ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Some users are seeing issues with tap-to-pay on Pixel phones.
- The issue happens to many users intermittently.
- Restarting your phone usually fixes things.
If you’ve had trouble using tap-to-pay with your Pixel phone over the last few weeks, you’re not alone.
Since the middle of last month, users on Reddit and other support forums have been reporting problems using tap-to-pay. In some cases, the feature fails intermittently; in others, it’s entirely non-functional. The problem is, you don’t know it’s not working until you’re in a situation in which you need it right then.
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Google Wallet’s usefulness has exploded in recent years, and it now holds everything from your driver’s license to transit passes to insurance cards and more. It’s incredibly convenient until times like this, when the feature not working can cause big problems for your day if you rely on it.
Here’s what’s happening and what you can do about it.
How to fix the Pixel’s tap-to-pay problem
The issue appears to be that some Pixel phones aren’t acknowledging there’s an NFC terminal nearby when users open Google Wallet, so the device doesn’t transmit the necessary information to complete the transaction. The Pixel 11 does have a repositioned NFC antenna (toward the top of the phone rather than in the middle, as in the past several generations), but the bug is affecting a number of devices, including just about every phone from the Pixel 9 series onward. I saw it on my own Pixel 10 Pro.
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It’s not clear if the issue is with Google Wallet or the device.
I’ve reached out to Google, but the company hasn’t acknowledged the bug yet, so there’s no official fix. Based on user reports, though, there are a few things you can try to get tap-to-pay working again.
- Restart your phone: Turning your phone off and on again is the standard first step in fixing a tech problem for a reason, and some users say a reboot gets tap-to-pay working again. This isn’t the most appealing option when you’re standing in line, but it does look to be the most reliable fix for now.
- Back out to the lock screen: If you don’t want to restart your whole phone, some users say closing the Wallet app, returning to the home screen, and reopening Wallet fixes the issue.
- Clear your Wallet cache: A few users reported that clearing the Wallet app’s cache permanently fixed the problem. To do this, go to your device settings, find your app list, open Google Wallet, tap Storage & cache, and tap Clear cache.
- Use your watch instead: If you have a smartwatch with the Google Wallet app, you should defer to it for a while. Users who are having issues with their phone report trying their watch instead and having no problems.