How to load a workout (FIT file) onto your Garmin watch

2026-07-29

Here's the thing nobody tells you: Garmin Connect cannot import workout files. The import button on the website only accepts recorded activities and courses, and the mobile app has no import at all. Workouts flow one way — from Connect to the watch, never in.

The good news: your watch itself accepts workout files directly, over a plain USB cable. No account, no Connect, works offline.

Step by step

1. Plug your watch into a computer with its charging/USB cable.
2. Open the watch's storage. On Windows it appears in Explorer. On macOS, older watches mount like a USB drive; newer models use MTP and need a free helper app such as OpenMTP.
3. Open the GARMIN/NewFiles folder and copy your .fit workout files into it. (Some models use GARMIN/Workouts instead — try that if NewFiles doesn't work.)
4. Eject and unplug. The watch moves the files into place — they now live under Training > Workouts on the device. If one doesn't show up, restart the watch once.
5. Pick a workout and press start. The watch guides every step with its built-in pace targets.

Common gotchas

• Don't use the Connect website's import button. It's for activities and courses — it will reject workout files.
• No calendar involved. USB-loaded workouts don't appear on the Connect calendar; you run them from the watch's workout list. For a plan whose week repeats, that's simpler anyway: load once, reuse for months.
• One file per workout. Numbered filenames keep the week order obvious.

Skip the file-building part

Writing workout files by hand is the tedious bit. If you run Norwegian singles (or just want pace-target intervals), our free calculator turns a recent race result into a full training week and exports every session as a ready-to-copy FIT file, numbered in week order. No account.