It’s been years now that I have been using a Gmail account and have faced several issues throughout my journey to date. But still, I can’t imagine my work life without this Google product. The reason is, I find it convenient to use, I even have a Yahoo and Outlook account but they can never break the bond we (Gmail and I) share.
Nevertheless, if I talk about the problems I have faced with Gmail, they are endless ranging from minor to major but every time I have found a way out. To date, I have ended up writing several useful blogs regarding Gmail issues and in this article, I have covered one of the most prevalent problems with this popular email service.
Why is my Gmail not working? Or Is Gmail down?
This is the most common concern of every other Gmail user. Gmail may not work for oodles of reasons and I will discuss them one by one.
Gmail Login Process
Although it is no rocket science, I have listed the steps required for a successful login to the Gmail account.
- Open a browser on your computing device such as Chrome, Firefox and so on. In the address bar, type gmail.com to open the official webpage of Gmail, click on ‘Sign in’ in the top right corner.
- A new tab will open and you will see the Gmail sign-in page. Enter the email address or phone number associated with the Gmail account and press ‘Next’.
- In the next step, enter the password and click on ‘Next’.
- That’s it, you have successfully signed in to your Gmail account.
Actually, that’s not it; sometimes it is where the actual story begins. What if Gmail sign-in failed in your first attempt? Definitely, you will go for a second attempt but what if that failed too?
Numerous factors create Gmail login problems, I have penned down some of them:
- There is a Gmail outage
- Use of incorrect username or password
- Getting a Blank login screen
- Gmail Won’t Load
- Network related issue
- Facing error messages while logging in
- Browser is full of junk
Gmail account login problems can occur due to the abovementioned reasons. Whatever is the reason, make sure to apply the appropriate troubleshooting method as provided further in this guide.
Troubleshooting Gmail Login Issues
Follow the given troubleshooting methods to fix the Gmail sign in problem instantly:
Check the internet connection
First and foremost, the network you are using must be providing adequate signal strength. If you cannot sign into Gmail, try connecting to a different network or check if you can do other activities on the internet or not. If the internet is working fine, the issue can be from Gmail’s side as well.
Check the Server
If Gmail is not working, the servers may be disrupted. It may also happen that Gmail is down and if this is the case, check the server through the G Suite Dashboard page. A green button implies that there are no known issues, an orange button implies a service disruption and a red button means service outage. Also, if it is showing a green button and still you are facing a problem, you should contact Gmail Support for that matter.
Incorrect Username or Password
It is the most common reason and you need to ensure that you have entered the right username and password for your Gmail account.
Forgotten Password or Hacked Account
Another popular reason for not able to sign in to Gmail is you don’t remember the password or your account has been hacked. Here you can do nothing except recovering the password using the recovery information added to your Gmail account. To Recover the Gmail Password, here are the steps that will help:
- First of all, go to the sign-in page of Gmail.
- Type in the username for the Gmail account and press ‘Next’.
- Then click on ‘Forgot Password’ and Gmail will ask you to enter the last password that you remember. Or you can also click on ‘Try Another Way’.
- Google will send a notification on your phone number linked to your Gmail account, follow the related instructions or click on ‘Try Another Way’.
- Enter the recovery email address to receive the verification code, enter the code and press ‘Next’.
- Set a new password and enter the same twice for confirmation, press ‘Next’ and you will be logged in to your Gmail account.
Locked Gmail Account
If you have entered the wrong password several times, you may be temporarily blocked from accessing your Gmail account. You can retry logging in after 12 hours and check if the account has been unlocked.
Clean the Browser
If your browser is full of junk such as cookies, caches or history, it may create an issue in loading the login page of Gmail. The way out is-
- Clear the cache
- Clear the history
- Delete the temporary files
- Update your browser, if required
Check Server Settings
Some people sign in using email client software and don’t use the browser. They need to enter the correct incoming and outgoing server settings if they can’t log in to Gmail.
Temporarily Disable The Antivirus Or Firewall
Try doing this as the log in issue can also take place due to the antivirus or firewall installed. Disable them for a while and check if you can log in.
General Troubleshooting Tips
- If you have recently updated your password and have not saved the changes in the browser, you may need to update the password in the autofill settings of your browser else it will use the older one.
- Make sure to keep the recovery information of your Gmail account updated or you will not be able to recover your account once you forget the password.
- Turn off the browser extensions or add-ons to ensure that they are not creating any issue. Or you can open Gmail in the incognito mode with no extensions running.
Can’t sign in to Google account? Gmail Help Center at Your Service
If there is a further need to troubleshoot the Gmail issue, you can try contacting Google for help. Here’s what you need to do:
- Go to the Gmail Help Center and you will see several issues that have been covered in different articles. Out of those, you need to click on ‘Can’t Sign in to your Google Account’.
- On the next page, you will be asked to give the details of the login issue you are facing.
- Select the checkbox for the issue you have and you will be provided with the steps to fix the same. For instance, I selected the first checkbox for ‘You forgot your password’ and you can see the solution I got for it in the image below.
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