There are several different ways to go about solving this problem, from simple data clearing to the more drastic factory reset as a last resort. We’ve outlined the following methods below.

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Uninstall Play Store updates

Sometimes the problem is not with your credentials but with the Play Store itself. Go to the Play Store in Settings > Apps > All apps > Google Play Store. Be careful to select Google Play Store, not services.  Then simply hit Uninstall updates by tapping the three dots at the top right corner. This will take you back to the original version of the Play Store that was installed on your device.

Then, all you need to do to fix the error is install the latest version of the Google Play Store and sign in once again.

Uninstalling updates rolls Google Play back to its default version. / © NextPit Image source: NextPit

Simply remove your Google account

The error may simply be a sign-in issue, which sometimes occurs when the Play Store is updated. The first trick is to go into your phone’s main Settings menu and then Accounts & sync and simply remove the Google account that is getting the “authentication is required” error. Once you’ve done this, you can re-add the account and it should work just fine. You can also restart your phone before re-adding just in case. However, you may need to do this step along with the second step below.

You should see your Gmail where the blank white line is. / © NextPit Image source: NextPit

Try a fresh sync

It’s possible that things aren’t syncing for some reason, and just need a little push. Go to the phoneSettings, tap Accounts & sync, find your Google account, tap it, and select Account sync. Then you can go back to the Play Store and see if the authentication message is gone.

Clear data from the Google Play Store

To clear data from the Play Store, you need to follow these steps.

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Select Apps.
  3. Choose All apps.
  4. Scroll to find Google Play Store and tap to open.
  5. Tap on Storage and cache.
  6. Tap on Clear cache or Clear storage.
    1. You can try just clearing the cache first if you like, but clearing data will clear the cache as well.

If the previous step (the fresh sync) didn’t work for you, try again after clearing the cache and data—it could have better results.

Clearing the cache works as a solution for many people. Try it! / © NextPit Image source: NextPit

Download an app using your mobile/desktop browser

This workaround bypasses the malfunctioning Play Store app completely. Go to your web browser and navigate to the Google Play Store website. Try downloading an app directly from there rather than through the Google Play Store app. Just sign into your Google account through your browser and then install the chosen app.

You can also do this on your desktop browser. You will be asked to sign in to your Google account and then select which device you would like to download the app to. As long as your smartphone/tablet is connected to the Internet, the download should begin almost instantly.

Did you know you could install apps on your phone using your computer’s browser? / © NextPit Image source: NextPit

If you’re still having problems after trying all these steps, run through them again in this order, rebooting your phone between the steps: remove your Google account, reboot, uninstall updates, install new Play Store, reboot, add an account, and so on. Just keep trying until the error goes away.

The last resort: factory reset

One user tried everything and still couldn’t get rid of the error message. However, the last resort worked: a factory reset. Here’s how to do it.

Have you suffered from the “authentication is required” error in Google Play before? How did you solve it? Let us know in the comments below.

This article was updated in July 2021. Older comments have been retained

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