How To Turn On Garmin Forerunner 245 | Fix A Blank Screen

Press and hold the LIGHT button for one second to power the watch on, then charge it if the screen stays black.

If your Garmin Forerunner 245 will not wake up, don’t start with menus, pairing, or app settings. Start with the button that actually powers the watch. On this model, that button is LIGHT, placed on the upper left side of the case. A short hold usually wakes the watch. If nothing shows on the display, the next move is charging, then a forced restart.

That order matters. A dead battery, a frozen screen, and a watch that is only asleep can all look the same from the outside. The fix gets easier when you treat them as three different states instead of one mystery problem.

This article walks through the exact button press, what you should see on screen, what to do if the watch still looks dead, and when charging or a restart is the right move. It also clears up one point that trips up a lot of owners: pressing buttons too quickly. The Forerunner 245 usually responds to a brief hold, not a random series of taps.

How To Turn On Garmin Forerunner 245 When It Is Fully Off

The standard power-on step is short and direct. Press and hold the LIGHT button for about one second. Garmin’s owner’s manual lists LIGHT as the button used to turn the device on. If the battery has charge, the Garmin logo should appear, then the watch face should load.

Use this sequence:

1. Find the LIGHT button on the upper left side of the watch.
2. Press and hold it for one second.
3. Wait for the Garmin logo.
4. Let the watch finish booting before pressing anything else.

If the screen lights up and then goes dark again, the battery may be too low to finish startup. Put the watch on the charger and give it time before trying the button again. Garmin’s manual says a fully depleted battery can take up to two hours to charge all the way, so a drained watch may need more than a few minutes on the cable before it reacts normally.

What The Power Button Does On This Watch

The Forerunner 245 uses five physical buttons, and each one has a different job. LIGHT is the one tied to power. START/STOP begins or ends an activity. BACK records laps or returns to the prior screen. UP and DOWN move through widgets, data fields, and settings. If you press START hoping to wake a fully powered-off watch, nothing useful happens.

That sounds obvious once the watch is running. It is less obvious when the screen is black and every button feels like a guess. So if you only take one thing from this page, take this: for power, use LIGHT first.

Signs The Watch Is Off, Asleep, Or Frozen

A sleeping watch often wakes with a short button press or backlight flash. A powered-off watch needs the LIGHT hold. A frozen watch may show a stuck screen, partial image, or no reaction at all even with charge. The fix changes with each state.

Here is the fast read:

• If the backlight comes on, the watch has power and is not fully off.
• If the Garmin logo appears, the button press worked and startup is in progress.
• If the display stays black on and off the charger, the battery may be empty or the watch may be frozen.
• If the logo appears and never finishes loading, try a restart after charging.

Before You Assume It Is Broken

A Forerunner 245 can look dead after sitting unused for a while. That is common after storage, travel, or a long gap between charges. Dirt on the charging contacts can also slow or block charging, which makes the watch seem lifeless even when the cable is connected.

Take one calm pass through the basics before you label it faulty:

1. Make sure you are holding LIGHT, not START.
2. Hold it for a full second, not a quick tap.
3. Place the watch on a working USB power source.
4. Check that the charging clip is seated snugly.
5. Wait at least 10 to 15 minutes if the battery may be empty.

Garmin’s Forerunner 245 owner’s manual confirms that LIGHT turns the watch on, and it also spells out the charging steps and button layout. If you want the official wording, that manual is the cleanest source.

What To Do If The Screen Stays Black

If holding LIGHT does nothing, move to power delivery. Plug the small end of the USB cable into the watch, then plug the large end into a USB charging port. Leave it there long enough to rule out an empty battery. A watch with a fully drained battery may not wake the instant you attach the cable.

Watch for any small sign of life: a battery icon, a brief vibration, a backlight flash, or the Garmin logo. Even a split-second flicker tells you the watch is receiving power and trying to start.

Also check the metal contacts on the back of the watch and on the charging cable. If they look grimy, wipe them gently with a soft cloth and let them dry before charging again. A loose fit or dirty contact point can turn a simple charge problem into a long guessing game.

Symptom	Most Likely Cause	What To Do Next
Nothing happens when LIGHT is held for one second	Battery is empty	Charge the watch for 15 to 30 minutes, then try LIGHT again
Screen stays black on the charger	Bad cable fit or dirty contacts	Reconnect the charger, clean contacts, test another USB port
Garmin logo appears, then vanishes	Battery is too low to finish startup	Leave it charging longer before powering on again
Watch shows a stuck image	System freeze	Do a forced restart with a long LIGHT hold
Buttons feel dead after a run or swim	Moisture or residue around the case	Dry the watch, clean it, then retry after charging
Watch turns on only while plugged in	Battery is deeply drained	Charge to a higher level before removing the cable
Backlight works but watch face does not load	Boot process is stalled	Force restart, then let the watch boot undisturbed
Watch powers on, then shuts off later the same day	Battery charge was still low	Charge to full and check cable contact again

How Long To Charge Before Trying Again

If the battery was run flat, patience helps more than repeated button presses. Give the watch at least 15 minutes on a known-good USB source before trying LIGHT again. If there is still no response, leave it longer. Garmin says a fully depleted battery can take up to two hours to charge completely, so a watch that sat dead for days may need a decent head start before it wakes up cleanly.

Do not keep clicking every button while it charges. That only muddies the test. Charge first. Then try the proper power button once more.

Use A Simple Charging Setup

Skip the crowded power strip if you can. A direct wall adapter or a clean USB port on a computer is easier to rule in or out. If the watch still shows no sign of charging, swap the USB port. If you have another compatible Garmin cable, test that too.

Forced Restart Steps For A Frozen Garmin Forerunner 245

A frozen watch needs a different move from a normal startup. Garmin’s troubleshooting material says to press and firmly hold the power button long enough for the device to recover. On the Forerunner 245, that means the LIGHT button. In the owner’s manual, Garmin also notes that holding LIGHT for 15 seconds turns the device off, and then holding LIGHT for one second turns it back on.

Use this method when the watch seems stuck:

1. Press and hold LIGHT for 15 seconds.
2. Wait until the watch powers off.
3. Press and hold LIGHT again for one second.
4. Wait for the Garmin logo and startup screen.

If the watch still does not react, connect it to power and retry. Garmin’s official troubleshooting page for devices that will not power on points to charging first, then a long button hold if the device is unresponsive. You can read that process on Garmin’s watch won’t turn on page.

Why A Watch Seems Dead Right After Unboxing

Some new units arrive with little charge. Some refurbished units sit boxed long enough to lose more battery than you would expect. So if you just opened the Forerunner 245 and it will not wake up out of the box, that does not point straight to damage. Charge it first, then try LIGHT after a short wait.

The same thing happens with older watches pulled from a drawer after months of no use. Deep discharge can make the first startup slower than usual. That delay can fool you into thinking the watch is still dead when it is only recovering.

Situation	Best First Move	What You Should Expect
Brand-new watch will not wake up	Charge it before trying the button again	Startup may begin after a short wait on the cable
Used watch from storage shows a black screen	Charge it, then hold LIGHT for one second	Boot may take longer than normal
Watch froze during sync or workout	Hold LIGHT for 15 seconds, then restart	Garmin logo should appear after the forced reboot
Watch only wakes while plugged in	Leave it charging to a higher battery level	It should stay on after removal once charge is higher
No response after charging and restart tries	Test the cable and power source again	You can rule out accessory trouble before service

Small Mistakes That Stop The Watch From Turning On

The first is using the wrong button. LIGHT powers the watch. START does not. The second is tapping instead of holding. The third is pulling the charger off too soon after a full drain. The fourth is charging through a flaky port and assuming the watch is at fault.

There is one more mistake that sneaks in: trying too many fixes at once. If you press random buttons, reconnect cables, and move ports all within thirty seconds, you never learn what changed the outcome. Keep each test separate. That makes the answer show itself faster.

When It Is Time To Stop Troubleshooting At Home

If the watch shows no reaction after a proper charge session, a clean cable connection, and a forced restart, the issue may be deeper than startup. At that stage, the most useful next step is checking the charger, then Garmin service options. You have already ruled out the common user-side causes.

Turning The Watch Off After It Starts

Once the watch is running, you can shut it down from the controls menu. Hold LIGHT to open that menu, scroll through the options, and choose the power-off icon. That matters because some owners think the Forerunner 245 is fully off when it is only in a normal watch-face state with the backlight off.

If you turn it off on purpose, use LIGHT for the next startup. That same button handles the full power cycle from both directions.

A Clean Startup Routine That Works Most Of The Time

If you want the shortest path, here it is. Hold LIGHT for one second. If nothing appears, charge the watch for at least 15 minutes. Then try LIGHT again. If the screen is frozen or stuck, hold LIGHT for 15 seconds, then hold it for one second to restart. That simple order fixes most blank-screen cases on the Forerunner 245 without any digging through menus.

Once the watch wakes up, let it sit for a moment and finish loading. Then sync it, check the battery level, and charge it fully if it was deeply drained. That cuts down the odds of landing right back at the same black screen later in the day.