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Android Stuck in Google Play Update Loop

Android Stuck in Google Play Update Loop

May 1, 2018 by Mitch Bartlett 34 Comments

Android users may encounter a situation where the Google Play app on their Android device continually prompts “This app won’t run unless you update Google Play services.” Despite attempting to update, this prompt keeps appearing and is stuck in a loop.

To solve this problem, follow these steps:

  1. From the Home screen, open your apps, then choose “Settings“.
  2. Select “Apps“.
  3. Scroll down and tap “Google Play Store“.
  4. Choose “Storage“.
  5. Select “Clear Data“.

Restart the phone, and you should no longer be stuck in a loop with the prompt to update Google Play.

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Filed Under: Android

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alan says

    January 21, 2023 at 7:35 pm

    I cleared my Google Play storage and that fixed it.

    Thanks very much!

    Alan

  2. JRA108 says

    November 13, 2022 at 4:10 pm

    My updates were stuck at pending, While in play store with pending update on screen, I turned off WiFi and it switched to installing after a couple seconds! Apps all updated completely after that! Thanks for the hints that led me to try it…

  3. liam says

    October 31, 2022 at 5:52 am

    31/10/2022
    device: Samsung galaxy A21s

    menu walkthrough:

    settings > google(google services)> settings for google apps> google pay

    this should allow you to add or update your cards and will enable you to use them without having the app open as this seems more of a bypass than a fix

  4. Salomon says

    April 1, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    Nothing worked.

    My Google Pay says it’s updating, blocking transaction history (still works to pay with contactless visa). I’ve tried the account switcheroo, re-installing, clearing cache and storage … nothing works. :(

  5. sarah says

    March 17, 2022 at 10:01 pm

    Hello everyone,

    I tried everything from clearing cache & data, to turning the phone and wifi on/off, to airplane mode, etc. The only thing that worked for me was turning on airplane mode long enough to switch to another persons google account. Not sure if it will be a long-term fix but it worked long enough for me to download 2 apps I needed.

  6. Kate says

    February 27, 2022 at 10:20 am

    Thabk you so so much. Second comment saying turn off wifi and swwitch back worked on my phone

  7. Luna Lycan22 says

    February 10, 2022 at 10:39 am

    it didn’t do anything to fix it, it just made it worse

  8. Riz says

    January 7, 2022 at 7:16 pm

    I cleared all my emails except for 1 and the play store started working again

  9. OnePlus Owner says

    January 6, 2022 at 4:07 pm

    Had the same problem on my OnePlus 5.
    Solved by:
    1) Turn off internet connection (WiFi & data).
    2) Start Play Store.
    3) Switch to another Google account in the app. It will complain about no internet access. Turn on the WiFi/data.
    4) Goto app updates and apply all outstanding updates.
    5) Switch back to the original Google account.

  10. jose espinoza says

    November 21, 2021 at 6:20 am

    I changed my Google user, and it worked. Before that I could stop the loop working in airplane mode. It looks like it is a problem trying to update the app.

  11. Dana McIntyre says

    November 13, 2021 at 4:50 pm

    Nothing I read worked for me. I placed my phone in airplane mode, started “play store”, was able to get into setting. Change the setting and got out of the loop. I believe I had to turn off updates.

  12. Cary says

    November 2, 2021 at 4:41 pm

    clearing the cache will allow it to work for a few minutes but then it will start cycling off and on again. so frustrating.

  13. inna says

    October 23, 2021 at 2:43 am

    turning off and on my Wi-Fi worked for me.

  14. Its me says

    October 14, 2021 at 12:22 am

    Still looping . Apps want to update but cant.

  15. Navneet says

    October 2, 2021 at 12:17 am

    Thanks Kate… Your solution from below post worked for me as well… Thanks a lot..

    Kate
    June 16, 2021 at 2:49 pm
    I somehow found a solution but I doubt it’ll work on all phones. I tried EVERYTHING to get it to work, everything in this thread and then some. I found it really frustrating that Google also disabled any forums about this topic…almost like this is intentional (maybe to get you to buy a new phone?)

    I have an LG K40 or something, pretty old. The home keys at the bottom of the screen have 3 controls and then there’s a small dot off to the left of those controls. Click that dot a couple times. Idk why this worked because that dot controls the screen rotation and nothing else, but it worked for some reason. The crazy this is, I was having this same problem on my backup phone, an old moto with the same dot in the home controls. Whatever I did to fix it on my LG, fixed it on my moto also. Somehow they’re connected or maybe it’s just a coincidence idk, but hopefully this weird solution with help somebody else

  16. Van Gogh says

    July 16, 2021 at 1:35 pm

    I had the same issue. I went to the settings, then Google Play App, and cleared the cache. The loop has stopped. I will update this post tonight letting you know if the issue is permanently resolved.

  17. Kate says

    June 16, 2021 at 2:49 pm

    I somehow found a solution but I doubt it’ll work on all phones. I tried EVERYTHING to get it to work, everything in this thread and then some. I found it really frustrating that Google also disabled any forums about this topic…almost like this is intentional (maybe to get you to buy a new phone?)

    I have an LG K40 or something, pretty old. The home keys at the bottom of the screen have 3 controls and then there’s a small dot off to the left of those controls. Click that dot a couple times. Idk why this worked because that dot controls the screen rotation and nothing else, but it worked for some reason. The crazy this is, I was having this same problem on my backup phone, an old moto with the same dot in the home controls. Whatever I did to fix it on my LG, fixed it on my moto also. Somehow they’re connected or maybe it’s just a coincidence idk, but hopefully this weird solution with help somebody else

  18. Mary Scott Gilbert says

    May 21, 2021 at 11:05 am

    My Moto G7 Power is doing the exact same thing. I cleared cache, storage in all my apps including Google Play. Rebooted the phone TO NO AVAIL.

    Any one with a fix please let me know.

  19. Sharanya says

    May 14, 2021 at 11:18 am

    I tried but it did not work. This is so aggravating.

  20. Jauqe says

    March 31, 2021 at 12:58 am

    So, I basically stripped the play store of all it’s power like even access to storage and that did it

  21. HDulick says

    January 30, 2021 at 7:09 am

    This is such an aggravating issue! It’s been happening to me for months on my Samsung Galaxy Note 10+. I can’t update any of my apps. Sometimes I get it to work by clearing my data and cache and uninsralling the latest Google play update but then it starts again the very next day again. Other times I do those same steps and it continues to loop once I try to open Google play store.

  22. Dutton Vought says

    November 23, 2020 at 8:00 pm

    Did. Not work. Did it 3 times.

    Still says must login to Google play.

  23. Con says

    August 9, 2020 at 3:26 am

    I had the same problem and connected to google play through another phones hotspot, problem solved.

  24. Sick of Google says

    July 15, 2020 at 10:38 am

    Did not resolve my issue. We bought 10 Samsung tablets, I might just send them back. This is a ridicules amount of BS to go through to simply setup a tablet.

  25. Andrew says

    June 25, 2020 at 8:57 am

    Did not work at all. I have restarted my tablet at least 7 times, cleared cache and date multiple times, no change, still stuck in endless update

  26. Aggie Houk says

    May 31, 2020 at 1:07 pm

    Google play services is installe,but not in list in settings,co can’t access from there. When I try to open you tube,gmail or playstore,it says they need play services and its dpuodating. What to do? Cleared cache&data of playstore, & restarted. Can’t access play services aaanywhere.

  27. alec says

    August 23, 2018 at 5:01 pm

    nor me. It is in a loop at start up after reset and no way to get to settings.

  28. Carl-Johan Svensson says

    February 14, 2018 at 3:12 am

    Did NOT work for me. Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Android 6.0.1 (yes I did clear and then restart phone)

  29. AJDiaz says

    January 26, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    For me, what worked was switching to a different WiFi. Apparently this update was using something that my normal WiFi did not like. Not sure what. Perhaps a different port. Perhaps bad SSL. Not sure. But I switched to a WiFi that was more open, and it immediately worked.

  30. Zenfone 3 says

    January 17, 2018 at 8:47 am

    The method i used is: Settings->Apps-> Reset app preferences
    And wow… apps updation statred..

  31. Kevin Oscroft says

    January 7, 2018 at 9:34 am

    Worked on my Moto G3

  32. Mitch Bartlett says

    January 7, 2018 at 8:12 am

    Hard reset?

  33. Geoff says

    January 7, 2018 at 6:24 am

    Still stuck in the loop. Any more ideas?

  34. Licantropo Vegano says

    January 6, 2018 at 1:57 pm

    Doesn’t work for me

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Who’s Behind Technipages?

Baby and Daddy My name is Mitch Bartlett. I've been working in technology for over 20 years in a wide range of tech jobs from Tech Support to Software Testing. I started this site as a technical guide for myself and it has grown into what I hope is a useful reference for all.

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