How to fix error 501 on Google Play Store during download or installation

Due to error 501 in Google Play Store Android users can’t install, download or update many apps and games on their Android phones or tablets. This problem is caused most of the time if you have multiple apps installations going on in the Play Store. In such case, cancel all the app installations and download them one by one. If you are a custom ROM user, you may get the 501 error code while updating Google Play Services. This is caused because you flashed an incompatible Gapps package or a buggy OS. In such a case, reflashing the OS + Gapps package could be the solution. In my case, the Google Play Store error code –501 popped up while installing an app update. Here are all the possible methods to fix Android error 501 in Google Play:

Android Fix: Google Play Error Code: -501

Method 1: Reinstall

Simply cancel the installation process and try installing the app or game. If that didn’t fix it, uninstall the app/game completely and download it again from Google Play Store.

Method 2: Uninstall updates for Google play Services

This method will probably solve error 501 message while updating Google Play apps like Google Play Services, Google +, Google Play Games, YouTube, Gmail and so on.

• Go to Settings >> Apps >> All
• Scroll and select “Google Play Services”
• Tap “Uninstall updates” and “clear data”
• Also,  select "Google Play Store" and tap "Uninstall updates"
• Again, go to Apps >> All >> select “Google Service framework”
• Tap “Clear Data”
• Open Google Play and download or update an app

Method 3: Resetting App preferences

Resetting app preferences will restore default settings for your apps. This won’t delete any data from your Android device.

• Go to settings >> Apps
• Press menu or the three dots on the top right
• Select “Reset app preferences” >> Tap “OK”

Method 4: For custom ROM users (Cyanogenmod, Paranoid Android, SlimROM etc)

First try reflashing your OS and then a compatible GAPPs package. Go to recovery and wipe cache partition. See if that solved the 501 error in Google Play. If that didn’t work, you will need to entirely wipe the device (factory reset) and then run a fresh installation. For the fresh reinstallation try a different ROM and a new Gapps package. Reboot into recovery and proceed to flash the new zip files. That will almost certainly fix the 501 error message while updating Google Play Services.


Thanks for reading. Hope one of the above methods fixed “Can’t download app due to error code -501” in Google Play Store issue. If you have alternative solutions please suggest them in the comments.