How to Fix Gmail Not Updating on iPhone?

Email accounts are essential for work, education, and everyday life. When Gmail stops updating or other email services fail to download emails, many things can go wrong. The only fact that you are googling “Why is my Gmail not updating” shows that you understand the danger of missing emails from your boss or colleagues. Fortunately, Gmail, Outlook, and other email providers nowadays are highly reliable and rarely go down. Still, things sometimes go wrong.

This article will show you what to do if Gmail is not updating on iPhone. Although we cannot list every possible reason Gmail is not working on your iPhone, we can provide you with several universal tips about troubleshooting email on Apple gadgets.

Fix Gmail Not Updating on iPhone

To answer the question “why is my Gmail not updating,” you need to understand how the default email client on iOS works. Unlike many third-party email apps, Mail does not push email from third-party providers. Instead, it fetches data every 15, 30 minutes, 1 hour, etc.

1. Open Settings and go to Mail > Accounts.
2. Tap Fetch New Data.
3. Select a new fetching period from the Fetch list.

The only way to fix this annoying quirk is to switch to better email clients, such as Outlook, Spark, or Edison. These can push emails and show you a notification as soon as they reach your Gmail inbox. Alternatively, you can reduce the fetch period in the settings or manually sync the mailbox.

To ensure your Gmail works without issues, download the official Gmail app from the App Store and sign in with your account.

Next, check whether you have the power-saving mode turned on. iPhone stops syncing Gmail and other parts of the operating system to preserve energy after enabling power-saving mode. Go to Settings > Battery > Low Power Mode.

Note. Check our article What to do if Outlook cannot connect to Gmail account.

Similarly, iPhone stops updating mail accounts when users turn on Data saving mode. Go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Low Data Mode.

The next thing to do is check whether your Gmail account is properly set up in Settings. Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts > Gmail.

Make sure you have Mail enabled.

Now, move on to credentials. Did you recently turn on two-factor authentication for your Gmail account? If yes, you need to sign in again to authenticate your iPhone and get Gmail syncing again.

Check your inbox. iPhone stops syncing Gmail when your inbox is full. Hence the iPhone does not sync Gmail problem.

When you add a Gmail account to your iPhone, the operating system asks for permission to read data in your Gmail. Your inbox will not work unless you grant that permission. In case you accidentally declined authorization, go to myaccount.google.com and review security settings.

If you are still having trouble with Gmail on your iPhone, try removing the account and adding it back. This advice may sound dumb and stereotypical, but the truth is that restarting a device or removing and adding the account back often helps the user get rid of a bug that causes the problem. Also, disconnect from your Wi-Fi and connect to another network or use cellular data. Simply put, check your internet connection. As an option, you may try using VPN.

Finally, update your iPhone to the latest iOS version to fix Gmail not updating on iPhone. If still nothing helps, reset your device, and try again.