Gmail inbox not updating? Here’s what to do if Gmail is not syncing

users report gmail inbox not updating on android. new emails seem to arrive in gmail when using gmail for web but cannot be seen in android client. The problem is most likely related to the app itself and the way it works on android. You can learn how to fix these issues and view and receive notifications about incoming emails momentarily by following the steps below.

table of contents:

1. sync emails manually
2. verify gmail settings
3. clear local gmail data
4. reinstall gmail

why are my emails not appearing in my gmail inbox?

You may not be able to view your emails because the gmail app (android client) does not sync automatically. you can manually sync emails, enable automatic syncing, and also adjust some system settings that concern gmail.

If that doesn’t help, you can either clear local gmail data or uninstall updates/reinstall app and try again.

1. sync emails manually

Of course, your phone must be connected to a stable wifi or mobile data network to retrieve emails from gmail servers to the gmail app. if you’re sure that’s not the cause of the problem, open gmail > inbox and swipe down from the top forced sync.

You should see all new messages. Also, make sure the new messages you expected aren’t in your spam folder and that system-wide data saver or airplane mode isn’t enabled.

2. check gmail settings

Moving on, there are a few settings you need to check to make sure gmail is syncing. The first thing you need to do is enable gmail sync in gmail settings. after that you need to check if gmail has permission to work and use data in the background.

This is what you need to do:

1. Open Gmail.
2. Tap on the hamburger menu at the top left corner and open Settings from the bottom.
3. Select your account. It should be just below General settings.
4. Check the Sync Gmail box.
5. Now, close Gmail and open Settings (system settings).
6. Choose Apps.
7. Locate and open Gmail from the list of available apps.
8. Tap Battery and ensure that Gmail is allowed to work in the background. You can go as far as to disable Optimization for Gmail to ensure that the app can always sync in the background.
9. Also, open Mobile Data and Allow Gmail to use data in the background.

3. clear local gmail data

You can also reset the app by clearing local data before reinstalling the app or uninstalling updates. gmail keeps a lot of data locally and it is even recommended to clear the data and force the app to sync from time to time.

Once you clear all gmail data, open the app and wait for it to sync again. You may also need to allow gmail to work in the background and use mobile data again, as explained in the previous step.

here is how to clear local gmail data in android:

1. Once again, open Settings > Apps > Gmail.
2. Tap Storage.
3. Select Clear data and confirm when prompted.
4. Restart your device, open Gmail, and wait for it to sync your emails.

4. reinstall gmail

Finally, if your gmail inbox still doesn’t update automatically, make sure you try to fix the problem by reinstalling the app. In this case, considering that gmail comes as the default mail app in many android skins, you can only uninstall updates to the app and cannot remove it completely.

here is how to uninstall gmail updates on your android using play store:

1. open play store.
2. search for and open gmail.
3. tap uninstall / strong>.
4. reboot your device, open play store and update gmail again.
5. check the settings we mentioned in the second solution, log in and check for improvements.

Alternatively, you can navigate to the apk mirror and get an older version, here. learn more about apks and how to roll back apps to a previous version, here. Also, if you want to receive emails from Gmail in other Android or iOS clients (Outlook, Apple Mail), make sure IMAP is enabled. To enable it, open gmail on the web, open all settings, and under forwarding and pop/imap, turn imap on.

and, with that note, we can conclude this article. Thanks for reading and feel free to tell us if these steps helped you fix the problem or not. do you have any other solution to recommend if gmail inbox not updating? tell us in the comments section below.