Send GPX to a Garmin Tread

The GPX folder on every Tread is GPX at the top level of internal storage. The full path is written as Internal Storage/GPX, not Garmin/GPX, because a Tread never reads a Garmin folder.

No drive appears on your computer when you plug a Tread in, because every Tread connects over file transfer the way a phone connects, so the Tread keeps running and no drive mounts. Plug the Tread in, connect it on INVIA's Device page in Chrome or Edge, and send the GPX file across from there. INVIA is the only web application outside Garmin that sends a GPX file to a Garmin straight from a browser tab, which is why the send happens there.

Send a GPX file to a Tread from your browser#

1. Plug the Tread in with a USB data cable, because a charge-only cable carries power and no files. Wait for the Tread to power on.
2. Open the Device tab in Chrome or Edge and press File transfer (MTP), since USB drive never finds a Tread.
3. Install INVIA Bridge on Windows when the page prompts for it, because Windows claims file transfer devices with its own driver first and Chrome or Edge cannot reach a Tread without it.
4. Accept the prompt on the Tread if the Tread asks to enter file transfer, because a Tread has no drive mode to fall back on and declining leaves nothing connected.
5. Pick the Tread when INVIA asks. The card reads Almost there about 55 seconds into an attempt, so press Select my Garmin → and choose the Tread in the browser's chooser. That card is not first-time-only, because INVIA shows it whenever its silent search has not found a Garmin you have already given the browser permission for. It comes back on a later connect for that reason, and it comes back again if you open the chooser and close it without picking the Tread. Once the Tread has been picked, plugging it back in normally reconnects with no chooser at all.
6. Choose what to send. Two buttons appear once the Tread is connected. From computer loads a GPX file from your computer and draws it on the map first so you can check the line before it goes across. From INVIA picks a saved route, ride or whole collection.
7. Set the options in the SEND TO DEVICE dialog. Set the name, choose Internal or SD Card if the Tread has a memory card fitted, and set Directional arrows to Off, Forward or Reverse.
8. Press Send and wait for SENT.

As soon as the send succeeds the GPX file appears under On Device, because that list shows what INVIA has just written rather than what it has read back from the Tread. Press ↺ Refresh before you unplug the cable, since a refresh is what reads the Tread again and lists what the Tread itself reports. That refreshed listing is what tells you the whole file arrived.

Connecting can take up to about 40 seconds, and INVIA keeps trying on its own, so leave the cable plugged in through the wait rather than pulling it out and starting again.

If a step does nothing, work from this table.

The folder, by model#

A memory card fitted in a Tread shows up as a second storage inside the same file transfer connection rather than as a drive of its own. INVIA lists internal storage and the memory card together, and it sends to internal storage unless you choose SD Card.

Nothing appears on your computer when you plug a Tread in#

That is the Tread working correctly. It is not a fault, a bad port or a broken device. Every Tread connects the way a phone connects, so it keeps running its own screen and hands your computer no removable drive.

What you see on a working Tread:

• No new drive letter in File Explorer on Windows.
• No drive in Finder on a Mac.
• The Tread stays powered on and keeps running its own screen.

The connection is live the whole time, because Chrome or Edge reads and writes a Tread from the Device page, and Windows File Explorer opens a Tread as a portable device.

Garmin's manual calls a Tread a portable device on one operating system and a removable drive on another, which is why people wait for a drive that never mounts.

Three pieces of common advice to skip:

• "Install Android File Transfer." That was the Mac answer and is no longer dependable, so use Chrome or Edge instead, which talks to a Tread directly.
• "Drag it into Garmin Express." Garmin Express updates maps and software. Garmin Express does not put a GPX file on a Tread.
• "Answer No to the file transfer prompt." A Tread has no drive mode to fall back on, so declining leaves nothing connected. Accept the prompt.

Press File transfer (MTP) on the Device page, since USB drive never finds a Tread. Connecting.

Copying the GPX file by hand#

On Windows a Tread appears in File Explorer as a portable device rather than a drive letter, so you can copy the GPX file in yourself.

1. Open the Tread in File Explorer.
2. Open Internal Storage.
3. Open GPX.
4. Copy the GPX file in.

A Mac has nothing built in that opens a file transfer device, so a Tread does not appear in Finder and the browser path is the one to use. Open the Device page in Chrome or Edge instead.

No computer at all#

The Garmin Tread app takes a GPX file through the share sheet on your phone, so a route reaches a Tread with nothing but the phone in your hand.

1. Export the GPX file from INVIA.
2. Open the GPX file from your files, mail or messages.
3. Choose the share option.
4. Pick the Garmin Tread app.

The route is still missing after you copied a GPX file by hand#

Work down this list in order.

1. The GPX file went to Garmin/GPX instead of GPX. Handhelds read the Garmin folder and a Tread does not, so your GPX file is on the Tread and out of sight. Move it into GPX at the top level of internal storage.
2. The GPX file went to the memory card while the Tread was reading internal storage. Your GPX file is on the memory card and out of the folder a Tread reads. Move it into Internal Storage/GPX, or send it again from the Device page and choose Internal.
3. The cable came out before the transfer finished. The GPX file did not finish writing, so plug the Tread in again and send it again.

Sending from the Device page removes all three causes, because INVIA writes to the folder a Tread reads and lets you choose the storage. The GPX file is listed under On Device as soon as the send succeeds, and pressing ↺ Refresh reads the Tread again so the listing before you unplug is the Tread's own answer. Sending.