How to create a daily step goal and check its progress

How do I add a daily step goal?

Open Goals, choose New goal and select Steps from the Metric list. The Target label changes to show steps as the unit. Enter the step count you intend to use as your reference. Choosing a target records your plan; it does not add steps to the underlying activity history or change the data collected by your device.

The editor initially selects another metric, so check the selection before typing a number. A value entered while the wrong unit is displayed can produce a goal for a different kind of record. For this walkthrough, keep Steps selected throughout. Its current default is a daily goal with an at-least direction.

Use a target from your own plan rather than copying a number from an example or photograph. NIDDK’s habit-change guidance suggests making a plan and setting specific goals for action. It does not make the fictional target in this guide a recommendation for you. If a personal activity target needs clinical input, discuss that separately with a professional who knows your circumstances.

1. Open Goals and choose New goal.
2. Select Steps and check the Target unit.
3. Enter your own reference and review Notify me.
4. Save and inspect the resulting card.

Reference: NIDDK: Changing Your Habits for Better Health ↗

What do the notification controls save?

For a Steps goal, the editor shows a Notify me checkbox. When it is enabled, an At hour (0-23) field appears. The current new-goal default is 19, and the editor saves the selected hour with the minute set to zero. If you do not want this goal’s notification setting enabled, clear the checkbox before saving.

Treat that field as a setting you can review, not proof that a notification has already been sent or received. Creating a goal, collecting progress data and delivering a notification are separate events. This walkthrough verifies the controls and saved preference; it does not guarantee a delivery channel, delivery time or successful notification for a particular device.

Choose Save after checking the metric, unit, target and notification preference. Cancel closes the editor without running its save action. Once the dialog closes, inspect the goal card rather than relying only on the fact that the modal disappeared. The saved metric and target should match what you intended to record.

How should I read the progress card?

The Steps card shows progress, a slash, the target value and the steps unit. Its smaller label identifies it as a goal and displays the cadence. The progress value is rounded for display. For a constructed example, a card reading 4,200 / 6,000 steps separates the amount found in the record from the chosen reference.

For this metric, the calculation reads step values from daily metrics and sums values in the date window requested by the Goals page. The target number itself is not part of that calculation. Increasing a target changes the reference you compare against; it does not create additional recorded steps or fill a missing day.

The current web Goals page derives its day from a UTC date string. Near a local day boundary, that date can differ from the date you expect in America/Vancouver or another timezone. If a late-evening value looks surprising, compare the relevant record dates before treating it as a complete local-day total.

What should I check when progress is zero or unexpected?

Check the underlying step record and its date before changing the target. The progress calculation returns zero when it has no data to sum, and the card does not separately label that state as missing coverage. A displayed zero therefore does not by itself prove that you took no steps.

Compare the Goals card with the available movement history for the same date. If your source device contains steps but the corresponding Strata record is absent, investigate that data path. The separate Apple Health troubleshooting guide follows a missing record from its source. Repeatedly saving a goal is not a way to import a missing measurement.

Keep the question narrow if you ask your connected assistant for help. For example: “Show the step records and dates available for this day. Do not change my goal or log activity.” Compare those dates with the day used by the card, and keep an unavailable record distinct from a confirmed zero before deciding what needs correction.

How do I revise or remove the reference?

Choose Edit on the Steps card to change its target or notification preference. Keep the same metric selected if your intention is to revise that goal. The save helper looks for an active target with the same user, metric and cadence. An existing match is updated; changing the metric is not simply renaming the original card.

After saving, recheck the metric label, target value and daily cadence. If notifications are enabled, the card also displays a notify-at time. That visible setting helps you inspect what was saved, while progress still comes from the underlying records. There is no need to add fictional activity just to make a revised reference look complete.

The Delete action on a goal marks that target inactive so it leaves the active-goal view. It does not delete the step history used to calculate progress. Removing a reference and removing a health record are different actions. Before using Delete, make sure your intention is to stop showing the goal rather than correct a particular day’s steps.

What other questions come up?