Google Play “No Connection – Retry” Problem
There often comes a time when you are tinkering with the latest
Android apps and suddenly Google Play market pops up annoying “No
Connection, Retry” error message even though your WiFi/3G/LTE connection
is working smoothly and all the other internet apps are running fine.
When I first experienced this problem, I had no clue what made all
Google Play services including Gmail, Play Movies, Music, Magazines stop
working. I tried to use different WiFi connection, VPN’s, changed DNS
servers, restarted my Android phone but still no avail. Then finally,
after hours of struggle I came up with solution which one would have
never thought of.
How to fix Play Store “No Connection, Retry” Error
Here’s a list of common solutions to this problem, do these steps until the error message disappears.
1. Fix Date and Time Settings
It works 80 percent of the time. Google Play Services sync with their
master servers to send and receive data, to do this your device time
and date should be correctly set. I used to change time settings to cheat extra lives on Candy Crash Saga and later that turned out to be the main culprit behind connection error issue.
- Go to Settings > Date & Time
- Check Automatic date & time
- Or alternatively, you can set time by yourself, just make sure it is correct.
2. Clear Google Play Store App Cache
Android OS keeps cache of Google Play Store items in order to quickly
serve content to users and to save bandwidth at same time. Sometimes it
causes issues and could be one of the reasons behind connection error.
It is wise to clear cache and restart the Play Store. By doing this, not
only it will resolve the issue but it will also serve you recent/fresh
apps for download and purchase
- Go to Settings > Apps
- Swipe right to ALL
- Scroll down and tap Google Play Store
- Press Clear Data button and tap OK
3. Change or Re-login your Google Account
If you previously changed the security settings or password of your
Google account. You need to update the account settings on your Android
device. Also, you can switch to other account.
- Go to Settings > Accounts > Google
- Tap your primary Google account
- Open options from right top corner, click remove account.
- Now open Play Store, it will ask you to login your Google account again.
4. Uninstall Updates
Sometimes Google Play Store updates automatically and makes changes
without user permission. If the above mentioned steps don’t help you,
use the “uninstall updates” option of Play Store app, it will revert to
previous version and may also fix the problem.
- Go to Google Play App settings (refer to Step #2)
- Press Uninstall Updates
5. Remove any proxy or VPN software
Remove any existing proxy or VPN services and connect directly to the internet before accessing Play Store.
- Go to Wireless & Network, modify your WiFi settings, go to advanced options and remove any proxy servers.
- Disconnect any VPN connection or apps you have running in background.
6. Delete hosts file
For advanced users only. If you rooted your Android device, do the following.
- Open File Manager App.
- Browse to root/system/etc.
- Delete hosts.txt file
7. Factory Reset your Phone/Tablet
This comes as a last resort. If anything mentioned above does not
work. It’s time to do a full factory reset to your phone. It will clear
everything and put your device in its original condition. Make sure you
back-up your contacts and files before you perform a reset, else you will lose everything.
- Go to Settings > Backup & reset
- Click Factory Data Reset
If the all the solutions don’t help, please contact your ISP if they
are blocking Google IP addresses. You may also want to visit the service
center of your Android phone/tablet manufacturer. If you have any tips
related to this issue, post a comment.
