Decide your sleep before you lose it.

Set the alarm and leave the app on the screen. It dims to a bedside display that shows the rest left until the alarm, and it rings from there — the ring only works while the app is open. If you glance at the watch face instead, add Countdown Alarm to your glance list (hold a glance → add) to see live rest time; on Venu 4 the Rest left complication does the same on a Face It watch face.

Almost always it is the watch’s Sleep Mode. When it switches on — at your scheduled bedtime or when the watch detects you fell asleep — Garmin swaps to the sleep watch face, and that swap closes whatever app is open. It happens once per night, so if you reopen the app afterwards it stays open till morning. No app can prevent the swap, but you can:

1. On the watch: Settings → Focus Modes → Sleep → Watch Face and choose Don’t Change (or pick the same face you use during the day). On older Venu / Vívoactive firmware this is Settings → System → Display → During Sleep → Don’t Change.
2. Or turn Sleep Mode on yourself before you set the alarm: hold the upper button → controls → Sleep Mode. The swap has already happened, so the countdown is left alone.
3. Check Focus Modes → Sleep → Schedule: the Wake Time should not be earlier than your alarm, because leaving Sleep Mode does the same swap.

Recommended while you are there: Focus Modes → Sleep → Display & Brightness → Touch Lock → On. The touchscreen is locked during sleep so the pillow cannot press anything; the buttons still snooze and dismiss. With these settings the countdown stays open and rings reliably night after night. You can check what happened on your own watch under Settings → Night log (press and hold the idle screen on touch watches).

No. The app never records an activity and does not touch the sensors, so sleep stages, stress, HRV Status and Body Battery are measured as normal with the countdown open all night. Alarm data stays on the watch.

No. Connect IQ has no API to create or change Garmin’s built-in alarms. We will not ask you to set the time twice.

The app was not on the screen at alarm time. Garmin does not let a Connect IQ app vibrate from the background, so the ring needs the app open. Keep it open overnight and apply the Sleep Mode setting from “Why does the app close by itself at night?” — with that in place it rings night after night.

Yes. The display dims once the alarm is set. The first tap or button press only wakes the screen; a second tap opens the options (Edit time, Disarm, Exit). Back and swipes are ignored while the alarm is set, so nothing accidental can stop it.

Tap the screen or press either button to snooze (length in Settings). Hold MENU — long-press the screen on touch watches — to dismiss. On the snooze screen the upper button opens a menu with Disarm. Everything works with buttons alone, so Touch Lock during sleep is fine.

On the idle screen (no alarm set): press and hold the screen on touch watches (Venu, Vívoactive), or press MENU on button watches. Settings has the tone, snooze length and the Night log, which lists what happened to the app overnight with battery, notification and Do Not Disturb state next to each event. Diagnostics upload in the Night log is off unless you turn it on.