Unable to add a Google account to my iphone

I've been troubleshooting not being able to add a Google account to my iphone 6s with iOS 12.2 installed. Right now, if I attempt to add the account through Passwords & Accounts -> Add Account -> Google, it asks for email address, password, I verify my identity on my other phone, and then the iphone switches to the email account page for my new Google account (with the green switches for mail, contacts, etc) and then, after a split second, that disappears and dumps me back to the "Add Account" screen (where you can select from iCloud, Exchange, Google, Yahoo, etc). Going back one screen to the Accounts page shows no Google account.


I've tried turning off 2-factor authentication on my Google account - no effect

I've tried restarting the phone many times - no effect

I've tried manually setting up the account - the account saves, but is empty (no emails, can't send/receive)

I've tried a factory reset, and then the first thing I did after finishing the new device setup was attempt to add the Google account - same results

I've tried using all 3 of my Google accounts - all 3 of them gave the same result.

I've consulted with a colleague, who also was unable to add his Google account to his iphone.


At this point I am inclined to think Apple has blocked adding Google accounts to their devices, but if this is true, why would they not remove the colorful Google icon from the list of email accounts you can add?


I was able to install Microsoft Outlook and add the account through there. The Gmail app also works very well. But neither option will add my Google contacts to the iphone...

iPhone 6s, iOS 12

Posted on Apr 9, 2019 9:46 AM

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Posted on Sep 16, 2019 9:25 AM

I was having this issue and was able to fix it for my situation. I'm on a 6S Plus running 12.4.1. My Google account did not have Gmail enabled. After I logged into my Google account on a computer and enabled Gmail, I was able to add my Google account to the iPhone and it appeared in the list of accounts. I switched off the mail, contacts, and notes because I only wanted to add it for calendar syncing.

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44 replies

Apr 9, 2019 4:40 PM in response to dalewb2

dalewb2 wrote:

If he's going to be using iOS, there really is no sense in him trying to keep his contacts in Google. That works great for Android phones, but not so much for Apple phones. It's one thing to want to check his gmail email, but quite another to expect full system integration with a Google account on an Apple phone.

I’ve been keeping my contacts in Gmail since, well since there was a Gmail. I’ve never had a problem syncing them with iOS.

May 9, 2019 11:47 AM in response to dalewb2

I am having the same problem, and I can reproduce it on several other devices. The issue seems to be that when adding a Google account to the iphone, it only works if you have gmail on that google account. When adding the account, google does all that it would normally, but the apple screen shows adding email. Since there is no gmail account associated with the account, it fails back to the add account screen. I know that this was not the case back in iOS 10, as I had it working on my phone for the last couple of years, and deleted the account recently.

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Unable to add a Google account to my iphone

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