Google Play Store is the apps control manager of any android phone. It provides an interface to manage apps’ download, updates, memory usage, and more. It also helps in getting you games, TV, books, movies to your device with ease. And just like everything else that gets jammed unexpectedly. Google Play Store might just stop working and keeps showing you some error message. Probably this has happened to you or you are experiencing it now. Nevertheless, there are steps you can follow to solve any of the Play Store problems. Although, even if you have never encountered any of these common problems before. Having the knowledge on what to do will help you or someone else when the need arises.

Note: How to solve common Google Play Store problems[/b] These step by step guides may vary slightly depending on your device and Android version. Here I am using Android version 8.0 for the illustrations.

Google apps just won’t update
The apps in your phone might stop updating and you just don’t know why. Furthermore, you open the Play Store and tap on update; it shows you downloading and keeps rolling. This it does continuously and still won’t download you any updated file until you decided to end the process.

To fix this: Go to Settings > Apps & notification > App info. At the top right corner, tap the three vertical dots and tap on Reset app preferences. This will fix the problem and reset all apps to their default state without you losing any data.









Google Play Store not working but showing Error Codes instead
Sometimes the Play Store may crash and simply won’t open. You try to do everything you can but it keeps showing you some error codes which you don’t understand. You try harder but the error code just won’t stop popping out. This problem can be solved by one of the listed solutions below.

.Stop Google Play and wipe its cache and/or data file
.Switch your connection from data to Wi-Fi
.Uninstall Play Store updates and re-update again
.Remove and re-add your Google account
.Register your device with Google

By walking through any of these steps, you’ll be able to resolve majority of Google Play Store problems.

Caution: These solutions are pertaining to non rooted devices. Rooted device changes Android’s system files and thus call for a different approach. If your phone is rooted, you’ll require more experience and effort to solve issues as related to these.

Stop Play Store, wipe Cache and Data
Google Play Store relies on other processes that are silently running in the background. You will have to wipe the Play Store cache and data. Also, you should do the same with Google Play Services and Google Services Framework.

To fix this: open Google Play Store. Select Force Stop; this will kill the app’s process. Tap on Storage to get more options. On the next screen, tap Clear Cache. This will remove temporary data and hopefully, the problem might be fixed.










You can go even further to clear all data. To do this, tap on Manage Space. On the resulting screen, tap Clear All Data. This will essentially reset the app to its original form and also cleared its cache as a result. You may be required to reenter your login information.





If the problem persists, try doing the same for Google Play services and Google Services Framework. If after this and the problem is still unsolved, try the next solution.

Switch your connection from data to Wi-Fi
Having an unreliable internet connection will cause some apps unable to be installed. If your mobile data is unreliable, switch to a reliable Wi-Fi and try it out. Although, at other times, you might try switching from a Wi-Fi to a mobile data and reattempt installation and see if the problem is fix.
Finally, if you use a VPN, you should disable the app and try fixing the problem. VPN can sometimes cause issues with your Play Store downloads.

Uninstall Play Store updates and re-update again
Unlike a rooted device that you have the option to uninstall Google Play Store, you do not have such liberty with a non rooted phone. Anyways you can uninstall Play Store updates; this is almost the same as uninstalling Play Store.

To do this: go to Settings > Apps & notifications > App info. Select Google Play Store from the list and tap. On the next page, tap the three vertical dots on the top right corner of your page and tap Uninstall updates. This process will return the Play Store app to its original state. Whereafter you can search for and update your Play Store.





Remove and re-add your Google account
To remove and re-add your Google account isn’t a difficult feat. Although, you need to take caution, for doing this will wipe your personal data from your device which were synced with your Google account. These personal data could include your photos, videos, contacts and more.
To do this: go to Settings > Accounts. Pick the particular account that’s experiencing issues. Tap on Remove account to erase it. You can also remove multiple accounts if they all suffer from the problem.





When done, restart your phone and add back your accounts.

Register your device with Google
Google gives out Android’s license to OEM manufacturers before they can use Android on their phones. Google also constrain phones whose manufacturer fails to obtain a license to use Android. In such cases, Google might completely stop its Play Store from working in such phones. In other cases, some Google-branded apps like Gmail or Google Maps won’t run by the Play Store. This might cause you to see Error Code 501 or a warning that you own an unlicensed device. You may be a victim of this issue and still might not receive any of these error messages. Anyways, the good news is, Google now allows unlicensed devices access to its Play Store. The process is easy and you can get the information online.

Final words
We hope one of the methods was useful and got you up and running. The tips are illustrated in a step by step ways on how you can fix common Play Store error issues yourself. Although, if you still found the problem unresolved. We advise you to look up a list of Play Store Error Codes https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2733038 compiled by an XDA user. The list contains 20 Error code numbers and the exact solution to use for it.

Source: https://techablaze.com/blog/how-to-solve-common-google-play-store-problems/