There’s nothing more frustrating then OS errors, regardless on what device they occur. Many Android users have experienced the “Google Play authentication is required” error and it’s definitely one of the stubborn ones.
Luckily, there are a few simple things you can do to make it go away. Just keep in mind errors are generally tricky and more often than not, what works for most may not work for you. Nevertheless, it’s still worth giving the instructions below a try.
Remove your Google account
Sometimes, the error is caused by a sign-in problem that appears when the Play Store receives an update. In this case you should remove your Google account registered in the Play Store app and then add it back (note that doing this won’t remove any of your Play Store information).
Head over to your phone’s Settings -> Accounts and select Google.
In the ‘Sync settings’ window tap on the Options menu (three-dot icon) and select ‘Remove account’. Tap on the ‘Remove account‘ option in the confirmation prompt.
Then, head back to the Accounts section of your phone’s Settings and re-add your Google account.
Clear Google Play Store data
This particular step can work for other apps that give out errors, not just for Google Play Store. To clear Play Store’s data, go the the Applications area of the Settings and from there, select Google Play Store.
In the ‘App Info‘ panel tap on the ‘Clear data‘ option. Alternatively you can try clearing just the cache first, and use ‘Clear data’ only if that doesn’t do the trick.
This step is worth trying by itself, but also if you already tried the first one and didn’t work. In that case you might want to try removing your Google account and adding it back AFTER you clear Play Store data.
Uninstall Play Store updates
This third and final step can be of help in case the problem causing the error is coming from the Play Store and not your Google account. Just like for the previous step, navigate to Settings -> Applications, select Play Store and tap on ‘Uninstall updates’ in the App Info panel.
Then, you’ll have to install the latest version of the Google Play Store and sign in one more time. You can do that by sideloading the Play Store APK (get it here, from APKMirror) on your device. Just make sure you have Unknown Sources enabled under Settings > Security.
The ‘Play Store authentication required’ error is an odd one and you might need to go through all these steps several times before the problems is fixed. The ‘if all else’ fails solution would be a full reset of your device – hardly ideal, but probably worth it if you want to make the Play Store usable again.
I do hope you won’t have to get there though. Let me know if the steps detailed above fixed the problem for you. Share your feedback in the comments section below or send us a message on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
