If you’re an Android user, your phone is hardly useful without Google Play Store. Downloading and updating apps is of the utmost importance, of course. It requires an internet connection and it’ll inform you if it fails to connect with the “Google Play is waiting for Wi-Fi” prompt, especially when downloading a large app or game. However, some users are seeing this prompt even though they can confirm both Wi-Fi and Mobile Data are working perfectly.
Why does Google Play Store gets stuck Waiting for Wi-Fi to continue large download? Logically, one would assume that the problem is an internet connection for obvious reasons. But, after some research, we realized that the problem might be a Play Store bug — one that’s especially prominent on older Android versions. There might be a problem with corrupt local data or associated Google services. If you want to use Mobile Data to download or update apps and games, make sure to allow this in Play Store settings.
Table of contents:
- Check your connection
- Clear Play Store data and cache
- Reset Google Play Store
- Update Google Play Store
- Reset Google Play Services
- Update your firmware
Why is Play Store stuck on waiting for download?
Here’s what to do if Play Store is stuck waiting for Wi-Fi to continue a large download:
- Restart your Android device and give it another try.
- Tap Cancel when prompted and then tap Download, as our reader Jan noticed. Thank you, Jan.
- Check for Wi-Fi problems. If you are on Mobile data, open Play Store > Your Account > Settings > Network preferences and allow updates and downloads over mobile data.
- Reset Google Play Store and associated services.
- Keep your system up to date.
Solution 1 – Check your connection
Let’s start with a rather obvious troubleshooting step. This might be just another of those network issues, and we need to check it to confirm that there’s nothing wrong. Of course, we’ll look into both Wi-Fi and Mobile data (4G), as the reports state that neither of those works for the Play Store.
Here are some steps we need you to follow:
- Try using any other app which depends on the connection. If everything is fine, move to Solution 2. If not, continue with the steps below.
- Restart your router.
- Restart phone.
- Navigate to Settings > Apps > Play Store > Data usage and make sure Background Data is enabled.
- Open Play Store and tap on the 3-line menu. Choose Settings and, under the App download preference, set Over any network and give it a try. Don’t forget to disable it later on to avoid data charges.
- Reset Network settings. Open Settings > Backup & reset > Network settings reset.
In case you still can’t find a solution for a potential network problem, check out our articles about Wi-Fi and Data issues on Android.
With that out on the table, let’s continue with the troubleshooting.
Solution 2 – Clear Play Store data and cache
Just as any other Android app, the Play Store app collects data and cache to speed up the loading speeds and retain your searches. However, piling up data on local storage can eventually lead to some bugs and errors.
That’s why we need you to clear all data and cache from the Play Store. Don’t worry, it won’t change a thing.
- Open Settings.
- Tap Apps (Apps Manager).
- Open the Google Play Store.
- Choose Storage.
- Clear Data and Cache.
- Restart your device and open the Play Store.
If the Store is persistent in claiming you’re not connected, move to the next step.
Solution 3 – Reset Google Play Store
As you’re probably well aware, without flashing your phone, you won’t be able to uninstall pre-installed Google apps from your phone. This concerns Google Play Store and Play Services, especially.
What you can do, on the other hand, is reset it to default values. To a version that was pre-installed on your device at the time of production.
Here’s how to do it:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Apps (Apps Manager).
- Open the Google Play Store.
- Tap on the 3-dots menu and then Uninstall updates. It’ll ask you do you want to restore the app to factory values. Confirm you do and wait until everything is done.
- Restart your handset and look for improvements.
Solution 4 – Update Google Play Store
This can be more than helpful, especially if only the current version of the Play Store app is giving you a hard time. With that said, there’s only one effective way to update Google Play Store with this error at hand.
And, for better or worse, it requires sideloading an up from the third-party source. The source is APKMirror, which is a safe and secure way to install official app releases. Don’t worry, installing APK files is perfectly safe, as long as you get it from a reliable source like APKMirror.
Here’s how to update Google Play Store with a third-party APK:
- Open Settings.
- Choose Security.
- Enable “Unknown sources“. This will allow you to install non-store apps.
- Navigate to APK Mirror with your on-phone browser.
- Download the latest version of the Play Store to your device.
- Open it and install APK.
- Restart your device and check whether the “Google Play is waiting for Wi-Fi” error is re-appearing.
Also, navigate to Settings > Security > Google Play System update and ensure that the latest patch is installed.
Solution 5 – Reset Google Play Services
Google Play Services is a vital part of every Android device. It grows larger over time, and the more apps you have the larger it’ll get. It mostly unifies all accounts and apps you’ve used those accounts to log into. This goes for the Play Store app, as well.
So, we suggest resetting Google Play Services. There are no drawbacks, except you might need to establish certain accounts for some third-party apps. Also, don’t expect its size will reduce substantially.
Here’s how to do it:
- Tap Settings.
- Choose Apps (Apps Manager).
- Open Google Play Services.
- Choose Storage > Manage storage.
- Open Manage space.
- Clear all Data.
- Get back to the app info screen and tap on the 3-dots menu.
- Uninstall updates from Google Play Services and restart your device.
If you still get the Google Play waiting for a Wi-Fi error when trying to update or download apps, try updating the firmware.
Solution 6 – Update your firmware
Finally, the only remaining thing we can recommend is updating your firmware. Some Xiaomi users reported that updating the OS helped in this matter. Afterward, they were able to access the Play Store without any errors.
Here’s how to update your OS:
- Choose Settings.
- Open System.
- Select Software update.
- Tap Check for updates.
- If there’s an update available, install it.
With that said, we can wrap it up. Don’t shy away from sharing your thoughts on this particular Play Store error, especially some alternative solutions we overlooked. Thank you for reading and make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in November 2019. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.
FAQ
What happens when you clear the Play Store cache?
Clearing the Play Store cache deletes all the temporary data the app has stored on your device. But it won't reset the app, so your login details, installed apps, and settings will remain in place.
How to uninstall the Google Play APK
If you've solved the problem with "Google Play waiting for Wi-Fi", you can delete the APK version, and switch to the original app. If you're not sure how to delete the Google Play APK, check out our article about uninstalling APK files on Android.
The 2nd option worked for me, clearing data, cache and restarting the phone. Thanks a lot!
This is why I hate US. We have perfectly working unlimited 4g and 5g connections here in Europe, but because of your capped connections every fu***** device is complaining that they want a slow wifi connection instead.
Step 1 worked!. thank you! 🤘😎
Another proof how shitty their software really is. User has totally no options as ,,download now” button etc.
It’s stupid we even have to do all this. Why doesn’t it just work????
None of the above solutions worked for me. What worked for me was pressing Cancel and then pressing Download.
Well whaddya know, that works for me, too! Thanks immensely, you’ve save me a headache and a half! I really didn’t wanna have to go through all the hoops described in this article, only to have it all fail anyway, like some have reported.
This works. Thanks.
fix: under data usage control change to allow for google play store. for some reason it was disable
This can be caused by your current wifi connection being set to “Treat as metered” You might be able to fix this issue by changing the connection to “Treat as unmetered” A simple setting in Google Play would fix this wouldn’t it Google?
Turn off automatic updates.
I don’t know how Google did it, but somehow, having auto updates turned on makes WiFi downloads impossible.
It’s not possible for one problem to have so many different solutions. It doesn’t make sense. This problem cannot be arising for such a huge range of reasons.
Downloading apps on google play works fin with my tmobile hotspot on my phone but all of a sudden the xfinity neighborhood hotspot I just paid more for for the month isn’t downloading apps like its always done fine in the past. It just stays stuck on saying waiting for download. So whats going on with it when one wifi works fine but another wifi doesnt?
It’s still the same no matter how many updates or data/cache clearing I do. I wonder if there are other ways to the download happen.
Nope,none of these is working 🙂
It still says download pending,or just downloading or just looking for Wi-Fi.None of these help
Thanks for a help, I cleaned the data and cache
I fixed the problem selling my watch.
I just fixed the problem by installing the updates. Very helpful article. Thank You
I fixed the problem by switching to another router,or another hotspot.