If you’re having trouble syncing your Gmail app, you might not be able to do basic things like reading, sending, or getting emails. Here, we’ve got fixes that actually work.

Why Gmail Isn’t Syncing

It’s not always easy to identify the exact cause of syncing issues. Some reasons that these troubleshooting steps will address include the following:

• Automated syncing is turned off
• Google’s servers are offline
• You’re offline
• The password is wrong
• The app has unresolved bugs
• There’s an issue with the app cache

How to Fix Gmail Not Syncing on Android

The most common cause of syncing problems with Gmail is between the main account and the Android app.

Follow these steps to sync Gmail with your Android device:

1. Perform a manual sync. Open the Gmail app and swipe from the top of the screen to the bottom.

   Manually syncing Gmail is handy if you only check it periodically on a single device.

2. See if Gmail is down. Google provides a way to see if there are any known issues with their email service. If there are, there’s nothing you can do but wait.

3. Verify that you’re online. You must have an active data connection, whether it’s Wi-Fi or mobile data, for Gmail to pull down new mail from the server.

   Disable Airplane Mode if it’s turned on. Airplane Mode turns off internet and data connections and prevents Gmail from syncing with mobile devices.

4. Restart your device. Sometimes a restart is all it takes to get a smartphone or tablet to work properly.

5. Enable automated sync. If you prefer not to sync manually, you can automate this in the settings. Open the app and tap the three-lined menu > Settings. Choose your account and then, from the Data usage section, tick the box next to Sync Gmail.

6. Check your password. This is really only necessary if you changed your password recently. If you can’t log in to the Gmail website with the same password you’re using in the app, then the reason Gmail won’t sync is that it’s not using the right password; change your Gmail password on both devices.

7. Update the app. Downloading the latest version of Gmail may fix problems with syncing if the issue stems from a software bug.

8. Clear the Gmail app’s cached data. This is often a fix for a corrupted cache, which could be contributing to the syncing problems.

   Deleting this data will not erase emails from your Gmail account. However, it is possible for local drafts or other items that aren’t synced with Gmail to be deleted during this process.

How to Fix It When Gmail Won’t Sync on iPhone or iPad

Follow these steps if you use the official Gmail app on iOS/iPadOS or if your Gmail account is set up in the Mail app. While some of the same troubleshooting steps for Android apply here, a few fixes are specific to Apple devices.

1. Make sure IMAP is enabled. IMAP is the technology Gmail uses to send emails from its mail server to the device. It should be enabled by default, but if that changes for some reason, re-enable it.

2. Check your push settings. If your Gmail account in iOS Mail is set to sync manually, then the app will only fetch new emails when you’re using it, which can slow things down.

3. Make sure the device is online. Verify that mobile data is turned on or that the device is connected to Wi-Fi.

4. Check if the app needs an update. Sometimes a pending app update interferes with data syncing.

5. Restart your iPhone. Restarting can solve this and many other problems.

6. Reinstall the Gmail App. Delete the Gmail app from your iOS device and then reinstall it from the App Store.

7. Remove your account. Sometimes you just have to start again by deleting your account and setting it up again (don’t worry, it doesn’t take long).

   Deleting your account only removes its tie to your Apple device. This will not erase your emails or delete your Gmail account from Google’s servers.