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Google is a lot more than just a search engine these days. Its email, aptly known as Gmail, takes up nearly 28% of the email market share. With a little more than one Gmail account for every four, that’s a lot of Gmail accounts, especially when you consider the fact that there are roughly 4 billion email accounts out there.
As large as it is, however, Gmail is just like most software. It has glitches, doesn’t always work the way you expect, and is subject to error and user error. One of these issues, Gmail being offline, is quite common and usually results from software, though user error gets in the way plenty.
If your email is offline, you’re pretty limited, especially when it comes to the one thing that email accounts are supposed to excel at — sending messages to people. It’s especially aggravating if you use your email for business purposes. Every moment it remains offline is lost earning potential.
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4 Potental Fixes to Gmail Saying Offline
1. You’ve Enabled Google Offline on Accident
While it may not seem feasible at first, it’s easy enough to hit the wrong settings if you do a lot of work within the Google ecosphere (Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Meet, Drive, Photos, Shopping, and more). What you want to do is make sure the feature is not on.
- Open your Gmail Account
- The Settings Menu is the little gear icon in the upper, right-hand corner
- Select “See All Settings” from within the Settings Menu
- Select the tab that says, Offline
- Uncheck the box next to “Enable Offline Mail”
- If you enable it, you can select the precise timeframe you want Gmail to remain offline
- Open the Security Tab
- Choose whether to remove offline Gmail once you log out of your account
Having a set timeframe for when you’re working in Gmail while offline and knowing what that timeframe is, will avoid being offline without realizing it. Of course, right when you go to send an email, you’ll realize it pretty quickly. But turning it off altogether avoids all of that.
2. Clear Cookies and Data
Cookies, cache, excess saved data, whatever you want to call it, the more there is, the more problems it causes.
This is true on just about any device. One of the first, go-to solutions when having issues with smart TVs, web browsers, smartphones, gaming consoles, and more, is to delete the cache and remove any unwanted or unnecessary data.
It’s easiest to do this in the Chrome browser, though Gmail is just as effective in other web browsers as well. Chrome is just simpler and tailored to those who spend a lot of time working with Google software.
- Open your browser
- On Chrome, you will see three vertical dots in the upper, right-hand corner
- Select the three dots
- Select Settings
- At the very bottom of the page, select the “Advanced” drop-down menu
- Select and open the Privacy and Security option
- Select Site Settings
- Select Cookies and Site Data
- Toggle on the tab for “Clear Cookies and Site Data when you quit Chrome”
Google Chrome is fairly simple when it comes to accessing your Settings menu, however, there are a lot of browsers out there, including Opera, Safari, Brave, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, and Chromium, just to name some.
None of them are too complicated, and you should be able to access the Settings menu and clear cookies, cache, site data, etc., from all of them. Some will allow you to set up an automated process for deleting cookies (like Chrome). Of course, you can always use a VPN as well.
3. Make Sure Your Firmware or Browser Are Updated
Often, Gmail users can access and use their Gmail without a problem on a PC, but find that Gmail has them listed as offline on a mobile device.
Vice versa as well. This usually indicates the browser needs to be updated or the firmware on your mobile device.
If you’re having issues with offline Gmail on an Android or iOS device, make sure that device is up-to-date and the apps as well.
Both iOS devices and Android devices allow you to turn on automatic updates for individual apps. You can also automate firmware updates for your mobile devices to ensure they are always running on their latest firmware.
As far as your PC or Mac are concerned, you need to do the same with them as well. Make sure your computer is updated and the browser you use is updated as well.
The latter typically entails restarting your browser and nothing more. In fact, most browser will notify you that they have updated automatically and need you to restart the browser for the changes to take effect.
4. Make Sure Your Wi-Fi is Good
Sure, this sounds like a really simple and obvious point. If your Wi-Fi isn’t working, your Gmail will be offline for obvious reasons. Most computers and mobile devices will have an alert of some sort pop up when you lose Wi-Fi connection.
Wi-Fi interference is quite common and generally happens in smart home setups when a lot of devices are playing havoc with your signal. Also, if you’re using a 5.0 GHz band or higher, the range is not as good.
For email purposes, and most online tasks, you don’t need to be on your faster bands, which have shorter ranges. If it doesn’t create problems with your work flow, connect to a 2.4GHz band instead, as it suffers less interference and has a much broader range than higher frequencies.
Restarting your router often clears most hangups but, if that doesn’t solve the problem, you will need to contact your ISP and figure out what the deal is.
Final Thoughts
For the most part, when your Gmail is saying you’re offline, you either are offline or you have the Setting for offline Gmail turned on. In rare cases, it’s more extensive than that. Gmail is often not the cause but a symptom of something else going on, so it pays to make sure your devices are up-to-date.
If the problem persists, you can always contact Google Support or your local ISP for ongoing internet issues.
