Apps Not Updating On Android? 18 Best Fixes

Are your Apps Not Updating on Android suddenly? 

Updating Apps can be a pain, it can be palpitating and unfortunately, some apps don’t update at all.

This stops you from enjoying the new features of your applications which might also have some vital bug fixes.

Do not panic. 

There are some solutions as well as a list of common and not-so-common mistakes you make when trying to update your apps on the android app store.

18 Solutions When Apps Not Updating on Android

1. Ensure Internet Connectivity
2. Restart your android device.
3. Log out from your Google account. 
4. Try uninstalling and reinstalling the applications. 
5. Turn off your device’s Bluetooth
6. Close and reopen the Google Play store
7. Clear Cache and Clear Data
8. Force stop google play store
9. Clear Google services and other services data from your android.
10. Have a look at the auto-update settings
11. Check the Device’s Storage
12. Check the date and time. 
13. Uninstall google play store updates.
14. Check the Disabled apps
15. Disable the Battery Optimization Setting of your phone
16. Update your device
17. Reset your device back to factory settings
18. Reboot Your device

1. Ensure Internet Connectivity

I know it sounds silly, but trust me that this is one of the most common reasons why people’s applications don’t get upgraded.

So first and foremost thing to do when you want to update your apps is to ensure a strong internet connection.

Weak connection creates issues on your updates and so as to remove this option on your way to finding out your problem, here are the troubleshooting steps you can follow-

1.  Check in the play store about the in-app settings.

2. Additionally, make certain that your google play store has all necessary permissions-  Open settings on your android> Tap on apps > Tap on all apps > Click on Play store > Select permissions and give all permissions.

3. Check whether or not your proxy or VPN is disabled. If not, make sure it is.

Once, you have performed the above functions, it wouldn’t hurt to check whether the internet network is strong or not. Your apps won’t update if the internet bandwidth is too low or when you don’t have strong wi-fi. 

First, pull down the notification window on your phone to check if the wifi and the mobile data are switched on or not.

Further, open a tab on chrome and type out something, if it takes more than 15 seconds to load, the problem might be the internet.

Try using another internet connection or your mobile data for such cases.

You should also try switching on and off the airplane mode if apps still do not get upgraded. Move on to the other options listed below if this does not seem to be the reason.

2. Restart your Android device

Before we move on to some of the complicated methods, I urge you to give it a shot at this method. 

This method however is not a permanent solution to your problem-

1. Press the power button of your phone for a couple of seconds and wait for the options to display on the screen.

2. Among the options, press restart.

Try updating again once you restart your phone.

If there’s still a problem, don’t lose your calm and carry along the journey with us.

3. Log out from your Google account

Any bug-related issue can be knocked off the table if you try out this method. You are going to the settings to remove the account and then add back your account. 

Any loss of data is rare, but still, make sure all your data is backed up in your device so you don’t lose any of your data once you log out.

The procedure is straightforward, have a look-

1.  Open settings on your android phone

2. Click on Accounts from the options

3. Choose your Google account, and remove it from your device.

4. Restart your device.

 5. Go back to the accounts menu.

5. Log back into your google account. You can do this by choosing the ‘add account’ option.

Check if the method worked out for you. If not try the other methods.

4. Try uninstalling and reinstalling the applications

Another one of the simple methods you have to knock off from your way before moving on to the complicated ones. 

When you uninstall the application and go to the play store to install the application again, it is obvious that your application will now be downloaded in its updated version.

However, you have to make sure that the data inside the application is synced to your google account and won’t get deleted when you delete the application.

You can try out this method either from the settings or just by following the simple steps given to you below-

1. Drag the applications you want to update to the home screen of your phone.

2. Long press the applications you want to update, and wait till a list is shown to you.

3. Click on “Uninstall”.

4. Go to the google play store to reinstall the applications you want.

5. Easily download the latest version of the application.

This method should do it for you, but if not, don’t worry, we have more options left for you to try.

5. Turn off your device’s Bluetooth  

A lot of users have experienced their apps not updating when their Bluetooth is switched on. 

What you can do to check if you are one of those users, is scroll down from your home screen and switch off your Bluetooth. 

You can also switch it off in the settings of your phone. 

Check whether this method works out for you.

6. Close and reopen the Google Play store

Another method that won’t hurt trying is closing the google play store from your phone.

And open it again after a few minutes. This method surprisingly works out for a lot of people out there.

7. Clear Cache and Clear Data

The play store on your mobile might have corrupt data preventing your apps from getting upgraded. 

So a solution to this would be to clear the google play store cache and data from your google play store. A different solution would be force stopping the play store. 

But before you perform this step, make sure all your important stuff is backed up.

1. Open settings.

2. Click on the google play store

3. Open the storage of this application 

4. In storage, clear the cache first and then the data of this app.

Another way to carry out this method is to long-press the play store > open the app info many displayed> go to storage & cache menu> choose clear cache 

Wiping your cache might provide you with the solution for your device, if not,  move on to the next method.

It is actually advised that you should clear the cache on your play store often to ensure no bug persists on your system.

8. Force stop google play store

Any existing bug or app issue can be removed once and for all when you force stop the functionalities of the google play store.

This will stop any problem associated with the app from preventing it from getting updated. You can force stop the google play store on your device with the following steps-

1. Go to Settings on your phone, followed by navigating to the apps section.

2. Make sure that you enable the show system apps filter in the settings.

3.  When you tap on the Google play store, you will find the force stop option on the screen. Tap on this option and force stop this app.

If this method did not work out for you, move on to the next method.

9. Clear Google services and other services data from your android

Google play store does not function individually, it relies on a variety of different applications and services. These include the google play services, network services, download manager, etc.

So if the preceding method does not work out, try navigating to these associated apps as well and clear the data on those services. 

Follow the method given below for all the supporting apps you will find in the google play store.

1. Locate all these apps individually in the settings of your device.

2. Click on the three dots that are present on the right corner of your screen.

3. Clear the cache and then the data of these applications individually.

For applications like The Download manager, you can also simply reset the app.

Go to the play store to check if you can update your apps now.

10. Have a look at the auto-update settings

This might also be a reason your apps are not getting updated. So I advise you to set app download preference on your android. 

There are chances that you might have chosen the option of not auto-updating applications or the option to update only when connected to the wifi option.

You have to change the settings to be able to get your apps downloaded.

You can execute this method by following the steps given below-

1. Open the google store on your device.

2. On the google play store, go to settings.

3. Click on “Network preferences”

4. Choose the auto-update apps settings

5. From the options shown to you, make sure that you have chosen the ” Update over any network” 

After that, your applications will get updated in case your mobile data is switched on and you don’t have a wi-fi connection. 

Using mobile data connection over your normal wi-fi connection can solve your problem.

11. Check the Device’s Storage

Another common problem you might be coming across would be the low storage on your phone.

Basically, your device won’t update the existing application or download any other applications on your phone if you’re device is running on full or almost full storage.

The smart thing is to check your device’s storage. If the storage is almost full or full, then you can remove the unnecessary stuff you might have on your device that is taking up your storage and free up space for your updates.

In order to check, go to settings> go to storage.

Check whether you at least have 15% of storage freed up so you can update apps without any problems.

12. Check the date and time

In some cases, when the date and time on your device are not correct, the google play store can act differently.

This is because the Google servers have a tough time syncing the real-time date to your device leading to delays in your updates.  Not only Google, but the difficulty also passes on to the third-party app you may want to update.

This happens quite often with people who travel frequently and their mobiles are not always adjusted to the current time zones. Follow the steps to adhere to this issue-

1. Go to the ‘General Management’ option on the settings of your android phone.

2. Choose the option ‘Date & Time’

3. Make sure you activate the ‘Set time zone automatically’ option or the option ‘ Use network provided time-zone”

You can also set the dates and times manually (yourself).

Although you have to make sure that you do it with maximum accuracy. 

If this method does not work out, we have more options for you to try out.

13. Uninstall google play store updates

Sometimes the real issue does not lie on your phone or a bug on your application but simply because a play store update has come up. 

The thing is, that you can never uninstall the play store itself but you can uninstall just the updates.

1. Open settings on your android ( you can also long-press the play store icon in the menu for the procedure)

2. Navigate to the “all apps” section and choose the google play store app.

3. Click the three dots present in the top right corner of your screen.

4. Uninstall updates on your phone. Tap OK to confirm.

5. Afterwards, go on to google play to reinstall the updated version of the android phone.

6. Tap the menu icon in the app.

7. Go to the settings and reinstall the updates

Try updating the apps and check whether this method resolves your issue

14. Check the Disabled apps

Apps don’t always operate independently. 

They need the assistance of other apps and services to operate. The google play store is such an example.

If you have disabled any app that might hinder the working of the Google Play store, you need to revert your action back and ensure that this is not what is hampering your app updates.

1. Scroll down to ‘Apps and notifications’ on the settings of your android phone.
2. Tap on the ‘See all apps’ option and see the options presented to you.
3. You will see a dropdown screen if any apps are disabled and vice versa if not.
4. In the case of the dropdown list, choose “Disabled apps”
5. If there’s a list of these apps, just go on and enable them.

See if this method solves your problem, if not, let me take you right into the next option.

15. Disable the Battery Optimization Setting of your phone

If your device is on battery optimization mode, then various functionalities of your phone get restricted. One of these restrictions might just be the reason why your apps aren’t updating.

To fix this issue follow the steps-

1. Open Settings on your phone
2. Find the “apps” option and tap on that.
3. Find The google play store.
4. Tap on the battery option next, and optimize battery usage next.

5. On the screen presented right next make sure that the feature of battery optimization is disabled for the play store.

16. Update your device

Just like your applications, your android phone also gets regular updates.

You have to make certain whether your device is on its latest update or not.  

To check if you have an update on hold or not, perform these steps-

1. Go to settings on the device.
2. Scroll down and select ‘System’
3. Choose the ‘Advanced’ option.
4. Click on System Update to check if you have an update waiting or not.

17. Reset your settings ( not reboot)

This method won’t have any threat to any of your existing data, you can be sure that it will be safe.

This method will just reset all your app download preferences, permissions, restrictions, etc that you would have set when you started off with the phone. 

Any hidden defect will be sorted out with this method. One drawback is that you will have to set all your settings once again after you’ve reset them.

1.  Go to the general management option present on the settings of your phone.

2. Tap on the reset option. After that tap on “Reset network settings”.

3. You might have to enter a security pin/biometrics/password in the next step.

4. Wait for the settings to reset.

If this does not work out, we have the last option waiting for you. 

18. Reboot Your device

 Push has come to shove and our last option is to reboot your android phone.

However, this method will be the need of the hour if none of the other methods work out.

Ensure that all of your data is backed up and then have a look at how you are going to do this-

1. Open the settings on your device and scroll down in the settings menu to find the system option. Tap on that.

2. Click on backup and reset.

3. Choose the option to erase all data, the “Factory reset” reset option.

4. A confirmation option will come up.  Choose that to factory reset your device.

The process is definitely a lot of trouble and preferably only for those who have shifted to a new device. 

You should also remember that if you have a new android, it’s probably best to give it time as the phone is setting up other parts and pieces of your phone as well. 

The updates might be delayed just because of that you don’t need to reboot your phone in a haste due to worry.

Conclusion

Android has close to 4 million apps available on Google Playstore and hundreds of new apps are being added every day.  And many of these applications are not as bug-free as they are claimed to be.

So, here was a list of some solutions and ways you can update apps on your android device in case of a problem. 

I wish that we solved your issue! 

FAQs