensor-hub versions with Software Update beneath.
What changes between versions
Two releases are here, System 19 and System 20, the software lines Garmin shipped to the Fenix 7 and 8 families. They share the twelve entries; the differences are inside the pages and on About, which reports the software version you chose. Garmin pushes point updates continuously, so the two rungs are the 2025 and 2026 states of the same menu rather than separate designs.
- Garmin System 20 (newest)
- Garmin System 19
Three settings worth knowing the path to
- Settings > Safety and Tracking > Incident Detection
Sends your location to emergency contacts after a hard fall or crash during an activity. It needs contacts added on the same page and it is off until you set it up.
- Settings > Sleep and Health > Pulse Ox
Off, Sleep only or All day. All day costs a noticeable amount of battery, which is why the middle option exists and why it is the first thing to check when a Fenix drains overnight.
- Settings > Connectivity > Smart Notifications
Whether phone notifications reach the watch, and separately whether they show during an activity. Silencing them mid-run is done here, not in the phone's app.
Questions people ask about Garmin settings
Where is the settings menu on a Garmin watch?
Hold the Menu button, or the top-left button on a Fenix, and scroll to Settings. The list that opens is the twelve entries shown here, navigated with the up, down and start buttons.
Do I change Garmin settings on the watch or in Garmin Connect?
Most of them exist in both places. The watch menu here is the complete set; Garmin Connect on the phone mirrors the user profile, activity profiles and notification choices.
Is this the real Garmin menu?
It is a simulation of the Fenix settings menu with the entries and wording of System 19 and 20. The paired phone, contacts and sensors shown are sample values.