Virtually everyone I know has had an occasional problem with a ‘broken’ fit file or some extra requirement such as the need to split/combine FIT files or even to exclude ‘obviously’ incorrect data. Relatively recent needs are for us to move all our historic data from one platform to another when we switch from one manufacturer’s hardware to that of another.
Neither Garmin nor the main analytical analysis platforms typically handle an ‘unexpected’ FIT file. In this situation you need to fix the FIT file or just ignore it and get on with your life. Often the latter is advisable but after your A race or that 12 hour bike ride you NEED your data.
Here are the best options:
- FIT File Repair Tool v8.1.14 (12March2017) fitfilerepairtool.info
The FIT FILE REPAIR TOOL is a Microsoft Access (runtime) based desktop tool. It is actively updated and improved. It is comprehensive and will be the most likely the only way you have to fix a reluctant file. For example it includes the 2016 changes to cached data and to developer data fields. The developer, Matthias, is the only person I know of who has worked on custom output from WHOOP, for example.
It’s the only tool I use.
There is trial software but it will NOT fix the full file, it will effectively ‘prove’ that the file can be fixed. You need to buy the software (from £32/$39) in order to have a usable fixed FIT file.
Fit File Repair Tool is pretty much the gold standard of file repair.
SERVICE: If you have one specific file then email it to me at
in**@th*********.com
(here) and pay GBP10 via paypal (here). If I can’t fix it I will refund GBP8 and if I can fix it I will split the money with the developer.
2. ErgoGraph – this appears to be no longer developed but working software from 2011 can still be found there. It converts more unusual file formats to other formats.
3. FIT File Tools (online) fitfiletools.com
This is a great free tool for a few basic FIT File fixes and manipulations and probably your best first port of call. It didn’t work for me with Internet Explorer so instead use Chrome, Firefox or Safari.
You can remove sections of the FIT file and ‘adjust’ the magnitude of fields in it. So this is more of a FIT File modifier – although the act of modification might remove or otherwise inadvertently FIX the file!
4. Garmin Online FIT Repair Tool –
Semantically more correctly this is the “online Garmin FIT File repair tool” as it is not owned or run by Garmin. This site does a bit more of the ‘fixing’. Again, this a good first port of call as you will find out within a minute or two if this fixes your problem.
5. General Format Conversion – Often an easier way to convert files on an ongoing basis, from one format to another, is to use the data integration tools provided by the sports data analysis platforms. For example you simply can link STRAVA to SUUNTO MOVESCOUNT and that’s all you ever should have to do.
Even POLAR now have opened their data to STRAVA.
Indeed STRAVA seems to be a place EVERYONE wants to link to. This is handy for you. Even if you don’t particularly want to use STRAVA you can use it as a data staging post to get the data somewhere else further along the data-food-chain using either the recommended tapiriik, fitnesssyncer.com or SyncMyTracks (Android) – the latter is best for interrogating the Polar FLOW environment. I own a copy of these.
SERVICE: If you have one specific file then email it to me at
in**@th*********.com
(here) and pay GBP10 via paypal (here). If I can’t fix it I will refund GBP8 and if I can fix it I will split the money with the developer.
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