Even after years of updates and improvements, Play Store continues to be a hot mess on Android. Sometimes the app fails at completing setup; other times, users face ‘something went wrong, try again’ error. If you are facing the same problem, let’s troubleshoot the issue.
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Troubleshooting and Solutions for the Error
Several factors cause the ‘something went wrong, try again’ error in the Google Play Store. In this article, we will discuss every possible method and fix the issue for you.
1. Try Again
The error message itself is telling you to do this! Sometimes, the Play Store just has a little hiccup – maybe a tiny network stumble or a momentary brain fart on Google’s end. Before you go digging into settings, just give it another shot.
How to:
- Completely close the Google Play Store app. Don’t just hit the home button; swipe it away from your recent apps or however you close apps fully on your phone.
- Reopen the Google Play Store app.
- If that annoying “Try again” button is still there, tap it.
This forces the app to reconnect and try again.
2. Check Google Play Server Status
Before you go doing anything super drastic, it’s a good idea to quickly check if the problem might be with Google’s Play Store servers themselves. If there’s a widespread outage, then no amount of tinkering on your phone is going to fix it until Google gets things back up and running.
How to:
- Official Google Play Status Dashboard: You can try checking status.play.google.com. Look for any red or yellow icons indicating problems.
- Third-Party Outage Trackers: Websites like Downdetector or IsDown are also really useful. Just search for “Google Play Store” on these sites. They collect reports from users, so if you see a big spike in people saying the Play Store isn’t working, it’s a good sign it’s not just you. Check the comments too – people often describe the exact problems they’re having.
- Specific Error Codes: If you’re seeing a specific error code (like 944), a quick search online might tell you if it’s a known server issue. For example, error code 944 often points to Google’s servers being temporarily down.
Checking the server status can save you a lot of time and frustration by letting you know if you just need to sit tight and wait for Google to fix things.
3. Check Internet Connection
A slow internet connection might lead to something went wrong, try again error in the Google Play Store. Connect to a strong Wi-Fi network.
Most modern Android phones come with dual-band Wi-Fi support. Don’t connect to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi frequency; instead, establish a successful connection with 5.0GHz frequency.
You can also use apps like Speedtest and make sure that the internet speed is at least double-digit.
4. Check for and Install Android OS Updates
Your phone’s operating system (Android) gets updates now and then that include bug fixes, security improvements, and updates to core system stuff. Sometimes, these updates can also fix issues related to the Play Store or Google Play Services. If your phone’s software is old, it might have compatibility problems or unfixed bugs that are causing the “Something went wrong” error.
How to Check:
- Go to Settings > System.
- Tap on System update or Software update.
- Your phone will check if there are any updates available.
If it finds one, follow the on-screen instructions to download and install it.
Keeping your phone’s software up-to-date is generally a good idea for overall stability and security, and it can sometimes fix those pesky Play Store issues, too.
5. Restart Your Device
This is the golden rule for pretty much any tech problem. It clears out its temporary memory (RAM), closes all the apps running in the background, and reloads the operating system. This can often fix all sorts of minor software hiccups that might be messing with the Play Store.
We have covered how to Power Off, Restart, and Force Restart iPhone and Android Phones.
6. Toggle Airplane Mode
Turning Airplane Mode on and then off forces your phone to disconnect and then reconnect to cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. This can sometimes clear out little glitches in your phone’s network stuff that just toggling Wi-Fi or data alone might miss.
Here’s How:
- Swipe down from the top of your screen to bring up your Quick Settings panel.
- Tap the “Airplane mode” icon (it usually looks like an airplane). You’ll see it light up, and your Wi-Fi and cellular signals will disappear.
- Wait for about 10-15 seconds.
- Tap the “Airplane mode” icon again to turn it off.
Wait for your phone to reconnect to your Wi-Fi and/or cellular network.
7. Check Date and Time Settings
You might not think your phone’s date and time could cause Play Store errors, but it can! Google services rely on your phone having the correct time to make secure connections. If your phone’s clock is way off, especially the time zone, it can cause problems with those secure connections and lead to the “Something went wrong” message.
Here’s How to Fix That:
- Head over to your phone’s Settings.
- Scroll down and tap on System.
- Tap on Date & time.
- Make sure the switches for “Set time automatically” (or something similar like “Use network-provided time”) and “Set time zone automatically” (or “Use network-provided time zone”) are both turned on.
- If it’s already on, try turning both of them off, waiting a few seconds, and then turning them back on.
- If still having issues? As a temporary fix, you can turn off the automatic settings and manually set the correct date, time, and especially your current time zone.
But generally, keeping the automatic settings on is the best way to go. After you’ve checked or changed these settings, give it a minute or two for things to sync up, and then try the Play Store again.
8. Manually Sync Google Account
Google Play Store displaying something went wrong try again error might be due to Google account error on your Android phone. You should sync your Google ID again. Here’s how.
- Open the Settings app on your Android phone.
- Scroll down and tap on Accounts.
- Select the Google account and tap on Account sync.
- Tap on the three-dot menu at the top and select Sync now.
Wait for a couple of minutes, and then open the Google Play Store again.
9. Remove and Re-add Google Account
If the manual sync didn’t help, or if you suspect there might be a deeper issue with how your phone is talking to your Google account (like maybe some authentication stuff got messed up), then removing and then re-adding your Google account is the next step. This forces your phone to completely re-authenticate with Google and do a fresh sync of all your account data.
How to:
- Head to Settings > Accounts (or “Passwords & accounts,” “Users & accounts”).
- Tap on the Google account that’s giving you trouble.
- You should see a Remove account button or tap on the three-dot menu.
- You’ll probably get a warning – just confirm that you want to remove it. This will sign you out of all Google apps and services on your phone with that account.
- Now, go back to the main Accounts settings page.
- Tap on + Add account.
- Choose Google from the list.
- Follow the steps to sign back into your Google account using your email and password.
Give it some time to resync all your stuff (contacts, calendar, etc.). Once everything is back, try opening the Play Store.
Note: Removing your main Google account will temporarily take away things like your contacts and calendar events from your phone if they’re only stored locally and haven’t been synced to Google’s servers yet. So, make sure your important data is backed up to Google before you do this.
10. Disable VPN or Proxy
If you’re using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or a proxy server to route your internet traffic, it might sometimes interfere with your connection to the Google Play Store. This could be because the VPN or proxy server itself is having issues, or maybe Google is blocking traffic from certain VPN server addresses, or even just some weird configuration conflict.
How to Disable it:
- Disable VPN: If you have a VPN app running, open it and disconnect. You can also usually go to Settings > Network & Internet> VPN. If you see an active VPN, tap the gear icon next to it and then tap Disconnect or Forget.
- Check for Proxy: Proxies are less common, but if you’ve set one up manually, it could be the problem. Go to Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi. Tap the gear icon next to your connected Wi-Fi network, tap Modify or Edit (it might be a little pencil icon), then tap Advanced options. Look for a Proxy setting. If it’s set to “Manual,” try changing it to None.
After you’ve disabled any VPNs or proxies, try opening the Play Store again. Also, if you are using a VPN app, then try disabling that.
11. Force Stop Google Play Store
This is yet another way to fix the misbehaviors of the Google Play Store on Android phones.
- Long-press the Google Play Store icon and open the App info menu.
- Tap on Force Stop and completely stop all the Google Play Store services from the background.
- Reboot your Android phone and try accessing the Play Store again.
12. Clear Play Store Cache
Google Play Store collects cache data in the background so that it can load your frequently visited app/game pages more quickly. An access of such cache data may lead to glitches resulting in ‘something went wrong error in Google Play Store’. Follow the steps below to clear cache in Google Play Store.
- Long-press on the Play Store icon and open the app info menu.
- Go to Storage & cache menu and tap on Clear cache from the following screen.
When you open the Play Store again, you might experience a slow response as it will load apps and games from scratch. It doesn’t have the cache data to speed up things, yet.
13. Uninstall Play Store Updates
Google Play Store displaying something went wrong error might be due to the latest glitchy update for the Play Store. You need to uninstall the latest updates and go back to using the stable version.
- Long-press on the Play Store and open the app info.
- Tap on the three-dot menu at the top.
- Select Uninstall updates, and the Android OS will revert the Play Store to the previous version.
14. Install APK Files from the Web
If you are still having issues with the Google Play Store and want to access some app or game, you can always install APK files from the web directly.
Unlike the App Store on iPhone, you don’t have any limitations on adding apps from other sources on Android.
It can be difficult for some to find the latest APK files on the web. In that case, those users can use alternative app stores on Android. Samsung Galaxy users can find most apps on Galaxy Store while others can take a helping hand from Amazon App Store to install Android apps on the phone.
Just remember that installing apps outside the official Play Store comes with some security risks, so you need to be extra cautious about where you’re getting your apps from.
15. Clear Google Play Store Data
If all the things didn’t do the trick, it’s time for a slightly bigger reset: clearing the Play Store’s data. It wipes out all the local data the Play Store app has stored, including your settings within the app (it won’t remove your actual Google account from your phone), and any messed-up configuration files or databases that might be causing trouble.
How to:
- Go to Settings > Apps (or “Apps & notifications”).
- Tap on See all apps.
- Find and tap on Google Play Store.
- Tap on Storage & cache.
- This time, tap on Clear storage (or it might say Clear data).
- You’ll get a warning saying that all the app’s data will be deleted. Go ahead and tap Delete or OK to confirm.
Important things to keep in mind: This will reset any tweaks you’ve made within the Play Store app, like parental controls or how you approve purchases. You’ll need to set those up again.
16. Clear Data for Google Play Services (Use with Caution)
Clearing the data for Google Play Services is a much bigger deal than just clearing its cache, and you should only try this if nothing else has worked. This resets the whole Google Play Services framework on your phone, wiping out all its stored data and settings. While it can fix some problems, it can also cause some temporary headaches.
How to:
- Go to Settings > Apps (or “Apps & notifications”).
- Tap on See all apps.
- Find Google Play Services and tap on it.
- Tap on Storage & cache.
- Now, you might see a Manage space button or just a Clear storage button. Tap whichever one you see.
- Then, look for an option like Clear all data and tap it.
Note: You could lose things like saved passwords, transit passes or digital IDs in Google Wallet, and even have to sign back into your Google account on your phone and re-add your payment methods in Google Pay. So, proceed with caution!
Wrapping Up: Access Google Play Store Again
For the majority out there, Google Play Store remains the de facto choice to download apps and games on Android phones. The Play Store showing something went wrong error might leave you with a scratching head. The tips above should help you troubleshoot the issue.
