Merge Garmin Activities: Step-by-Step

Can you merge two activities in Garmin Connect?

No. Garmin Connect has no feature to merge two activities, on the website or in the app. You can edit the name, type and some details of an activity, and multisport watches can record a triathlon as one activity, but two finished activities cannot be joined afterwards.

The way around it is to merge the original files yourself and upload the result. It takes four steps:

1. Export both .FIT files from Garmin Connect (or copy them from the device).
2. Merge them in TrailBlender, which sequences or aligns them by timestamp.
3. Verify the totals (distance, time, ascent, power and heart rate) before you upload.
4. Upload the merged file and delete the two originals.

Steps 1 and 2: export both files and merge them

Step 1. Export both .FIT files. On the Garmin Connect website, open the first activity, click the gear icon and choose Export Original. You get a .zip with the .FIT inside; unzip it. Repeat for the second activity. If the activity is not in Connect, copy the .FIT from Garmin/Activities/ (Edge) or GARMIN/Activity/ (watches) over USB.

Step 2. Merge them in TrailBlender. Download TrailBlender for macOS, Windows or Linux, then drop both files in. Back-to-back files are sequenced; overlapping files (two devices on one ride) are aligned by timestamp and de-duplicated. Pick which file supplies GPS, power and heart rate if they differ, then export one .FIT.

Don't have it yet? Download TrailBlender. Merging two files is free, and your files never leave your computer.

Steps 3 and 4: verify the totals and upload

Step 3. Verify the totals. Before uploading, check that the merged activity makes sense:

• Distance and elapsed time should equal the two parts added together, minus any overlap.
• Moving time should be close to the sum of the parts. A real gap (you stopped to swap devices) stays a gap.
• Power and heart rate should show on the whole timeline, not only one half.

Step 4. Upload and delete the originals. Use Import Data in Garmin Connect (upload icon, top right) to add the merged .FIT, or upload it to Strava. Once the merged ride shows up correctly, delete the two partial activities so your totals and segments aren't counted twice.

The three common reasons to merge Garmin activities

• The device died mid-ride. The Garmin saved everything up to the shutdown and you finished on another device. See Garmin died mid-ride: recover and merge it.
• You paused and started a new activity. A forgotten timer, an auto-pause glitch or a restart after a stop leaves two files for one ride. Merge them exactly as above; merging FIT files has the details.
• Two devices recorded one ride. A head unit for power and a watch for heart rate, or a Garmin and an Apple Watch. See combining power and heart rate from two devices and merging a Garmin and Apple Watch ride.

Will power, heart rate and Strava still work?

Yes. TrailBlender reads and writes FIT natively, so GPS, power, heart rate and cadence from your files stay in the merged activity. Strava treats the result as one ordinary upload, with one set of segment efforts. Garmin Connect accepts it through Import Data.

If an export is rejected as corrupt, open it in TrailBlender first; truncated files usually repair cleanly.