Fix: “The application (process com.android.vending) has stopped unexpectedly.” on Android

In the event that data related to the Play Store is uninstalled on a non-rooted Android device, the user receives the error message, “The application (process com.android.vending) has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again,” whenever they run the Play Store. Following this, the application force-closes. On rooted Android devices, this error message is caused by a problem with the gapps (Google Apps) package installed on the device or if the Play Store on the device or its data starts acting up.

This error message completely annihilates the user’s ability to download any apps onto their device, which is why this error is one of the most serious issues associated with the Google Play Store. This issue has been faced by a large number of Android users from all over the world, and the following methods have proven most useful to them:

Uninstall Google Play Store updates.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Locate and enter the ‘Apps’ section or the ‘Application Manager.’
3. Select “All” when presented with the list of applications installed on the device.
4. Locate the Google Play app and tap on it.
5. Select ‘Uninstall Updates.’
6. Run the Google Play Store, allow the application to install updates, and the application should then no longer display the ‘process.com.android.vending has stopped’ error.

Clear the device’s cache partition.

1. Remove the device’s SD card to preserve the data stored on it.
2. Boot the phone up, go to ‘Backup and Restore’ in settings, and perform a full factory reset.
3. Wait for the phone to be completely reset.
4. Set up the phone.
5. Reboot the phone into Recovery Mode and completely wipe the device’s cache.
6. Open the Play Store.

Reflash the Google Apps package file (for root users only).

1. Turn the device off.
2. Reboot the device into Recovery Mode.
3. Flash the gapps.zip file once again.
4. Boot the device up and the problem should no longer persist.

Forcefully delete the Play Store data folder (Root Only).

1. Use the Root Explorer application to gain access to the ‘com.android.vending’ folder in the path ‘Android/data’ or ‘Android/data/data’.
2. Delete the folder.
3. “Fire up the Play Store to make sure that the issue has indeed been fixed.

If none of these methods worked for you, you will have to perform a factory reset on your phone to resolve this issue.