"There was a problem communicating with the Garmin device" Error in BaseCamp

If there is a corrupt file on the device, the Windows version of BaseCamp software also displays the error "An error occurred while reading the following file(s)", indicating which file is corrupt.

To Resolve This Error, Delete the Corrupt File Indicated:

1. Press Windows + E
2. Click This PC (Windows 10 and 11 only)
3. Open the Garmin drive
4. Open the Garmin folder (not all devices require this step)
   • Select Internal Storage first on some devices.
5. Open the GPX, JNX (or BirdsEye), or JPG folder
6. Delete the file indicated from the error in BaseCamp software

This should resolve the issue. If the issue persists, verify that the Garmin device is communicating with Windows applications correctly. Instructions for verifying that the device is communicating properly can be found in Related Content.

After deleting the corrupt file or files, BaseCamp software will not display the communication error.

The Mac OS X version of BaseCamp software only displays the error "There was an error communicating with the Garmin device". The error will not indicate if a corrupt file is causing the issue.

First, verify the Garmin device is communicating with Mac applications.  Instructions for verifying that the device is communicating properly can be found in Related Content.

If the error is still being displayed, delete the GPX, JNX (or BirdsEye), and JPG folders on the device. Because this may delete saved user data, pictures, and BirdsEye images from the Garmin device, first save a copy of these folders to the desktop:

1. Open Finder
2. Click Go in the menu bar
3. Click Computer
4. Open the Garmin drive
5. Open the Garmin folder (not all devices require this step)
6. Click and drag the GPX, JNX (or BirdsEye), and JPG folders to the desktop (This may take a long time if there is a lot of data)
7. After the folders have been copied to the desktop, move these folders on the Garmin device to the Trash
8. Empty the Trash

Open BaseCamp software to test that the device communicates properly.

If the error message does not appear, one or more of these folders contains corrupt data that is causing the error in BaseCamp software.

To Test Which Folder Contains the Corrupt Data:

1. Open the Garmin drive in Finder
2. Open the Garmin folder (only do this if this was required when originally copying the folders to the desktop)
3. Click and drag the JPG folder from the desktop to the device
4. Open BaseCamp software

If the communication error shows up, there is a corrupt file in the folder and the contents of this folder should be deleted to resolve the issue.

If the communication error does not appear, this folder does not contain corrupt data and can be kept on the device. Repeat the steps above for the remaining JNX (or BirdsEye) and GPX folders.

Once the corrupt files are removed from the device, the error message will no longer appear in BaseCamp software.