Track your steps with Health Connect

You can automatically record daily steps from your Android phone with Health Connect.

To provide a comprehensive overview of your activity, it combines steps data from your phone with steps data from other apps and wearables. You can turn step tracking off anytime.

Learn how your phone tracks steps

Important:

• Before you begin, make sure your device has the latest system update. This ensures you can access all Health Connect features, like mobile step tracking.
• This feature is only available on Android 14 and later.

To check for updates:

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Security & privacy System & updates Google Play system update.
3. Check for updates or confirm that "Your device is up to date."

From your Android device, Health Connect can automatically collect step data. This starts once an app gains permission to read steps through Health Connect.

This data integrates seamlessly and gives you a unified view of your activity.

• Automatic tracking: Step collection begins as soon as an app gets permission to read steps through Health Connect.
• Unified step count: Health Connect stores steps from your phone and steps from other connected apps or wearables. Any app that you’ve granted permission to read steps in Health Connect gets this unified number.
• Data source labeling: In Health Connect, your phone's steps are clearly identified with your device name, like "Google Pixel 9a."

Turn off phone step tracking

To stop your phone from automatically recording steps to Health Connect, go to your Health Connect settings.

1. Go to the “Devices” section.
2. Select your device.
   • Example: Google Pixel 9a
3. Turn off Steps.
   • When this setting is off, your phone no longer records and stores step data in Health Connect.

Manage your phone's step data

You can find and delete the step data recorded by your phone within Health Connect.

Find your phone’s step data

1. Open Health Connect .
2. Tap Browse data or Data and access.
   • Or, you can go to the “Devices” section.
     1. Select your device.
        • Example: Google Pixel 9a
     2. Under "Manage device," tap See device data.
3. Tap Activity Steps.
   • In the “Entries” tab, you can find entries labeled with your device name along with entries from other connected apps.
     • Example: Google Pixel 9a

Delete your phone’s step data

To delete your phone's step data, you have 2 main options:

• Delete through the devices section:
  1. Open Health Connect .
  2. Swipe up to the “Devices” section.
  3. Tap Devices.
  4. Select your device.
     • Example: Google Pixel 9a
  5. Under "Manage device," tap See device data.
  6. To delete all step data, at the top right, tap Delete .
     • Or, to individually select entries to delete, you can tap Steps.
• Use general data deletion:
  • Your phone's recorded steps follow auto-delete settings. These are configured for all data in Health Connect.
  • You can perform a general "Delete data action” for steps. Learn how to delete your data from Health Connect.

Adjust your phone's data source priority

Health Connect combines data from multiple sources which include your phone and your connected third-party apps. This creates a single, unified total. You can manage how your phone's steps are prioritized in this total.

By default, your phone's step data stream is included in the steps aggregation but it’s given the lowest priority.

To manage this priority:

1. Open Health Connect .
2. Tap Manage data Data sources and priority.
3. In the dropdown, tap Activity.
4. In the “Data sources” list, find your phone.
   • Example: Google Pixel 9a
5. Next to the device name, tap More .
   • You can use it to:
     • Move up or move down the priority for step aggregation.
     • Remove it from aggregation entirely. This option excludes your phone steps from the aggregated step total without revoking app permissions.

Related resources

• Learn about Health Connect
• Get started with Health Connect