How to Troubleshoot problems with Google Play Services and Play Store - Step by Step instructions

I was recently testing an app on a really old phone. When I launched the app, I got the below notification to "Update Google Play Services". Clicking on "Update" either crashed the app or did not go to the Google Play Store. I have come across this many times now and wanted to share the steps I took to get rid of this message. Also, with old phones Google Play store App may not work properly (which happened in my case). So, I will discuss how to solve that issue as well.

How to Update Google Play Services?

• Close the app which had the above message (Kill it)

• Navigate to Settings -> Apps/Application Mgr (Based on Android Device) -> Then find "Google Play Services" from the list of apps

• Click on it

• If you do not have the latest version of Google Play Services which is v11.0.56 (at the time of writing this post), then you will see the below options

  • Force Stop

  • Uninstall Updates

  • Disable

  • Clear Cache

  • Clear Data (Available in some android phones)

  • Click on "Clear Cache" to clear all the cached data and start fresh

  • Click on "Force Stop" to stop all instance of that service running in the background

  • Now, open up the Google Play Store App and search for "Google Play Services"

  • Open the "Google Play Services" app from the list and click "Install"

  • Once the update is installed go back to Settings->App->Google Play Services

  • Now you will see only only two options and both will be in disable state. The latest version of Google Play services will be shown under the name of the app (v11.0.56)

    • Force Stop

    • Disable

    • If the above steps did not work then, try going to Settings->App->Google Play Services and this time click on "Uninstall Updates". Then try installing the updates from the Google play store again.

The above steps helped me fix the issue. If the problem still persists, check out the below 2 links which have some useful information and other ways to troubleshoot the issue

https://www.googleplayservicesapk.com/update-google-play-services-new-version/ 

https://www.androidpit.com/install-google-play-services-apk

What to do if Google Play Store App is not working or keeps crashing?

I had problems with the Play Store not working properly on old test phones, so had to resolve it before trying to update "Google Play Services". Here are the steps I followed

Solution 1-

• Navigate to Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Store

• Click on "Clear Cache" and "Clear Data"

• Now try to open Google Play Store app

Solution 2-

• If this does not work, go back to Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Store

• Click on "Force Stop"

• Then try restarting the Google Play Store app

Solution 3-

• If this does not work, go back to Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Store

• Click on "Clear Data" and "Clear Cache" if available

• Then try restarting the Google Play Store app

Solution 4-

• If this does not work, then Navigate to Settings -> Apps -> Google Play Store

• Click on "Uninstall Updates"

• Then try restarting the Google Play Store app

Solution 5-

• Finally if no solutions work, make sure you take a Back up of the phone (if necessary), then navigate to Settings-> Backup & reset ->Factory data reset. Then do a complete Factory reset. This should usually solve the Google Play store problem. But, keep this has the last resort.