Brand new quest 3 just arrived, configured an everything was doing pretty well. Was just logging into a game when all tracking just stopped working, a window saying "Tracking lost" showed up, but I couldn't click anything since the controllers stopped working too, hand tracking also wasnt working. I tried cleaning up the cameras with a very soft towel, tried rebooting, resetting to factory settings, everything I could. The screen is either completely black, black with a dot or on the starting screen asking to turn on the controllers, but the screen just moves randomly and isn't following the headset movements at all. There is a white dot blinking on the left controller and they keep vibrating every few seconds.

UpdateI've returned it, but before doing so I found out that the issue seems to be that little sensor on the inside of the headset, the one that sits right on the forehead. Everytime something is close enough, all tracking was just gone. When there was nothing on the sensor, I could see the tracking working when in the turn off screen at least, and could click with the controllers, but I was still completely unable to actually do anything other than turn on, turn off and factory reset the device. I'll get another one and hopefully it will be problem free, but if not I'll just wait a few months to try again. I do not believe it was sweat that broke it since it was worn for very little time, and it happened when i slightly adjusted the headset on my face. No force used or any mishandling of the product, it just stopped working. Makes me think there may have been some faulty connections or something of the sort going on in the inside of the headset.What I did to find out that little sensor was the issue is I was removing the headset and putting it back on a few times. Eventually I just held the power button since the only other screen I could see was the turn off screen. I then noticed the tracking seems to go back so at first I thought it just wasnt built very well, but then I noticed putting my finger on the sensor caused the tracking to die. Apparently there is a way to disable that sensor trough developer tools from the oculus software on pc, but you also have to be able to access the headset's configurations. Not sure it would have helped, but I couldn't try it since I couldnt control anything.

Quest 3 lost all tracking

169 Replies

bakrdaddy
Honored Guest
2 years ago
Mine just started doing exactly what you described. I've had it for about 8 days. I haven't tried factory resetting it yet, because from what I'm reading people say the tracking lost stuck floating screen is the same, or worse. And then they are unable to pair the headset or controllers. I'm just going to return it tomorrow.
- yupers15
  Protege
  10 months ago
  I now have the same issue, it's just so crazy to me that this has not been fixed, almost a year later. What the French toast salad! Sheesh
  - MetaQuestSupport
    Community Manager
    10 months ago
    Hey there, yupers15
    
    We can see you are having tracking issues with your Quest 3 device!
    
    May we ask that you try the following steps to see if we can resolve this:
    
    Remove any unsupported third-party accessories that may affect boot (such as external battery packs, accessories that plug into the USB-C port, etc.)
    
    Hard Reboot the headset
    
    Hold down the power button and volume down button for 30 seconds until you hear the boot-up sound
    
    If the boot-up sound is not heard:
    
    Hold the power and volume (-) button down simultaneously until the boot screen loads on your headset.
    
    Use the volume buttons on your headset to highlight "Boot Device" and press the power button.
    
    Use the volume buttons on your headset to highlight Yes and press the power button.
    
    Please also clean the lenses on the headset with a dry cloth.
    
    If the issue persists, please reach out to us via private message so we can investigate this further with you.
    
    To send us a private message, please select our name to get to our profile page, or click here: https://metaque.st/CommunitySupport.
    
    Next, click "Send a Message" to privately message us! Please remember, you must be signed into the community first to send us a private message.
Moose_Man29
Honored Guest
2 years ago
Exact same thing with me. I got it last night and this morning I’m having the issue. I’ll let you know if I come across any solutions.
user.name.203236
Honored Guest
2 years ago
Don't worry a numnut Oculus employee will reply and tell you to click on their profile, so they will happily help you, but in reality they don't help anyone.
- MetaQuestSupport
  Community Manager
  2 years ago
  Hey there, everyone. Tracking issues can definitely get in the way of having the best VR experience possible, and we take these matters very seriously. We know you said you had tried a factory reset, and that is a great start. Just to make sure that it was done properly, we've shared the steps here. Additionally, we also wanted to share some more information and tips about our tracking that may be helpful in this case. We're always here to help, and if you want us to take a deeper dive into this, please send us a private message, and we are more than happy to look into this for you. To do so, please select our name to get to our profile page, or click here. Next, click "Send a Message" to privately message us! Please remember, you must be signed into the community first to send us a private message. We hope to hear from you soon!
  - mister.death
    Protege
    2 years ago
    Ive had 2 headsets do exactly this now.
    The first one, they replaced, and the replacement headset has just failed with exactly the same issue.
    To be honest I'm not sure if I can be bothered to package it all up AGAIN and take it to FedEx AGAIN and wait for a replacement AGAIN. I think I'll just try and get my money back this time - pretty sure I'm done with Meta Quest.
BlckBrry1
Honored Guest
2 years ago
Update
I've returned it, but before doing so I found out that the issue seems to be that little sensor on the inside of the headset, the one that sits right on the forehead. Everytime something is close enough, all tracking was just gone. When there was nothing on the sensor, I could see the tracking working when in the turn off screen at least, and could click with the controllers, but I was still completely unable to actually do anything other than turn on, turn off and factory reset the device. I'll get another one and hopefully it will be problem free, but if not I'll just wait a few months to try again. I do not believe it was sweat that broke it since it was worn for very little time, and it happened when i slightly adjusted the headset on my face. No force used or any mishandling of the product, it just stopped working. Makes me think there may have been some faulty connections or something of the sort going on in the inside of the headset.

What I did to find out that little sensor was the issue is I was removing the headset and putting it back on a few times. Eventually I just held the power button since the only other screen I could see was the turn off screen. I then noticed the tracking seems to go back so at first I thought it just wasnt built very well, but then I noticed putting my finger on the sensor caused the tracking to die. Apparently there is a way to disable that sensor trough developer tools from the oculus software on pc, but you also have to be able to access the headset's configurations. Not sure it would have helped, but I couldn't try it since I couldnt control anything.
- MetaQuestSupport
  Community Manager
  2 years ago
  Hey BlckBrry1 we appreciate you sharing similar issues and letting us know your next steps. We do want to let you and all the other great people on this thread to send us a PM if further assistance is still needed. Also if anyone has further
- MetaQuestSupport
  Community Manager
  2 years ago
  Hey BlckBrry1 we appreciate you sharing similar issues and letting us know your next steps. We do want to let you and all the other great people on this thread to send us a PM if further assistance is still needed. Also if anyone has further questions or concerns we would love to receive a PM from all as well. We thank you.
- Koala2277
  Protege
  2 years ago
  Your proximity sensor was fine, it works as it should, when you move away from it loads a dummy scene where you can see tracking from IMU only (rotation) and when you get close to it switches to normal SLAM camera tracking mode and that's wher ethe problem is: the cameras or laser module in the middle are faulty and permanently blocking any tracking from starting, you should see a flashing white LED in the front of the headset where the Meta logo is.
  
  Why did you say you didn't believe that sweat killed it? Who said it was even a sweat issue?
peppetdm
Honored Guest
2 years ago
i have the same problem, i lost all trackings, opened a ticket, nobody reply yet........
i would just say outstanding for this kind of product........congrats to meta
- MetaQuestSupport
  Community Manager
  2 years ago
  Hey there, peppetdm. We wanted to let you know that we received your PM and we'll be with you as soon as we possibly can! We appreciate your patience in the meantime!
  - Jiiwi2jwj
    Honored Guest
    5 months ago
    
    It's doing the same thing in 2025 I reported a problem and reached out to meta support idk what to do please message me back MetaQuestSupport . The controllers vibrate and it says meta tracking lost I have a meta quest 3
- Koala2277
  Protege
  2 years ago
  Did you solved this issue? I have the same
- mister.death
  Protege
  2 years ago
  Yeah I'm done with Meta Quest.
  Ive had 2 headsets do exactly this now.
  The first one, they replaced, and the replacement headset has just failed with exactly the same issue.
  To be honest I'm not sure if I can be bothered to package it all up AGAIN and take it to FedEx AGAIN and wait for a replacement AGAIN. I think I'll just try and get my money back this time.
  - Targetonlock
    Protege
    2 years ago
    Totally agree. I’m on replacement number 4 and same issue every time. They never have a solution. I bought 7 months and maybe have a grand total of 1 hour of play. I’ve probably spent 50 hours going back and forth with chat and replacement process. My time is valuable due to stage 4 cancer. I’ve never had a worse product then the quest 3 in my life and I’m 48 yrs old. I’ve saved over 250 emails from them with all their lies and promises. Before I die I will have my day in court
Mafootje
Expert Protege
2 years ago
Exact same problem, my first quest 3 within 2 weeks completly unresponsive to controller of hands. Factory reset didn't help ended up returning it to the store. Second headset within 2 weeks exact the same problem. It doesn't help with trust in the product.
- Koala2277
  Protege
  2 years ago
  I'm hoping someone from Meta can confirm that it's a faulty depth sensor causing the tracking issues.
  What they are doing now is freezing all tracking if Quest 3 does not detect the depth sensor. This problem can be very easily solved in a software update, just add an optional check for the presence of a depth sensor, if Quest 3 does not find it because it is broken, then just skip it and cameras will be able to work normally. Depth sensor is only used for guardian scanning, but this step can be done manually like in Quest 2 and Quest Pro.
  - Mafootje
    Expert Protege
    2 years ago
    Didn't got any reaction yet from meta. I got past the profile choosing page. I am able to stream the screen to my phone and all other things but nothing that requires clicking. I could log in because the login floated and came past the white dot. Then I was able to click on it with the volume button
Koala2277
Protege
2 years ago
Could you describe in more detail how this happened to you? Have you done a factory reset?
I will describe how this happened for me, at first the problem was only with tracking in passthrough mode and then I noticed that I could not scan the room for the guardian and had to do a manual setup, then I began to lose tracking in games. And at one point I turned on my Quest 3 and received a black screen and a message that tracking was lost and the controllers are no longer connected. From that moment on, nothing helped to solve the problem. I did a factory reset and this left me stuck in the initial setup without tracking and I unable to pair the controllers. I suspect that this is because of a faulty depth sensor; due to its failure, the quest cannot start the cameras and activate tracking and without tracking it stalls system and can't proceed to pair with controllers.
I really hope that Meta can fix this in a software update, just skip depth sensor check if it's broken, the rest of the system can work without it and the guardian can be set manually!
- Mafootje
  Expert Protege
  2 years ago
  Both times it happened when I wanted to use the headset the next day. Before that no problems.
  But on logging in no response from the controllers or hands. This made it impossible to login. The first time in rebooted and finally did a factory reset without succes.
  This time rebooting didn't help but I managed to push to button for login in on the sometimes floating profile. I am now waiting for support before doing a factory reset. If I do that I won't have any access to the unit. Hopefully I can do an update to fix this.
  - MetaQuestSupport
    Community Manager
    2 years ago
    Hello there, Mafootje. tracking with the headset sensors is very important, especially the proximity sensor, and depth sensor, as well as the tracking cameras. We would love to review this further and see if there is anything we can do to help!
    
    Just to be sure, have you tried multiple locations around your living space to ensure there is not some weird issue with your default location? I is important to ensure there is proper lighting, not too much, and not too little. Otherwise, we would love to review and assist however we can if you send us a PM from our Profile Page, we are available at any time!
Mark272
Explorer
2 years ago
It's a hardware issue, replace it
- Mafootje
  Expert Protege
  2 years ago
  Yes unfortunately I'm getting experienced in this. The only difference is that last time I could chat with Meta this time only email and having more than a day between responses which just copy and pasting solutions I've already tried ( and mentioned in my support request ) so I've started a return request instead. I've send my headset yesterday but meta didn't ad a safety declaration with the return label. So my package is on hold since yesterday evening. Hopefully it's in the move soon and I receive my money back.
SLAINE
Explorer
2 years ago
Same problem for me.
Started a week ago, but if I get a new roomscale setup working I was able to play for the batterie life.
Then it occours more often. First I thought when I come near one of the side cameras.
Everytime I become more motion sick if the tracking suddenly break and the passthrou freezes.
Today I decided to try a factory reset, setup everything fresh, but it is getting worse.
I am not able to get the quest into a functional state.
Depth sensor is working if the tracking is working. But it just fails completely random.
It may be related to the inner face sensor, because I can confirm, that taking the headset off, will resume the tracking. I also tried to wear the quest without my glasses in case they reflect in a strange way to the face sensor, but no difference.
everything was cleaned. batteries all full. nothing more I can do...
WLAN is a wifi 6.

I dunno, something is really messed up.
I hope the return process will be fast, and the next quest ok.
- Koala2277
  Protege
  2 years ago
  You are right about the fact that tracking only works if the depth sensor (laser projector) is connected and in working condition.
  Quest 3 has two tracking modes, first is Visual Inertial Odometry mode when it's using IMU (gyro and accelerometer) in conjunction with cameras (SLAM) and second mode is IMU without cameras (rotation only) and this is what you see when you take off your headset, it tracks only rotation. As soon as you put on the headset proximity sensor it triggered and Quest 3 turns on SLAM+IMU mode but it fails because cameras are not turning on. The cause of this failure may be a damaged depth sensor (from sweat) or a one of the damaged cameras (if the headset has been dropped).
  - SLAINE
    Explorer
    2 years ago
    Sounds like a reasonable theory, but I thought I was seeing 6DoF movement when wathcing throu the lenses from a distance.
    I wonder, why it is so sudden/random. passthrou IS working and I can see the depth scan too, but then out of nowhere it breaks.
    such a downer -_-
Mafootje
Expert Protege
2 years ago
I've had that twice now. Tried resolving it in all this ways support told me but it didn't work.
Returned them both, asked what I could do to prevent it in my next headset.
But support doesnt answer that question. They consider returning the old headset and sending a new one as a solution.
Besides the fact I think it isn't you also end up with subscriptions that cannot be used during that time. I've asked them to pause them as long I'm not able to use them. They can't do that either.
- mister.death
  Protege
  2 years ago
  yep, they're sending me another "refurbished" headset.
  The THIRD one inside of SIX weeks. Clearly the build quality of this thing is not up to scratch. If I could, I would have got my money back, and gone to a proper retailer, so that I could at least replace with a new one every time it breaks rather than being fobbed of with a refurb. I am warning people against buying this thing due to the poor unreliable build.
  I fully expect the new one (when it shows up) to last less than a week.
  - Mafootje
    Expert Protege
    2 years ago
    Did they told you any possible reason why it happens? I would love to know what the reason could be that some of us keep having this problem and others don't.
    Because of the risk getting a refurbished one I had the last one refunded and bought it at a retailer.
    I seriously am afraid ever time I pick it up the problem returns. Hopefully this one keeps working.