problems with gmail not working can manifest itself in many ways. Sometimes the gmail app doesn’t send emails to your inbox. Other times, your gmail inbox repeatedly fails to load in your web browser. email notification issues are also quite common with gmail.
This article covers troubleshooting solutions for various gmail issues on mobile (android and ios) and desktop.
1. is your internet connection working?
Your device will not lose the gmail app or inbox if there is a problem with your internet connection. If you’re accessing gmail in a web browser, open other websites in a new tab and make sure they load properly.
do the same on your smartphone or tablet. alternatively, open other internet dependent apps on your device and check if they work smoothly. If the problem persists in all applications or web pages, it is likely that your Internet connection is the culprit.
If you use cellular or cellular data, make sure you have an active data plan. Turning airplane mode on and off on your phone might also help refresh your internet connection.
To troubleshoot a Wi-Fi connection, move your device closer to the router, update the router’s firmware, or restart the router if you still can’t access the internet. Similarly, check your network admin panel and confirm your device is not blacklisted.
Check out our tutorials on how to fix slow mobile data connections and get high speed internet over Wi-Fi for more troubleshooting solutions.
2. check gmail service status
If your internet connection is not the problem that gmail is not working, check that the gmail servers are not experiencing downtime or temporary outage. go to the google workspace status dashboard and confirm that gmail is available.
A green checkmark next to gmail means that the email service is available and working without problems. A yellow exclamation mark or a red “x” icon indicates that gmail is down due to a service outage or outage, respectively.
You can also check for outage on website monitoring platforms like downdetector. head over to the gmail status page on downdetector and check if any gmail issues are reported.
3. use a supported browser
gmail may not work properly in web browsers that are not optimized for email service. For an optimal user experience, Google recommends accessing Gmail on the latest versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge.
Also, you must have cookies and javascript enabled in whatever browser you are using. Otherwise, gmail may not load and you may not be able to use some gmail features. The recommended browsers mentioned above have cookies and javascript enabled by default. therefore, unless you have previously disabled cookies or javascript, you do not have to manually enable them.
If gmail still doesn’t work in your browser, please close and reopen the browser and try again. you should also make sure your browser is up to date.
4. try gmail in incognito mode
Bugly browser extensions or plug-ins can interfere with some gmail functionality and prevent the email service from working properly. accessing gmail in incognito mode can help diagnose if the problem is caused by harmful extensions or apps.
Incognito mode (or private browsing) disables all browser extensions, preventing any faulty extension from affecting gmail’s performance. If gmail and other websites work fine in incognito mode, please disable your browser extensions one at a time to detect the problematic extension or plug-in.
We recommend reading this guide on how to install only safe browser extensions to learn more about low, medium and high risk browser extensions.
5. adjust date and time settings
Your device may not be able to establish a connection to the gmail servers if the date or time is incorrect. Go to your device’s settings menu and make sure the date and time settings are set to update automatically.
on android, go to settings > system > date & time and enable both use network-provided time and use network-provided time zone.
to update the date and date of your iphone and ipad; time, go to settings > general > date & time and turn on set automatically.
6. enable imap in gmail
imap (internet message access protocol) is an email program that allows you to access your gmail inbox from other email clients/applications. If you’re not receiving Gmail messages in Apple Mail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook, or other apps that use IMAP to access Gmail, check that IMAP is enabled in your Gmail account settings.
- Open your gmail inbox in a web browser, select the gear icon and select view all settings.
- Go to the forwarding and pop/imap tab, scroll down to the “imap access” section and select imap enabled.
- select the save changes button at the bottom of the page.
- Tap the hamburger menu icon in the upper left corner and select settings.
- select the account whose notification settings you want to change.
- select notifications in the “notifications” section and touch all.
- Go back to the “notifications” section, tap manage notifications, turn on show notifications, and select alerts notification delivery. .
- go to settings, select gmail, select notifications and turn on allow notifications.
- open gmail, tap the hamburger menu icon in the upper left corner and select settings.
- select the email account email whose notification settings you want to change.
- Scroll down to the “notifications” section and select the type of emails you want to receive notifications about.
- select the gear icon next to the search bar and select view all settings.
- On the general tab, scroll down to the “desktop notifications” section and select click here to enable desktop notifications for gmail.
- select allow in the “show notifications” message that appears below the address bar.
- Next, choose new mail notifications on or important mail notifications on and then select a preferred notification alert under the sounds of mail notification. strong> dropdown menu.
- Open the ios or ipados app switcher: swipe up from the bottom to the middle of your device’s screen.
- Locate gmail and swipe up on the app preview. that will force close gmail on your iphone or ipad.
- Go to your device’s home screen or app library, reopen gmail and see if it now works as expected.
- Go to your device’s home screen or app launcher, press and hold the gmail app icon, and select the information icon.
- Tap force stop, select ok on the confirmation message, and tap open to restart gmail.
- go to settings > apps and notifications apps > view all apps (or app info) > gmail and select storage & cache.
- click the clear cache option.
- Click clear storage (or clear data) and select ok at the confirmation message.
7. check gmail notification settings
If gmail doesn’t deliver notifications of new emails on your device, check your account settings and select the type of emails you want to receive notifications about. Similarly, make sure gmail notification is enabled at system level.
change gmail notification settings on android
Open the gmail app on your device and follow the steps to check and change your email notification settings.
change gmail notification settings on ios
first, you need to make sure gmail notification is allowed in your iphone settings menu. then open the gmail app and set your inbox notification preferences.
make sure to also enable sounds, badges, lock screen, notification center and >banners in the “alerts” section.
the all new mail option will send notifications for all new emails in your inbox, while “main only” will only notify you about new emails in the main section of your inbox input. select high priority only if you want to receive notifications for emails that gmail identifies as high priority.
change gmail notification settings on the web
Open your gmail inbox in a web browser and follow the steps below.
8. force close and reopen gmail
Forcing gmail to close on your mobile device can resolve temporary system crashes that cause the app to crash, crash, or become unresponsive.
force close gmail on iphone or ipad
The steps to force close an app depend on your iPhone or iPad model.
if your iphone or ipad has a home button, double-click the button to open the app switcher.
force close gmail on android
Follow the steps below to force close gmail on an android device.
or, open the settings app, go to app & notifications > view all apps (or app info) and select gmail.
If the problem persists, please clear the app’s cache file and storage data and try again. go to the next section for detailed instructions.
9. clear gmail cache & application data
The accumulation of corrupted cache files and app data could cause the gmail app to crash and display other forms of malfunctions.
force close gmail and follow the steps below to clear the app’s cache and storage data.
Open gmail and see if it now works properly. otherwise, delete your device’s gmail data if clearing its caching doesn’t resolve the issue.
Please note that you will need to re-do all customizations made to gmail (eg notification settings, theme, swipe actions, etc.) after clearing app data.
10. update gmail
software bugs or device incompatibility are notable causes of failure. You may encounter problems using gmail if the version of the app installed on your device is outdated or incompatible with your device.
Go to your device’s app store (google play store or apple app store) and update gmail to the latest version. If the problem persists, uninstall and reinstall gmail from your device. that might also help resolve minor performance issues.
11. reboot your device
do you have the latest version of gmail on your device? Gmail still not working properly after updating the app? restarting your device might fix the problem. turn off your device, turn it back on, and try using gmail again.
contact google support
If none of these solutions fix your problem, please visit the gmail help center for more possible solutions to gmail problems.