Adding your google account to your Android phone is a great way to get emails link various different apps to your Google account. However, a lot of users are seeing the “there was a problem communicating with google servers” error when trying to add their Google account to their phones. Some users are seeing this error whenever they click on the Add account from the phone settings whereas others see this message after entering all of their Google account details. The bottom line is that you won’t be able to add your Google account to your phone.
What causes the there was a problem communicating with google servers error?
Here is the list of things that can cause the issue.
- 2 Step Verification: 2 step verification is an amazing feature that prevents other users from signing in to your account. This feature is also known to stop other devices/apps from using your account. So, this might be causing issues while making a connection using your account. This is also very common when adding your account to other apps like Outlook, these apps won’t add your account until you add the apps from your account settings or disable 2 Step verification. So, the usual solution for this is to disable 2 Step verification.
- Corrupted Cache: Temporary/cache files are stored on your device to make the apps work quicker. These files can get corrupted and, therefore, cause other features/apps to misbehave. This error might be caused by this same thing and the usual solution is to just clear the cache of the apps.
- Hosts File: Hosts files are present on your system that have some importation cell phone configuration information. This problem can be caused by the content of those files. Changing the contents of the Hosts file will most likely resolve the issue in this case.
Note
Before performing the steps given in the methods listed below, first, try to reboot your phone to see if that resolves the issue or not. Sometimes there isn’t an issue and our devices/software misbehave because of unknown reasons and a restart fixes these type of issues.
You should also try to remove the previously added Google accounts from the list of accounts and try again. All you have to do is go to Settings > Select Google Account > Click the 3 dots > Remove Account. Do this for all the previously added Google Accounts and add the account again.
Method 1: Disable 2-Step Authentication and Clear Cache
Sometimes the 2-step authentication process might be interfering with the sign in of your Google account or it might be the corrupted cache of your Google Account manager (and various other apps). Disabling the 2-Step verification process and clearing the cache of some apps have helped resolve the issue for quite a few users. So, follow the steps given below to perform all of these tasks
Note: You can disable the 2-step verification from your phone’s browser as well but we will give the steps for pc browser. The steps should be the same for both devices though.
- Open your browser and type com in the address bar. Press Enter
- Sign in to your Google account
- Click your profile picture from the top right corner
- Select Google Account
- Select Security
- Scroll down and select the 2-Step Verification
- Sign in again
- Click Turn off
- Now, we will clear the cache of various apps. Go to your Android phone and open Settings
- If you have your Google account already added to your phone then select Account and remove your Google account from the list. Otherwise, skip this step.
- Select Apps (or App Manager)
- Locate Google Account Manager from the list of apps. Note: In some phones, you might have to swipe to the right to change the tabs. If that’s the case then make sure you are in the All tab. This is because some phones categorize your apps according to their status e.g. running, sd card, etc. So, Google Account Manager might not show up in the list of running apps if it isn’t running at the moment. So, you need to look into the list of all apps.
- Once you open the Google Account Manager, select Clear Data
- Select Clear Cache
- Repeat the last 3 steps for Google Play Store, Google Play Services, and Google Services framework. Don’t worry if you can’t find the Google Services Framework, some phones don’t have it.
Once done, go back to the main settings page and try to add the account again. You should be able to add your account and use it without any issues.
Method 2: Reinstall Google Play Services
Sometimes the issue might be with the Google Play Service app. These services sometimes get corrupted and all you have to do is reinstall these.
- Go to Settings
- Select Security
- Toggle on Unknown Sources. This will allow you install applications from unknown sources. Since apkmirror files are considered unknown sources, we need this option enabled if we have to install the downloaded apk from that website.
- Now, open Google (or any other browser from your phone)
- Type apkmirror.com in the address and press Enter or go
- Click the Search icon and type Google Play services
- Click the top result from the list of results. The top ones are the latest ones and you want the latest version of Google Play Services
- Download the appropriate Google Play Service file (for your specific android version and phone). If you aren’t sure which version is suitable for your device then follow the instructions given on the download page. There should be detailed instructions on the download page.
- Once the file is downloaded and installed, go to Settings and select Accounts. Add your Google Account
You should be able to add your account and sign in without any problems.
Method 3: Update Host Files (Only for Rooted Phones)
Note: If you don’t know what a rooted phone is or if you aren’t sure whether your phone is rooted or not then skip this method. This is an advance technique.
- Go to Settings
- Select Security
- Toggle on Unknown Sources. This will allow you install applications from unknown sources. Since apkmirror files are considered unknown sources, we need this option enabled if we have to install the downloaded apk from that website.
- Now, open Google (or any other browser from your phone)
- Type apkmirror.com in the address and press Enter or go
- Click the Search icon and type ES File Explorer
- Click the top result from the list of results. The top ones are the latest ones and you want the latest version of ES File Explorer
- Download the latest and appropriate version of the ES File Explorer and install it
- Now, open ES File Explorer
- Click the 3 bars from the top left corner
- Select Tools
- Toggle on Root Explorer. Click Allow if the system asks you to confirm
- Click Local
- Select Device. You should be able to see multiple folders on the right pane
- Select System then open etc folder
- Click Hosts file and select Text from the dialogue that asks how to open this file. You need to open this file as a text file. Select ES note editor when the prompt asks you to select the note editor
- Now, remove everything from the file and type 127.0.0.1 localhost in the Hosts file
- Click the back button and make sure the changes are saved. You can click the hosts file again and check its content just to be sure
- Go to Settings and select Accounts. Add your Google Account
You should be able to add the account and sign in without any problems.
Workaround:
For some users, a simple workaround that can be applied is mentioned as follows.
- Connect your mobile phone to another network.
- Add the google account that you want to use.
- Switch back to your home network and the account should work fine.
