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How to send a route to your Garmin watch

Once you've generated a route you like, you can follow it on your Garmin watch as a course. It's a two-part job: export a GPX file, then import it into Garmin Connect.

Open LoopMaker →

1. Export the GPX

  1. Generate a route in LoopMaker.
  2. Tap ↓ GPX in the result bar. On a phone this opens the share sheet — choose Save to Files; on a computer it downloads a .gpx file.
Why Save to Files? When you share straight from a browser, iOS often doesn't list Garmin Connect in the share sheet. It's more reliable to save the file and then import it from inside the Garmin Connect app (next step) — that always works.

2. Import it into Garmin Connect

On your phone (the Garmin Connect app): the app imports courses as GPX.

  1. Open Garmin Connect → Courses (More → Training & Planning → Courses).
  2. Tap + → Create a Course → Import.
  3. Pick the .gpx you saved to Files.

On a computer (connect.garmin.com): go to Training & Planning → Courses → Import and select the file. On the web you can also import LoopMaker's ⌚ FIT course export — Garmin's own format. (On the phone, stick to GPX: a FIT file is read there as a recorded activity, not a course.)

3. Send it to your watch

Open the imported course in Garmin Connect and choose Send to Device (make sure your watch has synced recently). On the watch, start an activity, then pick the course under Navigation → Courses and follow the line — turn prompts and off-course alerts work as usual.

Prefer Strava? See how to create a route on Strava from a GPX file.

Make a route →