Google play services error- “Unfortunately Google Play Services has stopped“

By CTB On Jul 11, 2016

Google play services error or “Unfortunately Google Play Services has stopped“ is an error that has recently started cropping up in devices that have been upgraded to the Android 5 or 5.1 Lollipop. Although this may not happen to everyone it may be a manifestation of conflict between Google Play Store services and the operating system.

What is Google play services error?

Users who are running Android 5 or 5.1 can suddenly get this message while trying to run Google Play Store on their devices. This can occur arbitrarily at any moment irrespective of the strength of the internet connection, software version, state of the memory/ catch etc.

When it Occurs?

The error mainly crops up when users try to run Google Play Store, after having upgraded to Android 5 or 5.1 from an earlier version. The fundamental cause of this error cannot be pinpointed but can usually be attributed to loss of internet connection, overloading of the primary memory / cache memory, conflict between the Android system and Google Play services or obsolescence of the installed version of Google Play Services.

Precautions:

The best precautions for this error are: to keep the Android system and Google Play services updated to their latest versions. Moreover, it is advised to reboot the system or clear the cache / RAM once in a while to ensure smooth functioning and prevention of common errors.

Methods to Solve:

Method 1

Update Google Play Services to the latest version. The error may be caused due to conflict between the android system and the outdated scripts or bugs in the installed version of Google Play services.

Method 2

Clear the Google Play Services cache. The cache memory holds data and commonly used settings for apps to help them load faster during day to day operations. However, in doing so it becomes large in size and errors creep up due to installation of new apps and deletion of old ones. Google Play Services’ cache serves as the platform for other apps to function and hence it is imperative that it be free from errors.

From the Home Screen, Navigate to Settings
Under Settings, go to Apps or Applications and then Application Manager
From the list of installed apps go to “Google Play Services” app.
Under this the, select FORCE STOP to stop the app. Ignore all warning messages shown
Now Clear Data And Clear Cache memory and retry the operations.

Method 3

Clear the Google Services Framework cache. Google Services Framework, is the primary mechanism by which Google Play functions by gaining access to Google Servers and updating the information about installed apps. Notifying the users about updates and syncing settings for ease of use and improved functionality.

From Main Menu, access SETTINGS
From Settings, Enter APPS and from the list select “Google Services Framework” app.
When inside, Stop the functioning of the app by selecting FORCE STOP. Ignore all warning messages displayed
Now select “Clear cache” and “Clear Data”.
Restart the device

Method 4

Reinstall Google Play Services

Google Play Services being a system application cannot be removed by the user. Although rooted devices have that rout opened to them. For regular users this is not advised. However, one can fix any errors present in Google Store by uninstalling all the updates, clearing app cache and then reinstalling the latest updates:

To deactivate Google Play Services, Access Device SETTINGS and then tap on device administrators and select Deactivate Android Device Manager.
Navigate to APPS menu from Settings and from the vertical list, select Google Play Services. User cannot delete this app but can FORCE STOP and then select Uninstall Updates to revert to the factory version of the app
Once the above step is over, Restart the device and use any device that requires google play services to run. The system will automatically detect the outdated version and prompt the user to install the latest version
Once it is reinstalled to the latest version, you can activate Android Device Manager by going to Settings > Security > Device Administrators.

Method 5

Reset the app preferences

To reset the app preferences you must

Go to Settings and then App Manager. Here press the tab ‘All’.
Select ‘More’ from the top right corner of the screen
From here choose, ‘Reset app preferences’
Restart the device to enact the changes made