Pokémon GO Stuck on the Loading Screen? 8 Fixes to Try

If Pokémon GO is stuck on the loading screen, switch between Wi-Fi and cellular data, then force close the app and open it again. If the bar still stops, restart your phone and update Pokémon GO. Most loading problems come from a weak connection, an old app version, or a temporary glitch that a restart clears.

The fixes below follow the order used in the official Pokémon GO Help Center troubleshooting guides for iOS and Android, with the quickest and safest steps first. Stop at the first fix that gets you to the map.

Quick fixes, in order

1. Check your connection. Switch between Wi-Fi and cellular data, or turn Airplane Mode on and off.
2. Force close the app. Close Pokémon GO completely, then open it again.
3. Restart your phone. Turn it off, wait about 30 seconds, and turn it back on.
4. Update Pokémon GO. The Help Center says the game works best on the newest version.
5. Check location access and the clock. The game needs your location, and the Help Center asks you to use automatic date and time.
6. Free up storage, or clear the cache on Android. The game needs room to download new data.
7. Look for a known issue. If nothing works, the problem may not be on your phone.
8. Reinstall the game. Delete it and download it again as a last resort.

Before you start: check that your phone is supported

A phone that no longer meets the game requirements can hang at the loading screen no matter what you try. The Help Center Supported Devices page currently lists these minimums:

• iPhone: iPhone 6s or later, running iOS 15 or later, with 2GB or more of RAM.
• Android: Android 9 or later, with 2GB or more of RAM.
• Both: a strong internet connection (Wi-Fi or 5G), plus GPS and Location Services.

The same page says jailbroken iPhones and rooted Android phones are not supported, and that the game may not work on beta versions of iOS or Android. If your phone falls outside those limits, the fixes below may not help.

Fix 1: Check your internet connection

Pokémon GO needs a strong connection to finish loading, so a weak signal is the first thing to rule out.

1. Open another app or a web page. If that does not load either, the problem is your connection and not the game.
2. If you are on Wi-Fi, turn Wi-Fi off and try cellular data. If you are on cellular data, connect to Wi-Fi. This is the step the Help Center recommends.
3. Turn Airplane Mode on, wait a few seconds, and turn it off. This makes the phone reconnect to the network.
4. Open Pokémon GO again and watch the loading bar.

Fix 2: Force close Pokémon GO and reopen it

Force closing means shutting the app down completely so that it starts fresh, and it does not delete anything.

• iPhone without a Home button: swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause in the middle. Swipe left or right to find Pokémon GO, then swipe its preview up.
• iPhone with a Home button: double-click the Home button, find Pokémon GO, and swipe its preview up.
• Android: open your recent apps and swipe Pokémon GO away. You can also open Settings, find Pokémon GO in your apps list, and tap Force stop. Menu names vary by phone maker.

Apple shows the gesture in Close an app on your iPhone. Open Pokémon GO again and give the loading bar a minute before you move on.

Fix 3: Restart your phone

A restart clears temporary problems with the network, GPS, and memory that closing one app cannot reach.

• iPhone with Face ID: press and hold the side button and either volume button until the power-off slider appears. Drag the slider, wait 30 seconds, then hold the side button until the Apple logo appears.
• iPhone with a Home button: press and hold the side button until the slider appears, drag it, wait 30 seconds, and hold the side button again.
• Android: hold the Power button and tap Restart if the option appears. On some phones you hold the Power button together with a volume button instead.

Apple lists the buttons for every model in Restart your iPhone.

Fix 4: Update Pokémon GO

An old version of the app can have trouble after the game itself changes, which is why updating is the first item in both official troubleshooting guides.

• iPhone: open the App Store, tap your profile picture at the top, find Pokémon GO in the list of updates, and tap Update.
• Android: open the Google Play Store, tap your profile picture at the top right, tap Manage apps & device, and check for pending updates. You can also search for Pokémon GO in the Play Store and tap Update if the button is there.

If you see Open and no Update button, you already have the newest version. These steps match the Help Center page How to Update the Pokémon GO App, Apple guide How to manually update apps from the App Store, and Google guide How to update apps on Android.

Fix 5: Check location access and the clock

Pokémon GO lists GPS and Location Services as requirements, so the game needs permission to see where you are.

• Location on iPhone: open Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and make sure Location Services is on. Tap Pokémon GO and choose While Using the App or Always. Turn on Precise Location too, because with it off the app only gets your approximate location.
• Location on Android: open Settings > Apps > Pokémon GO > Permissions > Location and allow it. Menu names vary by phone.
• Clock on iPhone: open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically.
• Clock on Android: open Settings, find Date & Time, and turn on Automatic date & time and Automatic time zone.

Apple explains each location choice in Turn Location Services and GPS on or off. The clock setting comes straight from the Help Center guides, which ask you to let the phone set its time and date automatically.

Fix 6: Free up storage or clear the cache

The game downloads new data as content changes, and a phone that is nearly full has nowhere to put it.

• iPhone storage: open Settings > General > iPhone Storage to see how much space is left. See how much free space Pokémon GO needs and clear some room if you are close to full. Apple covers this screen in How to check the storage on your iPhone.
• Android cache: the cache is a set of temporary files the app keeps to load faster. The Android guide says to open Settings, tap Storage > Games, select Pokémon GO, and tap Clear cache. On many phones the path is Settings > Apps > Pokémon GO > Storage.
• Android background data: the same guide asks you to make sure background data is not restricted for Google Play Services and the Google Play Store.

Tap Clear cache only. A separate button named Clear storage or Clear data resets the app on that phone, so you would have to sign in and download the game data again. iPhone has no cache button for apps. Google lists these steps for any misbehaving app in Fix an installed Android app that isn’t working.

Fix 7: Look for a known issue

When the game fails for many players at once, nothing you change on your phone will fix it, and waiting is usually the answer. The Help Center keeps a Release Notes & Known Issues list. Entries can be specific: one current entry covers increased crashes on older devices running iOS 26.

Fix 8: Reinstall as a last resort

Before you delete the app: make sure you know which login you use (Google, Apple, Facebook, or Pokémon Trainer Central) and the email address tied to it. The Help Center warns in My progress was reset to level 1 that signing in with a different method or email address can create a brand-new account by mistake. If that happens your old progress is not gone, but you have to sign out and sign back in the original way to see it.

Your Pokémon and progress are stored online with your game account, not on your phone. Both troubleshooting guides say game progress is not lost when you delete and reinstall.

1. If you can still get into the game on another device, open Settings there and note the login methods shown under Account.
2. Delete Pokémon GO from your iPhone, or uninstall it from your Android phone.
3. Download the game again from the App Store or Google Play. Use Wi-Fi if you can, because the game downloads its data again.
4. Open the game and sign in with the same login method and email address as before.

If the game opens but still misbehaves

Sometimes the loading bar finishes but the map stays blank, or the game hangs again a moment later. If you can reach the menus, two built-in options are worth trying.

• Refresh Game Data. Tap the Main Menu (the Poké Ball), tap Settings, tap Advanced Settings, and tap Refresh Game Data. The Help Center says this can resolve a variety of gameplay issues. It also notes that refreshing may turn off Adventure Sync, so check that setting afterward. Here is how to turn Adventure Sync on or off in Pokémon GO. See how to refresh game data in Pokémon GO for the full steps.
• Contact support from inside the app. Open Settings and tap Help at the top right. The Help Center calls the in-app route the best one in How to Contact Support, because it sends your app version and device model along with your message.

If the map looks choppy once it loads, the Native Refresh Rate setting may help on a phone with a fast screen. If the game hangs at the sign-in step on an iPhone, the iOS guide suggests clearing Safari data, because Pokémon GO uses Safari to log in. Be aware that clearing Safari history and website data also signs you out of websites in Safari, so save that step for a sign-in problem and not a general loading one.

How to tell that it worked

The loading bar fills and the map appears with your Trainer at your real location. Check your Trainer level and nickname. If they match what you had before, you are in the right account and nothing was lost.

If you land on a level 1 Trainer after a reinstall, do not start playing. Sign out and sign in again with the login method you used originally. Here is how to sign out of your account in Pokémon GO.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Pokémon GO get stuck at the loading screen after an update?

The game often downloads new data after an update. On a slow connection, that can look like a freeze. Give it a few minutes on strong Wi-Fi before trying other fixes. If it still does not move, force close the app and restart your phone.

Will I lose my Pokémon if I reinstall the game?

No. The official troubleshooting guides say all game progress is stored online, so deleting and reinstalling the app does not erase it. The risk is signing in the wrong way afterward. Use the same login method and email address you used when you created the account.

Can I clear the Pokémon GO cache on an iPhone?

iPhone has no Clear cache button for apps. The closest options are Refresh Game Data inside the game, if you can reach the settings, or deleting and reinstalling the app. Android phones do have a Clear cache button in the app storage settings.

Does Pokémon GO use a lot of cellular data while loading?

Loading the map and new game assets uses data. See how much data Pokémon GO uses if you are on a limited plan. That guide also covers the in-game option to download all game assets ahead of time over Wi-Fi.