Top 15 Fixes For Google Play Store Waiting For Download Issue

So you want to download an app from Google Play Store but unfortunately, the download is stuck and showing you pending or it simply shows you an unable to download error. Don’t worry, you are not the only one who is facing this issue but every second, thousands of people report this issue to Google Playstore.

You also must have reported an issue to Google Playstore, right? People say this issue occurs irrespective of the device whereas some people say this is a device-specific issue.

What cause the google play store stuck on waiting for download

There could be many reasons that cause this issue like internet connection, storage, settings, etc, so are the solutions. We have a bunch of solutions to solve the google play store waiting for download issue, if one of those doesn’t work for you, keep trying next because all of them are quick and easy to troubleshoot methods. Following are the most obvious reasons to face this issue on android phones.

Low storage space

When your phone doesn’t have enough space, Google store automatically shows you that you are low on space. However, if the app size is too large, the Playstore first figures out apps specifications for a few seconds before showing you an error. At this moment, you might misunderstand that the Google Playstore is stuck at download.

Wrong date and time

This is a frequent issue on the PC that whenever your date-time is not correct, your internet doesn’t work. Though, this is also applicable to android phones.

Corrupted cache

The corrupted cache leads to generating problems with the app like connectivity, speed, loading time, and glitches.

Network issue

Whenever installing a large-sized app from Playstore, it may take a while to actually start to download an app. It depends on your internet connection how fast or slow the Playstore checks the app information and various factors on the server before downloading it.

Fix Google play store app stuck on waiting for download issue

Here are the quick and easy fixes that can potentially solve your issue. You can try any of them and check if it works or not. If it didn’t then try next until you no more face waiting for download issue.

Restart the phone

Don’t get me wrong but this should be your first preference to fix the Playstore download waiting issue. In many cases, due to some internal system issues, glitches occur which get cleared when you restart your phone.

Check if apps are updating in the background

The main reason your app shows you “download pending” is, there are apps already in the update phase which means your apps are taking auto updates, and until and unless all these apps get updated, your app won’t start downloading. So, before downloading any app, make sure auto update is disabled. Follow the steps below to check if any app is updating in your play store.

• Open Playstore and click on your profile icon at the top right corner.
• Click on “manage apps & devices” > “updates”
• Here you will see all the pending downloads or app updates. If you have enabled the auto-update feature then all the apps shown on this page will automatically start updating without your acknowledgement.

• You can let these apps update or stop them if you want to download another app prior to others.

Clear cache and data of Google Playstore

Almost every app stores the user data and cache in the phone storage so that every time you open an app, it won’t load some frequent data again and again. But sometimes, the cache files get corrupt and cause raising issues in the app like glitches, connectivity problems, and latency.

This might be the root of the issue with your Playstore. You just need to clear the data and cache of the Playstore app from device storage and restart the app.

• To clear the cache and app, open phone settings and click on the apps & notifications option.
• Depending on your android version and manufacturer, the options are slightly different.
• Now click on the app info option and you will see the list of apps there.
• Click on the three dots on the top right corner and select system apps which will list out all the apps including system apps.
• Now scroll down and click on Google Play Store > storage.
• Click on “clear data” and “clear cache” which will wipe out all your data including cache from your device.

Even if you clear your data, you don’t need to worry about anything because all your data in Playstore app is kept on a cloud which will restore after your login to the app.

Check Internet Connectivity

You should note that as soon as you click on the install button in Playstore, the download doesn’t start immediately. It takes time to check the app compatibility respective to your phone configuration and this process usually happens server-side. Depending on your internet speed, the process would be faster and slower. So, it is recommended to connect your phone to high-speed internet.

Free up space from phone

You don’t need to check the storage space every time before installing an app, however, sometimes Playstore doesn’t show you an error that you are running out of storage. Follow the given steps to check if you have enough space to install an app.

• open the Playstore app and click on the profile icon at the top right corner.
• Click on Manage apps & device. There you will see how much space is free on your device.
• If you want to uninstall any app then click on the storage space row. Select the apps you want to uninstall and click the bin icon at the top right corner on a new page.

• Now close the app, open it again and check now whether or not you are able to install an app without being stuck.

Reset Date and Time

As stated earlier, it is a frequent issue on the desktop that if the date & time on your machine is not correct, your internet doesn’t work. Sometimes, the same issue also occurs on the android device. So, you have to check if the time on your phone is correct or not. To reset the date and time on your phone, follow the steps given below.

• Open Settings on your phone > system > Date & time
• Mostly, you will find the date-time option in the System tab, However, a separate date-time tab is available on some devices.
• Enable Automatic Date & Time and Automatic time zone options and that’s it.

• Restart the phone and now check if you are able to download the app on Playstore.

Check app preferences in Playstore

Playstore offers you a feature to explicitly allow the Playstore to install apps on different network types like only mobile data, only wi-fi, or both mobile data and wifi. Moreover, this feature is applicable for both installing new apps as well as updating existing apps.

You can check if you have disabled the download app option on mobile data by following the given steps.

• Open the Playstore app and click on the profile icon at the top right corner.
• Click on settings and there you will see the option Network Preferences. Click on it.
• You have multiple options there. Click on the App Download preference option and on the pop-up screen, you will see three options. If you have access to both mobile data and wifi then you may choose “over any network”.

• The same goes for the “Auto-update app” option also which is right below the “app download preference” option.

Turn off parental control

Parental control is one of the best features of the Google Playstore because it lets you set content restrictions on apps, games, and movies in the Playstore app. This is a useful feature for the parents because it will protect your child/ren from installing restricted apps and games.

To check if your Playstore is enabled with the parental control option, follow the below steps.

• Open Playstore and click on the profile icon at the top right corner.
• Click on settings > family > parental controls.
• If this option is turned on, turn it off to allow you to install any type of app in the Playstore.

• That’s it. Now restart the Playstore and install whatever app you want to.

Allow all permissions to Playstore

To download and install any app or game on your phone, the Playstore needs various permission in order to proceed further. If any of those permissions are not granted, the Playstore will not be able to install any app and it will remain stuck on waiting for download.

You can check and grant necessary permissions by following the steps.

• Open settings > apps & notifications.
• Click on the three dots at the top right corner and choose show system apps.
• Scroll down and click on the Google PlayStore.
• On a new page, click on the storage “permissions” option.
• Turn on all options available there which will grant Playstore to perform app download.

• Now restart the Playstore and check if you are able to install an app or not.

Clear cache and data of Download Manager

The download manager is the system application in your android which helps to download and manage the apps and files from Playstore, other apps or browsers. In case if there is a problem with the download manager, it will affect the applications too.

This problem can be overcome using clearing data and cache of the download manager app from settings. To clear the cache and data of a download manager, follow the same steps given for clearing the cache and data of Playstore.

Update android System Webview

Android System WebView is the preinstalled app on your android device. It is basically a system component that is powered by Google Chrome and allows android apps to display web content. It is recommended to keep it up to date to have the latest security updates and bug fixes.

In most cases, WebView gets updated automatically. However, exceptions happen which prevent the WebView app from getting the latest updates. You can check if your Android System WebView is up to date by searching it in Playstore. If it’s not, then simply update and restart the phone to check whether or not you can download apps successfully.

Disable VPN if any is active

Sometimes VPN seriously affects an application’s performance. Some apps are developed to work against VPN and ad-blockers, which is one reason why your apps download is stuck.

So, if you have a VPN activated, try disabling it and then install an app on Playstore, it should work fine.

Reset App Preferences

App preferences are nothing a but set of settings that are explicitly set or edited to change the default behavior of an app. However, changing the default app preferences leads to bugs and glitches in an app like a sync problem, not downloading in-app content, etc.

To reset all the app preferences to the default, follow the steps given below.

• Open setting > Apps & notifications
• Open the apps list and click on the three dots at the top right corner.
• Click on the “Reset App Preferences” option which will reset the settings of all apps present on your phone.

• This may remove the issue now and you will be able to install the apps without any problem.

Uninstall Play store updates and reinstall it

If none of the above solutions worked for you, try uninstalling all the updates of Playstore and let it reinstall all the updates. Note that Playstore won’t be uninstalled from your phone, it will only uninstall its latest updates and get an older version. To uninstall the updates, follow the steps below.

• Open settings > Apps & notifications > open app list.
• Click on three dots at the top right corner > system apps > scroll and find Google Playstore > click on it
• On the new screen, click on the three dots at the top right corner > uninstall updates
• Now, Playstore will uninstall all the updates by itself and reinstall the new updates automatically.

• Wait for a few minutes to let the Google Playstore and Play Services update to the latest.
• Now open the Playstore app and sign in using your Google account to proceed further.

Turn off Call, Bluetooth

I have experienced this issue on my phone. It’s a device-specific issue as some people also reported the same issue happening with their phones. Some Samsung device users reported that turning on Bluetooth prevents installing an app from Playstore while some reported that Playstore doesn’t install an app if any call is active.

As per my experience, some apps on my android phone don’t work while I am on call, however, the internet works totally fine. So, it is encouraged to turn off calls and Bluetooth while installing apps on Playstore.

Final Words

Here are all the possible solutions that work for the google Playstore downloading issue. If none of them works, you have two more options. Either you can download apps from the browser from the official and legal sources or you can factory reset your phone after taking proper backup of all files. If you have any other solution that worked for you, do suggest us in the comment section.

Frequently Asked Questions