Garmin Nap Mode explained: Manual tracking, how it works and which watches

Everything you need to know about logging your afternoon siesta.

Garmin watches traditionally didn’t monitor naps, but this changed a couple of years ago with the introduction of a certified mode for those afternoon mini-sleeps.

Available on a limited number of Garmin devices, Nap Mode allows users to manually or automatically have their afternoon siesta or post-workout power nap accounted for.

Below, we’ll list all the watches with Nap Mode, how the feature works, and how you can view the crucial napping stats in Garmin Connect.

Which Garmin watches have Nap Mode?

After arriving through the Garmin Venu 3 and Vivoactive 5 in August 2023, Nap Mode has now rolled out to a decent crop of modern Garmin watches.

As ever, it’s still possible the feature will continue rolling out to older devices, and we’ll update this list if and when they gain Nap Mode.

Approach S70 series
D2 Mach 1 series
Descent Mk3 series
Enduro 2
Epix (Gen 2) and Epix Pro (Gen 2)
Fenix 7 and Fenix 7 Pro series
Fenix 8 series
Forerunner 255 series
Forerunner 265 series
Forerunner 570 series
Forerunner 955 series
Forerunner 965
Forerunner 970
Instinct 3 series
MARQ (Gen 2) collection
Quatix 7 and Quatix 7 Pro series
Tactix 7 and Tactix 7 Pro series
Venu 3 series
Vivoactive 5/6

How does Nap Mode work?

Nap Mode, as you would imagine from the name, is fairly self-explanatory. With that said, there are a couple of caveats to how it works that will help you get the most out of it.

Garmin suggests that naps should last less than three hours (or they’ll be classified as sleep), and they must take place outside your usual sleep window to be recorded as well.

To ensure naps are tracked correctly, ensure they occur at least one hour after waking up and end at least an hour before your typical bedtime.

Garmin also doesn’t track sleep stages during naps, since they’re unlikely to develop in short bursts of rest.

As long as your naps follow this mini set of rules, you should see them boost both your Body Battery and Sleep Coach suggestions.

How to manually track naps on Garmin

We’ve noticed that our Garmin device isn’t the best at automatically logging naps. Luckily, there’s another way to get Nap Mode tracking working—and even Garmin recommends that this manual method is preferred for optimal results.

First, you should add the ‘Naps’ widget to your glances, which, if you’re unsure, follows the steps we’ve outlined for adding the sleep widget on Garmin.

Then, follow these steps:

Enter your list of glances by using a button or by swiping.
Select the ‘Naps’ glance.
Press the top-right button on your Garmin device.
If your Garmin watch requires it, press the button again when ‘Start Nap’ is highlighted.
Use the buttons to decide whether you want a nap timer, and for how long.
Press the top-right button to start the timer and nap tracking.

How to view your naps in Garmin Connect

There are actually quite a few ways you can see the tracking and effects of your naps.

Doing so on your watch is the easiest option, of course. Viewing the widgets for Body Battery and Sleep Coach will give you some insights, but the Naps widget itself will provide the essential details.

However, you can also do this through Garmin Connect.