Why Is My Gmail Not Working?
In short: Gmail stops working for four reasons: a browser or cache problem, a full storage quota, an account or password issue or a Google-side outage. Check the Google Workspace Status Dashboard first, then open an incognito window. If Gmail loads in incognito, the cause is an extension or cached data in your normal browser profile.
Start here: which symptom do you have?
“Gmail not working” covers a dozen different problems. Find your symptom in the table, then go straight to the fix. If you are not sure, work through the four causes below in order.
| What you are seeing | Likely cause | Where to go |
|---|---|---|
| An “Oops, something went wrong” error | Browser cache or an extension | Fix the something went wrong error |
| Gmail freezes, will not load or shows a blank page | Cache, an extension or an outage | The four causes below |
| Emails have vanished from the inbox | Archived, filtered or in Trash | Emails disappeared from the inbox |
| No alerts for new mail | App or system notification settings | Notifications not working |
| Gmail keeps signing you out | Cookie or session settings | Gmail keeps signing you out |
| Not receiving mail, “storage full” | The 15 GB quota is full | Storage full after deleting emails |
| “Account settings are out of date” | A password or security change | Account settings out of date |
Is Gmail down right now?
Rule out Google before you touch anything on your side. Open the Google Workspace Status Dashboard and look for a red or amber marker next to Gmail. If Google reports an outage, nothing on your device will fix it, so wait for the service to recover. A quick second check is to open Gmail in an incognito window on your phone’s mobile data. If it fails there too, the problem is either Google or your account, not your usual browser.
Senior Analyst, Corbett Software
“Most people start deleting cookies before they know what is wrong. Do it the other way round. Check the status dashboard, then open incognito. Two checks, thirty seconds. Now you know whether the fault is Google, your account or your browser before you change a single setting.”
The four common causes and their fixes
If the status dashboard is green and no single symptom above matches, one of these four is behind almost every case.
1. A browser or cache problem
This is the most common cause on desktop. The incognito test confirms it: if Gmail works in a private window, your normal profile is the problem. Clear the cache and cookies, then disable extensions one at a time.
Ad blockers and privacy tools are frequent offenders, so turn them off, reload Gmail, then re-enable them one by one to find the culprit. Keep the browser itself updated, since Gmail drops support for old versions.
2. Your Google storage is full
Gmail shares one 15 GB free quota across Mail, Drive and Photos. Once it fills up, new mail stops arriving. Clearing space brings delivery back. If the number will not drop even after you delete mail, that is its own known issue: see Gmail storage still full after deleting emails and how to clear up Gmail storage.
3. An account or password issue
If a mail app has stopped syncing, the saved password is usually stale after a change or a new security policy. Update the password in the app, then where two-step verification is on, generate an app password rather than using your normal one. A “settings are out of date” prompt points here too: fix Gmail account settings out of date. If Gmail signs you out over and over, that is a cookie problem covered in the repeated Gmail sign-out fix.
4. A Google-side outage
Sometimes there is nothing to fix. If the status dashboard shows a problem, the fault is Google’s and the only move is to wait. This is exactly why a local copy of your mail is worth having: an outage cannot touch what is already on your computer.
Back up your Gmail before you troubleshoot
Several fixes involve removing and re-adding your account. Account recovery can take days. A local backup means an outage or a lockout never costs you access to your old mail.
The Corbett Gmail Backup Tool downloads your Gmail messages, contacts and calendars to your computer as PST, PDF, MBOX or EML, with the folder structure and attachments intact. A free demo edition runs on every edition of Windows.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my Gmail not working today?
Start with the status dashboard. A same-day failure for many people is usually a Google outage. If the dashboard is green, it is almost certainly your browser cache, an extension or a full storage quota, so run the incognito test to narrow it down.
Why does Gmail work in incognito but not in my normal browser?
Incognito loads with no extensions and a clean cache. If it works there, the fault is in your normal profile. Clear the cache and cookies, then disable extensions one at a time until Gmail loads normally.
Why is Gmail not working on my phone but fine on my computer?
The phone runs the Gmail app with its own cache and account setup, separate from your browser. Clear the app cache on Android or reinstall the app on iPhone, then confirm the account is still signed in and syncing.
Does fixing Gmail delete my emails?
No. Your mail lives on Google’s servers. Clearing the cache, resetting the app or re-adding the account only refreshes the local copy. Your emails download again from the server.
Is Gmail being discontinued?
No. Gmail is not shutting down. Outages and errors are temporary faults, not a sign the service is ending.