Set your daily goal

Your daily goal is the one number the rest of the app is measured against. It fills every progress ring, sets the reference line in Insight, and is the target the reminder model projects your day against.

Setting it#

Open Settings in the app. Daily Goal is the first row: type a number, or drag the slider.

The value applies everywhere at once — iPhone widgets, Lock Screen, StandBy, Live Activity, and the Apple Watch app all read the same goal. With iCloud available it follows you to your other devices.

Changing it is not destructive. Your steps live in Apple Health and are untouched; you are only changing what they are compared against, so past days redraw against the new target.

You can also drag the goal line directly on the chart in Insight, which re-evaluates a whole month of your own days against the new value before you commit. That is the most reliable way to pick a number.

What the research says#

The app's Goal Tips popover cites two sources:

• Health benefits may begin around 2,200 steps per day — which is why that is the floor of the slider rather than zero.
• Stronger benefits are reported around 8,000 to 10,000 steps per day.

The widely quoted 10,000 figure originated in a 1960s Japanese pedometer marketing campaign rather than a study. It is a reasonable target if you reach it, and a poor one if missing it every day trains you to ignore the ring.

How many should I aim for?#

A goal works best when it is reachable on an ordinary day and still requires you to get up.

Open Insight, look at the last month of bars, and set the line a little above your typical day. Close enough to matter, near enough to reach.

Why the goal matters more than the count#

A step count on its own is hard to interpret: whether 4,300 is good depends on the time of day.

A goal turns it into something you can judge at a glance: a ring a third full at 3pm tells you where you stand. The goal is also what makes the reminders possible, since the model compares its end-of-day projection against it. See How goal reminders work.

Should I change it seasonally?#

You can. Winter, injury, a busy stretch at work, and travel all change what a realistic day looks like. Lowering a goal you consistently miss restores the meaning of a full ring.

A goal you clear by noon has the opposite problem: the ring stops telling you anything for the rest of the day, and the reminder model stays silent all afternoon.

When does the goal reset?#

At the start of your day, which by default is midnight local time. If you are often up past midnight, Day Ends At moves that boundary up to six hours later so a 1am walk still counts toward the day you have been living. There is also a Last 24-Hour mode that drops the calendar day entirely for a rolling window.

Both are covered in The step window.

What to read next#

• How goal reminders work — what the model does with your goal.
• The step window — when your day starts and ends.
• Insight — pick a goal against a month of real days.