Unable to download apps on your Android smartphone? Here’s how to fix it

Not being able to download an app from Google Play Store despite internet connectivity or enough storage available on the smartphone is one of the most common issues faced by Android smartphone users. In case, you are facing a similar problem where you are unable to download an app or update the app using Play Store, we have put together some of the reasons behind the issue and their fix. Read on to find out your problem and fix for it.

First things first:

Before proceeding any further, make sure to check whether the smartphone is connected to a working internet or not. Sometimes it happens that the internet is not working and hence, Google Play Store keeps showing the Pending option.

Another important factor is some app with relatively bigger file size ask for the Wi-Fi connectivity to download the app. In this case, either uncheck the ‘Download over Wi-Fi’ option at the download confirmation popup window or connect the smartphone to a Wi-Fi network to download the app.

If you have gone through the steps mentioned above and checked all the factors and still unable to download an app from the Play Store, follow the steps.

Clear the cache & data of the Play Store

Clearing the cache and data of the Play Store helps to clear the unnecessary clutter from the Play Store app and might help to fix the issue.

1.Open Settings app on the smartphone

2.Head to the ‘Applications’ or ‘Apps’ option

3.Look for Google Play Store app and tap on it

4.Now, tap on the Storage option and hit the Clear Cache option

5.After this, tap on the ‘Clear data’ option

6.Once done, open the Play Store and try downloading any app

There is one more factor to keep in mind. Sometimes, if a user has just completed setting up their Android smartphone and then try to download an app, the Play Store shows pending message because the Google Account is in sync mode or downloading the apps associated with the account already. In this case, wait for the download or sync to finish and then try to download the app.