When Gmail stops working on your iPhone, you may not be able to sign in to an app or service, change passwords for other websites, miss banking alerts, and more. in short, things can get chaotic. Fortunately, this problem can be successfully fixed. In this article, I’ll explain why Gmail isn’t working on your iPhone or iPad and show you how to fix the problem.
why is gmail not working on my iphone?
Before looking for fixes, it is vital to understand why gmail is not working on your iphone or ipad. and the main reason for this is security. If you’re in a different region (for example, on a trip to a different city or country), Google might prevent Gmail from working to protect you because it might think someone else is trying to access your emails.
on the contrary, sometimes the error can be in your iphone or in the mail application. There have even been situations where mobile data was turned off for the mail app, preventing you from receiving new emails!
don’t worry. I have covered solutions for all these problems below. the first five solutions are related to checking things from the end of google. in the rest, we make sure to fix things on the iphone end.
- check google status dashboard
- view device activity
- check gmail website for alerts
- reset captcha
- check imap is enabled
- make sure you have internet connection and vpn is disabled
- force close the mail app on the iphone
- reboot your iphone
- turn off iphone restrictions
- update mail app on iphone
- update your iphone
- uninstall and reinstall mail app on iphone
- delete your gmail account and set it up again
- reset all iphone settings
1. check the google status panel
visit the official google workspace status dashboard and make sure gmail is not experiencing any outages or service outages.
2. view device activity
- Visit myaccount.google.com using your iPhone (or computer). Tap Go to Google Account and sign in if needed.
- Ensure you are in the Security tab.
- From here, review security events.
- Click on an activity that corresponds to your device name, location, and when you tried to sign in.
- From the next screen, tap Yes, it was me.
- After this, most likely, the email may start loading correctly.
3. check the gmail website for alerts
when google prevents you from signing in, it will send an email to the same email (and/or recovery email). If you can open this email on any other iPhone device or browser, please do so. then within this email, tap “check your devices now” or something similar. follow the prompts so google knows it was you who tried to sign in.
4. perform captcha reset
- Visit accounts.google.com/DisplayUnlockCaptcha using an iPhone browser (or computer).
- Sign in using your Google account.
- Click Continue.
- Now, try signing in to Gmail on your iPhone, and it should work without issues.
5. check that the map is enabled
this could be one of the important reasons why gmail not working on your iphone or ipad. here’s how to verify this.
- Visit mail.google.com in Safari, Chrome, or other iPhone browser and sign in with your Gmail account.
- If you see a screen asking you to use the Gmail app, tap I am not interested.
- Tap the hamburger icon (three lines) from the top left.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Desktop.
- Choose I’d like to use HTML Gmail.
- Tap Settings from the top.
- Tap Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
- Enable IMAP and tap Save Changes.
- Now, try signing in to Gmail in the iOS email app of your choice, and it should work flawlessly.
Now let’s move on to the next part of the solutions that ensure everything is fine from the end of your iphone.
You can access Gmail through the built-in iOS Mail app, the official Gmail app, one of several third-party email apps, or the web. follow the corresponding correction, where applicable.
6. make sure you have internet connection and vpn is disabled
open an iphone app like safari and try to visit a website. if you can, that means you have a working internet connection. In case the internet doesn’t work, please refer to the following guides.
- 3g/4g not working on iphone or ipad? how to fix
- 5g not working on iphone 12? here is the solution!
- iphone connected to wi-fi but no internet? how to fix it
Next, in case you are using a vpn (especially a free one), disable it. various services are inaccessible via vpn.
7. force quit mail app
Sometimes when an application misbehaves, it’s useful to force close and reopen it. To force close the Mail app, swipe up from the bottom of your iPhone screen and hold. If your iphone has a front home button, press it twice quickly. now, drag the email app card up to force close it. after a few seconds, restart the email app and let it update.
8. reboot your iphone
rebooting your device is a basic but essential solution to dozens of small problems. if gmail doesn’t connect properly, turn off your iphone and after a minute turn it back on.
9. disable iphone restrictions
restricted (on purpose or by mistake) the mail app? This could be another reason why Gmail is not working on your iPhone or iPad. follow the quick steps to make sure this isn’t the case.
- Open the Settings app and tap Screen Time. (If it says Turn on Screen Time, that means no restrictions are set. In this case, you can skip all the steps below and jump to the next solution.)
- Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Tap Allowed Apps.
- Make sure the Mail app’s toggle is green.
10. update mail app on iphone
Application updates fix bugs and improve overall compatibility. To fix gmail not working issue, make sure to update the app. To do this, long press the app store icon and choose updates. pull down this screen to refresh the page. finally, tap refresh next to gmail (or whatever email app you’re using).
11. upgrade your iphone
You can update third-party email applications (steps above). but what about the built in ios mail app? also, when the applications and the operating system are updated, everything works better. so open the settings app and tap general. then touch software update to get the latest version of ios on your iphone.
12. uninstall and reinstall mail app on iphone
To remove an app, long press its icon from the home screen or app library. then tap remove app → remove app → remove.
Note: If you have iOS 12 or later, you can even remove several built-in apps, including the Mail app. After removing the email app, open the app store and download it again.
13. delete your gmail account and set it up again
In case the above solutions don’t bring any luck, it’s time to get rid of the google account from your iphone and add it again. here’s how.
- Open the Settings app and tap Mail.
- Tap Accounts.
- Tap Gmail.
- Next, tap Delete Account → Delete from My iPhone.
- Restart your iPhone (important).
- Now, add your Google account again to use Gmail on the device.
14. reset all iphone settings
This will not delete personal data such as apps, music, photos, videos, etc. however, all settings will be removed and restored to their default values. this includes wi-fi, bluetooth, vpn and more.
- Open the Settings app and tap General.
- Tap Reset.
- Tap Reset All Settings and proceed.
- After this process completes, set up Gmail, and it should work fine.
hope these solutions helped you with gmail problems on your ios device. If you have additional queries, please put them in the comments section. Also, please take a moment to view other related posts to enhance your experience.
- how to use gmail offline on mac and pc
- tips to use gmail app like a pro on iphone and ipad
- how to sync contacts from gmail to iphone or ipad
- how to save an offline backup of all gmail emails