How To Upload Gpx File To Garmin 820

Uploading GPX track files onto the Garmin 820 from a Mac and iPhone

Hi,

I have now broken this mail service into two split, hopefully easier to digest posts. These tin can be found for the:

Mac, over here
iPhone, here

I'd recommend these over this post, but if you'd adopt the original and then it is as beneath.

Kind regards

Jon

2018/09/24

My offset Garmin was a Forerunner 305 dorsum in 2007. Since then I've had a diversity of Garmin's finest, upwards to my electric current combination of a 2018 Edge 820 Explorer and Forerunner 920XT.

As much equally I like the hardware, Garmin's software has always been a bit limited¹, such that myself and many other folks who brand serious utilise of their devices prefer to apply third-political party software². A chief culprit in driving people to other applications has been/is Garmin Connect, and its predecessor'south, route planning functionality³. With a popular, and in my opinion mostly better alternative, being the RideWithGPS web application.

In this mail, I'll specifically talk about how to get routes from RideWithGPS onto a Garmin 820 Explorer from a Mac.

The procedure will generally exist very similar if road planning is done in Strava etc. The computer is running Windows, Linux etc. The phone is Android based, and the device is any of the modern Garmin, Lezyne, Wahoo etc Bluetooth enabled GPS navigation and fitness devices.

I'll simply more often than not merely talk about the Mac, iPhone and Garmin 820 though, since that'due south what I've currently got to play with.

Mac — Transfer using a USB connection

The simplest way I know of to reliably get a road onto the Garmin 820 from a Mac is through a USB connection. To practice this …

Showtime get the Garmin device continued

1) Connect the Garmin device to Mac with a USB data cable⁴, eastward.g. the 1 that the unit shipped with or like.

ii) Wait a few seconds for the device to mount and show up in Finder, or on the Desktop

What the Garmin unit will wait like if it has successfully mounted

Hint: if it doesn't mountain inside a infinitesimal it is probably not going to happen. Effort successively; an alternative data cable, rebooting the Garmin, restarting the Mac.

The Garmin device book that has successfully mounted and is now showing on the Desktop

3) Open the Garmin volume past selecting in the Finder sidebar or double-clicking on the Garmin volume icon that appears on the Desktop

Hint: In Finder preferences, check General->External disks is ticked if no desktop icon and Sidebar->External disks if not in Finder's sidebar.

4) Navigate the Garmin volume to the "Garmin/New Files" folder.

The location in the same Garmin device volume of the New Files binder

Then download the road's GPX rails file to the computer

v) In a web browser, find the route in RideWithGPS and get it upward in a route View page.

six) On the RHS of the route view page make sure that the Consign tab is visible and so click "GPX Track (.gpx)" download link.

Next, shop the GPX rail file in the Garmin/New Files binder, eject and disconnect the device

seven) Either directly shop, or subsequently move/drag, the resultant downloaded GPX track file into the Garmin/New Files folder.

8) Squirt the Garmin book from the Mac by either Right mouse click on the Garmin volume in Finder or on the Desktop and selecting the Eject "Garmin" choice.

9) Await a few seconds, and the Garmin unit of measurement should boot to its normal home screen.

10) Disconnect the USB cable from the device.

Finally, locate and use road on the Garmin device

11) The newly downloaded course should be available to navigate with on the Garmin device under Courses->Saved Courses location.

Garmin 820's normal home screen. All being well, the freshly downloaded route will be institute under Class/Saved Courses.

12) Get for a ride.

iPhone — Employ Firefox's download manager to copy into Garmin Connect

… or into OS Maps or whatever other apps y'all like.

Install pre-requisite Firefox mobile web browser

1) To follow this procedure, information technology is essential to have a copy of a mobile web browser that has a Download director view. I recommend Firefox and will refer to it exclusively.

Side by side, download the route'southward GPX track file into Firefox mobiles' download manager

2) In Firefox go to RideWithGPS (or Strava, whatever) and locate the road that is to be downloaded. NB: It has to be Firefox as the mobile apps do not provide the opportunity to consign

If you're using RideWithGPS this can be a bit painful and I've documented the workarounds for it here ,.

3) Export the file from the site as a "GPX Track (.gpx)" rail file ( .

The Consign tab in the View route page on mobile

7) This should then open up up Firefox's download dialogue. Have the action and tap Download Now

8) The file will then download into Firefox'southward downloads enshroud.

Firefox'due south download manager enshroud

10) Touching the download in the Firefox cache, should bring upwardly the list of applications that have registered themselves on the phone as being able to handle GPX Track files.

To begin the import into Garmin Connect, touch the Copy to Connect icon.

Hint: The aforementioned download can be accessed repeatedly, at any time from within Firefox by opening a new tab and touching the downloads icon. This is useful say if you'd likewise similar to re-create the route in the Bone Maps app to follow as well.

Hint: If Copy to Connect, or any other app that's needed, isn't visible, try side scrolling the list to correct. If it'south nonetheless non visible, have a look under More, where it might need enabling (and the displayed app order can be changed if desired).

xi) Garmin Connect will open up and prompt with import options for the road. Fill up these in as you lot meet fit.

Option how Garmin Connect should characterization this grade

12) Garmin Connect will and so give an overview of the route.

Garmin Connect'south Course overview, bluish dot with lines, gives access to Details

thirteen) By default, the ride names Garmin Connect are not very informative.

Tapping on the little blue dot with lines in it in the bottom RHS of the screen will give access to the ride Details page, from whence the Course Proper name can be changed.

Giving the class a meaningful Course Name makes information technology easier to notice later

fourteen) Once happy with everything salvage the form, and it will so exist available in Garmin Connect'due south Courses list view.

The list of available courses in Garmin Connect

Transport it via Bluetooth to the Garmin Device

xv) Make sure the receiving Garmin GPS device is on and ready.

16) From the list of courses select the route/Course.

17) In the grade overview, touch the Transport to Device icon in top RHS of the screen (the ane next the Favorite star icon).

A device option dialogue should open. Select the device, and the Class should be transmitted to the device.

Selecting which of the Garmin devices to send it to.

Finally, locate and utilise road on the Garmin unit

18) The newly downloaded grade should exist bachelor to navigate with on the Garmin device nether Courses->Saved Courses location with whatever proper name was assigned to it during import.

19) Become for a ride.

[1] Which, is I think is the reason why a company that should completely dominate everything, has so many competitors, particularly on the software side, e.g. RideWithGPS, Strava, Runkeeper, MyFitnessPal, MapMyR(un|ide), to proper noun only a few.

[ii] In the past Garmin'due south even tacitly admitted this past buying third-party offerings and ditching their ain stuff. Unfortunately, information technology doesn't seem to be able to stay good for very long.

[3] Bear in listen that Garmin has had a web application for ten years plus. It is only available to you if y'all've got a Garmin device, so not exactly social. When planning routes, it notwithstanding does not retrieve where I alive and assumes I'm in America despite having data to the contrary in my profile. There is no route splitting or joining, keyboard acceleration or access to map keys. If you create a route using the OpenStreetMap base of operations layer (which is almost essential for off-route routing), then they are public for everyone to use, even if you've never been on them and accept no thought if they are decease traps on the ground.

[4] Many cables are only for charging devices, and unfortunately, at that place are no standards for labeling them every bit such. Often, they contain fewer wires internally and are a bit thinner than those that are information compatible, simply not always.