Your phone's been sitting idle for hours, and you haven't had any alerts for incoming emails. If this is unusual, you might have an issue: your Android phone is likely not syncing your emails, so you aren't receiving any messages on your device.

Issues like this can make you miss out on important emails, which can be costly if you don't resolve them quickly. Luckily, we'll show you some easy fixes when your email doesn't sync on your Android device.

1. Ensure Automatic Email Sync Is Enabled

Most email clients have automatic sync enabled so that you can receive emails in real time. However, if you've got your sync settings turned off in the email app, you will stop getting emails on your Android device.

You can check whether this is the reason why your emails aren't syncing. The simple solution would be to enable the auto-sync option in your email app. The app should then automatically look for new emails and let you know when a new message arrives.

You can enable auto-sync from the Settings menu of your email app. Here we show how to do it in Gmail, but the steps should be similar for most other email clients. Here's what you need to do:

1. Launch your email app, such as Gmail.
2. Tap the hamburger icon (the three-line button) in the top-left corner and select Settings.
3. Choose an email account, if you have multiple accounts on your phone.
4. Scroll down and ensure that you have toggled on the slider for Sync Gmail or a similar option.

If the sync option is enabled, check whether your device's Battery Saver mode is on and turn it off. The battery or power-saving mode disables background syncing. To do this, go to Settings > Battery or Settings > Battery and device care > Battery, and toggle off Power saving. Note that these settings will vary slightly across devices and models.

2. Perform a Manual Email Sync

If automatic sync doesn't work for some reason, you can run a manual sync instead. This forces your email app to sync, find, and download new emails to your device.

This option works just like the regular sync, except you must manually go into the settings and tap an option. Remember, precise steps vary from device to device. To manually sync your emails on Android, follow the steps listed below:

1. On your device, go to the Accounts section in the settings. This is at Settings > Accounts and backup > Manage accounts on a Samsung phone.
2. Choose the email account where you have sync issues.
3. Make sure that you have the slider turned on for your email app. On some devices, this option might show up as Sync now.
4. Your phone will begin to sync your data, including your emails.
5. If any new emails are available, you should see them in your email client.

3. Clear Your Android Device's Storage

When your phone downloads an email, it takes up some space in your device's memory. If you're running out of storage on your phone, it could be the reason your emails aren't syncing (especially when trying to download an email with a large attachment).

Thankfully, you can fix this by deleting unnecessary files from your phone. Here's how to do this:

1. On your device, go to the Storage area in the settings. Specific instructions vary from device to device, but it's at Settings > Battery and device care > Storage on a Samsung phone, for example.
2. You'll see the total available memory space on your device.
3. Tap Free up space or Optimize now to get rid of files that are cluttering your device.
4. You can also manually find files that you can remove to make space on your device.

Not all Android phones have this option to find and remove space-hogging files. If yours doesn't you can use Files by Google to delete files instead.

4. Ensure You Enter the Correct Password on All Your Devices

When you change the password for your email account (and you should always ensure your password is secure and memorable), you must update it in the email app on your phone as well. If you don't do so, your phone won't be able to sync new emails, as it simply doesn't have authorization to do so.

You can fix this issue by opening your email app and entering your new password. The app will then connect to the email servers and fetch new messages for you. Note that you'll need to update the password on all the devices that you use your email accounts on. You can use a tool like Google Password Manager to manage your passwords better.

5. Clear the Cache and Data

Like all other apps on your device, your email app saves data and caches files on your phone. While these files don't normally cause any issues, it's worth clearing them to see if that fixes the email sync issue on your Android device.

Deleting data and cache files won't delete your emails; your emails are stored on your email provider's server. To clear up the cache, follow the steps listed below:

1. On your device, go to the Settings dashboard and tap on Apps (or Apps & notifications for some devices).
2. Find your email app, like Gmail, and tap it. Next, tap the Storage option.
3. You'll be able to see how much space your email app uses. Tap on Clear cache to remove cached data.
4. You can also select Clear data if you want, but keep in mind this will remove all the app's data from your phone as if you reinstalled it. You'll need to sign in again and perform an initial sync of your messages.
5. Open your email app and reconfigure it if needed.

6. Update Your Email App

You should always keep your apps up-to-date for a smooth experience. If it's been a while since you updated your email app, check if an update is available in the Play Store.

New updates fix many existing bugs in the app. If your emails aren't syncing because of such a bug, this will fix the issue for you. Here's what you need to do:

1. Launch the Play Store on your phone.
2. Tap your account icon in the upper-right corner and select My apps & games from the dropdown options.
3. If an update is available, tap Update to download and install the update.

7. Re-Add the Email Account(s) on Your Email App

If your email is not syncing yet, you may have an issue with account configuration. In this case, removing and re-adding your account to the app could fix it. Here's how to do this:

1. On your device, you'll first need to remove your email account from the app. Use the on-screen instructions in the app to do that, if you aren't using Gmail.
2. Alternatively, you can head to Settings > Accounts and backup > Manage account, tap an account, and choose Remove account to take it off your phone. As always, do keep in mind that these settings will vary across devices.
3. Then re-add the same account using the option in your email client.

8. Enable Email Notifications

Finally, it could be that emails are syncing just fine, but your phone isn't sending you notifications for them. You can fix this issue by enabling notifications for your email client. Here's how you can do this:

1. On your device, open your app drawer, and search for your email app.
2. Long-press on the app, and tap the circle or i icon on the top to bring up the app details.
3. Tap the Notifications option.
4. Turn the toggle on for all Show notifications. Tweak the notification categories if available, as per your preferences.

Working Efficiently With Emails

Email usually works on Android without any problems at all. But if you've been missing your emails because your phone wasn't syncing them, we recommend you fix the issue using the above methods.

Now that your emails are back up and running, you should make sure you're getting the most out of your email app. Many email apps offer plenty of great features to aid with your productivity and offer a great experience, so don't be afraid to poke around in the settings.