Google Play Store is the heart and soul of Android. It’s been an integral part of the platform since the beginning and an irreplaceable puzzle piece bringing the well-known user experience with millions of available apps. However, the significance of the Google Play Store makes even small issues quite troublesome. Users reported that Google Play Store keeps crashing on Android 12.
If you are among the affected users, try to solve the problem by following the steps we provided below.
Table of contents:
- Clear cache and data from Google Play Store
- Clear cache and data from related system services
- Rollback to an older version of the Store
- Sign out and sign in again with your Google Account
- Reset the device to factory settings
Why does my Google Play Store app keep closing?
1. Clear cache and data from Google Play Store
Let’s start by clearing the locally-stored cache and data from the Google Play Store. There might be a problem caused by updating to Android 12. OTA updates of major upgrades are not always working as intended and can result in many issues.
So, the simplest way to tackle this is to start by removing cache and data from Google’s native Play Store. Here’s what you need to do:
- Open Settings.
- Choose Apps & notifications.
- Select All apps.
- Navigate to Google Play Store.
- Open Storage.
- Clear storage and cache.
2. Clear cache and data from related system services
If the issue persists, there are a couple of essential services that are a crucial part of Android. Those two are Google Play Services and Google Services Framework. You’ll need to clear the cache and data from those two services, as well. Hopefully, this will resolve the problem.
Follow these instructions to clear cache and data from related system services:
- Repeat steps from the previous step until you get to All apps.
- Tap on the 3-dot menu and tap Show system.
- Navigate to Google Play Services and clear the storage.
- Now, do the same for Google Services Framework.
- Restart your device and check for improvements.
3. Rollback to an older version of the Store
You can also disable and re-enable Google Play Store in Settings. Some users managed to resolve the issue that way. However, you can also navigate to APK Mirror and download an older version of the Google Play Store. That way, issues with the latest version can be avoided.
Follow these steps to do so:
- Navigate to APK Mirror’s Google Play Store section.
- Download an older version of the Google Play Store. Make sure that the version you are downloading is supported on Android 12.
- Allow installation from external sources once prompted.
- Install APK and restart your device.
If Google Play Store keeps crashing on Android 11, make sure to continue with the steps below.
4. Sign out and sign in again with your Google Account
An alternative way to take on the problem is to sign out of your Google Account and sign in again. Sometimes, the problem lies in the connected account and it should be addressed by removing the account and signing in again.
Follow these steps to sign out/sign in to your Google Account on your Android device:
- Open Settings.
- Choose Accounts.
- Tap on Google.
- Tap Remove account.
- Restart your device and add the account again.
5. Reset the device to factory settings
Finally, if Google Play Store keeps crashing on Android 12, we can only recommend resetting your device to factory settings. After that, the problem should stop appearing. As we already mentioned, major OTA updates often cause issues that even OEMs recommend resetting your device to factory settings after you move to a newer version of Android.
Here’s how to reset your Android to factory settings in a few simple steps:
- Back up your data to Google Drive or a PC.
- Navigate again to Settings > System > Advanced and select Reset options.
- Choose Erase all data (factory reset).
- Tap Erase all data.
And, on that note, we can conclude this article. Thank you for reading and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more articles like this.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in November 2020. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.
