Google Health (Fitbit) Troubleshooting

“Another account is already linked to this Fitbit.” Error
 

If you receive this error message, click here to send a support request to our customer happiness team for further assistance. Please be sure to include your Google Health ID in your support request, as this will be needed in order to correct the problem. 

Here is how you get your Google Health ID via your Google Health app:
 

1. Tap on the Health button in the lower right of the Google Health app.
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and tap the Profile button (under Personal Info).
3. Your Google Health ID can be found at the bottom of the screen under Account Information.

Google Health and MyFitnessPal are not syncing

Verify your Google Health and MyFitnessPal accounts are linked

First, double-check that MyFitnessPal and Google Health are successfully connected. You can verify the connection on our website here. 

1. Log into our website with the link above using the same email address and password that you use to log into the MyFitnessPal app. 
2. Once you are logged into our website, click the APPS tab near the top of the screen. 
3. On the right side of the screen you’ll see a section labeled Your Apps. 
4. You should see Google Health listed under the Your Apps section. If Google Health is not shown there, click on Google Health in the list of features apps, and then click the Connect button.

Verify that your Fitbit device is syncing with the Google Health app

Once your data reaches Google Health, it should update to MyFitnessPal within fifteen minutes.                                                                         

The first question is, does your device successfully upload its data to the Google Health app? If not, we recommend contacting Google Health support here for further assistance. If your data is making it to the Google Health app but is not syncing to MyFitnessPal, we'll be able to look into that further on our end. 

Here's how we can test for where the process is interrupted:

In the Google Health app, you should be able to pull down from the top of the home page to refresh and prompt a manual sync. You can verify the sync by selecting the icon in the upper left-hand corner of the app.  

  
If the sync was recent, you can verify the sync has occurred by comparing your last Google Health dashboard information (above) to that shown in the adjustment explanation (below). 

On your Today page, scroll down to Healthy Habits and tap on Exercise. On the next page, tap on Google Health Calorie Adjustment and then tap on Extra calories earned to see a breakdown of your calorie adjustment.

Under the Google Health Calories Burned, you will see “burned as of” with the time. The time listed here should match your last Google Health dashboard sync.

Still not syncing? 

If you’re not seeing an adjustment from Google Health, or any number including a zero in the adjustment area, then there may still be a problem. If you've already waited a few hours, you can then take the steps below to relink. 

 

1. Log into your MyFitnessPal account on our website here using the same email address and password you use to log into the MyFitnessPal app. 
2. Once you’re logged in, click the APPS tab near the top of the screen. On this page, find and click on Google Health, and then click Disconnect.
3. Next, open your Google Health app and tap the Phone icon in the upper left corner of the screen. Tap Partner Apps, then tap MyFitnessPal. Finally, tap Disconnect. 

It's important to make sure that you have disconnected in both MyFitnessPal and within the Google Health app. Once disconnected, please wait 15 minutes.

 

4. After waiting 15 minutes, go back to the MyFitnessPal website here (not the Google Health or MyFitnessPal app) and relink with Google Health. Please see our website linking instructions if needed. 
5. Once you have reconnected, go back to the Apps tab and make sure Google Health is showing under Your Apps.
6. Finally, select Google Health as your step source under the Steps tab of the APPS screen. 

At this point, if you are not seeing information transfer automatically, please click here to send a support request to our customer happiness team for further assistance.
 

Getting steps, but no calorie adjustment

Basic Adjustment Explanation

If you see a step count but your adjustment shows 0, it means you haven’t earned an adjustment yet.

Your adjustment isn’t just based on your step count. It depends on your total activity for the day. Steps help, but they aren’t the only thing that counts. Therefore, X amount of steps does not mean you will receive X amount of extra calories.The adjustment is derived by comparing your total calories burned from your tracker with the total calories already provided by MyFitnessPal. If you burn more calories than MyFitnessPal expected, you’ll see the difference as your adjustment.

Google Health doesn’t send each activity to MyFitnessPal as a separate exercise. Instead, it tracks your activity all day and calculates your calories burned.MyFitnessPal estimates how many calories you’ll need each day based on your profile and chosen activity level (like lightly active or very active). When Google Health updates us on your calories burned, we adjust your calorie goal to help you reach your weight loss or gain target.

You’ll see this update under the exercise area of the healthy habits section of your Today page as a Calorie Adjustment. To see how it’s calculated, tap on your Google Health calorie adjustment and then tap on Extra Calories Earned. Remember, your adjustment can change during the day based on your activity.

If you’re very active, your adjustment will go up. If you rest afterward, your next sync may lower it. For the most accurate numbers, sync Google Health often, especially in the evening when you have the most activity data. At first, you may find that your adjustment drops unexpectedly overnight. This is due to inactivity and sleep during the last hours of the day. You'll soon become accustomed to these small variations. We recommend aiming to come in slightly below your food goal in your last meal, as your adjustment may decrease a bit by the time the day ends at midnight.

If you want more details about how calorie adjustments work, check out our Calorie Adjustment FAQ page.
 

"Negative" Adjustments
 

By default MyFitnessPal will only add calories to your calorie goal, based on increased activity from Google Health. However, for even more accuracy, you may opt to let Google Health remove calories from your goal, if you are less active than usual. If you do not opt in to these "negative" calorie adjustments, you may see a "zero" adjustment in your diary for part of the day. The zero indicates that we are receiving calorie data from Google Health, but tells you that you have not yet been active enough to earn more calories than your baseline MyFitnessPal food goal.

If you would like to allow for the negative adjustment option (which may take away calories from your MyFitnessPal goal until you increase your activity during the day) you can click here for more information, and steps on how to do so. 

A Deeper Dive

When you sign up for MyFitnessPal, we ask for your weight, height, age, gender, and daily activity level. We use this information to set your daily goals. These goals are based on average activity levels, so they are estimates. The MyFitnessPal calorie goal is accurate enough to help you reach your weight goals, but because we don’t track all your movements, we can only update your goal if you log your exercise manually.

Google Health helps you get a more accurate picture of your daily activity. When you first pick your activity level on MyFitnessPal, you might choose “active”. MyFitnessPal then sets your goals based on what an average active person burns each day. But if you use a Fitbit device, your actual activity might be different from that average. You could be just as active, or even more.

If you are less active than the level you picked, you will see no adjustment unless you have turned on Negative Adjustments. In that case, calories will be taken away from your daily goal.

For example, MyFitnessPal might set your daily goal at 1700 calories based on your profile, but Google Health could show that you will only burn 1600 calories that day. MyFitnessPal will either keep your goal at 1700 or, if you allow negative adjustments, subtract 100 calories to match the Google Health data.

If you still have questions about your Google Health adjustment, please click here to send a support request to our customer happiness team for further assistance.