How to change the watch face on your Garmin

Changing the face on a Garmin is quick, but the path is not the same on every watch, and Garmin has moved it between firmware generations. This covers the current model families. If the face you want is not in the list yet, you need to install it first.

The universal shortcut

On nearly every button-operated Garmin, from the current watch face:

1. Press and hold the middle-left button (the one labelled MENU on a fēnix, UP on a Forerunner) for a couple of seconds.
2. Choose Watch Face.
3. Scroll through the list and select the one you want.

On touchscreen models, touch and hold the dial instead of holding a button, then swipe.

That is the whole operation on most watches. The rest of this page is the model-specific detail, because the menu wording differs.

fēnix 8, fēnix 9, fēnix E, epix, tactix, quatix

Hold MENU on the watch face → Watch Face → Add New to browse the built-in designs, or scroll the existing list. Each face has a Customize entry that changes the built-in ones; Connect IQ faces show Settings instead, and that opens the phone app.

On the fēnix 8 and newer, the watch face list is also reachable from Settings → Appearance → Watch Face.

Forerunner (165, 170, 265, 570, 955, 965, 970)

Hold UP from the dial → Watch Face → scroll. On the 165 and 170 the same menu is labelled Appearance → Watch Face on some firmware versions; both routes end in the same list.

Forerunners keep watch faces per activity profile in some generations, so if the face reverts when you finish a run, check that you changed it on the main dial rather than inside a profile.

Venu 3, Venu 4

Touch and hold the watch face, then swipe left or right through the installed faces and tap the one you want. Tapping Customize under a built-in face changes its colours and data fields; a Connect IQ face sends you to the phone app for that.

vívoactive 5, vívoactive 6

Same as the Venu: touch and hold the dial, swipe, tap to select. If nothing happens when you hold, the touchscreen is locked — press the top button once first.

Instinct 2, Instinct 3

Hold MENU → Watch Face. The Instinct's display is smaller and monochrome on several variants, so the list is shorter and many Connect IQ faces will not appear at all; they simply do not support that screen.

Descent, Approach, MARQ, D2

These follow the fēnix pattern: hold MENU on the dial → Watch Face.

Changing it from your phone instead

You can also switch from the Garmin Connect app, which is easier if you are installing and selecting in one go:

1. Open Garmin Connect → your device.
2. Connect IQ Apps → Watch Faces.
3. Pick a face and choose to make it active.

The change reaches the watch on the next sync, which needs the phone in range with Bluetooth on.

Why the new face is not in the list

Three reasons, in order of likelihood:

• It has not synced yet. Installing puts a face in a queue; the transfer happens the next time Garmin Connect talks to the watch. Open the app and leave it on screen for a minute.
• You are looking at the top of the list. Connect IQ faces are appended *after* the built-in ones, so on a watch with a few installed, the new one is several screens down.
• It does not support your model. The Connect IQ store filters by device, but if you installed for a different watch on a multi-device account, it will not appear here.

The install guide goes through the stuck cases in more detail.

Changing what a face shows

Switching faces and configuring one are different things. Built-in Garmin faces are customised on the watch, under Customize. Connect IQ faces are configured in the phone app, under the face's Settings — that is also where a licence key goes. What is worth changing walks through the settings that actually make a difference.