Mobile data not working on Android: what to check, cheapest fix first

Check the mobile data switch before anything else, because it is off far more often than anything on this page is genuinely broken. Google's own connectivity guide starts there: open Settings, Network and internet, SIMs, confirm Mobile data is on, then tap your carrier's name and confirm Use SIM is on. If both are right and pages still will not load, what follows works down the causes in the order that costs least, ending with a call to your provider, and says what a normal result looks like at each step.

Three things cause most of it and they are not on one screen. Mobile data and Use SIM sit under Settings, Network and internet, SIMs, the second behind your carrier's name; Airplane mode is a level up. Bars say nothing about data, and Google's signal check begins by switching Wi-Fi off so the status bar shows the mobile signal.

One warning before you flip airplane mode: Google states that Emergency SOS does not work in airplane mode or when Battery Saver is on. Broken data is not a dead phone, though: calling is a separate service, and United States rules require carriers to transmit all wireless 911 calls without respect to their call validation process.

Then take the free reset: power off rather than restart, which Google specifies, wait thirty seconds, then switch on. Airplane mode off and on is quicker.

Android will switch your data off by itself. Under Settings, Network and internet, SIMs, Data warning and limit, Set data warning only sends a notification; Set data limit is the one Google files under set limit and automatically turn off mobile data. Google's fix is to turn that limit off, not raise it. A warning cuts nothing, so passing your warning line is not a fault.

Data Saver is one switch that touches every app. Google describes it as letting most apps get background data only via Wi-Fi while active apps can still use mobile data; Android's developer documentation adds that on a metered network the system blocks background data usage and asks apps to use less in the foreground. Google says Google Play may be affected when data saver is on and Wi-Fi is unavailable, so check this before our Play Store troubleshooting guide.

The per-app control is a different screen with a different reach: on a Galaxy, Settings, Connections, Data usage, Mobile data usage, then the app, then Allow background data usage. It governs one app, so check it when a single messenger is dead and the browser is fine; finding it off is not a fault. Battery Saver matters too, since Google says it turns 5G off, and our battery drain guide shows where the power went.

Read what this switch can cost before touching it. Google's note on the roaming toggle is that some carriers charge extra for data roaming and, in the same breath, that it may be the only way to connect in some places. Which half applies depends on your plan.

The toggle is at Settings, Network and internet, SIMs, Roaming, on the SIM you use for data. Google's definition is wider than the holiday meaning: roaming lets your phone send data over other carriers' networks when you leave an area your own carrier covers, which happens inside your own country too. Roaming off is normal at home.

Google describes access point names as what helps your carrier find the right IP address for your phone and connect it securely. Samsung is plainer: with the wrong network or wrong APN settings set, you will not be able to use internet through the data network.

The wrong move is typing values in from a forum post; the right one is the reset already in the menu. Samsung's path is Settings, Connections, Mobile networks, Access point Names, then More, then Reset to default, because Samsung ships a default APN it has tested. If that fails, ask your carrier for the values.

Android lets you pin the phone to a generation of network, and one pinned to a generation that is weak where you stand will stay there. Google's Pixel options are 5G, marked recommended, plus LTE, 3G and 2G, under Settings, Network and internet, SIMs, your carrier, then Preferred network type.

Read the status bar first: Google is explicit that a 5G icon appears when your phone is in an area where 5G is available and does not mean it is getting 5G at that moment, and that a Pixel falls back to 4G and lower by itself, so being on LTE is not a fault. Treat any change as a test: drop to LTE, retest, then restore the recommended option, since a phone parked on 2G is not fixed, only slower.

Two controls here are hard to undo. Erase eSIM is not the eSIM version of switching something off and on: Google keeps a separate temporary control for that, and puts an optional password in front of the erase under Settings, Security, Advanced, Confirm SIM deletion. Both Pixel and Galaxy also carry two network resets, and the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi one is not it: Google warns that it deletes your saved Wi-Fi connections.

Handle a physical SIM with the phone off, as Google writes it: eject the tray, inspect the card, and ask your carrier for a replacement if it is damaged or bent. For an eSIM the reversible check is Use this SIM off and on again. Restoring an erased profile puts you back in your provider's queue, as our eSIM transfer guide explains.

The reset that belongs here is the mobile one: Settings, System, Reset options, Reset mobile network settings on a Pixel, Settings, General management, Reset on a Galaxy. Samsung says it leaves apps and personal data alone, but your provider may have to re-establish any specific configuration.

One test settles it, and Google gives it as a step: put a different SIM in your phone, and your SIM in another phone. If yours fails in a second handset, the fault is with the line, meaning the SIM, the account or the network. If another SIM works in yours, the handset is fine. Google's troubleshooter ends there too: ask your carrier about outages in your area and whether anything has changed on your plan.

• Is the line active, and is data provisioned on it? A suspension, an unpaid bill and an unapplied add-on look identical from the handset.
• Is there a known fault where I am? Give the location, not the town.
• Has anything changed on the plan? Google's wording, and it covers an allowance already spent.
• What are the correct APN values, and is this SIM still valid? Have the IMEI or EID ready.

Some things keep working meanwhile: text messages do not use the internet, as our guide to texting without data explains, and offline maps need no connection. None of it repairs the line: the next hour belongs to your carrier, not another pass through Settings.