Millions of people across the UK use Gumtree every day to buy and sell a whole range of things, from cars, to toasters, and even their own time.
With new apps being released like Karrot that are extremely similar, it’s important for this crucial marketplace to work well for everyone involved. So, what happens with the Gumtree app not working?
Is there a problem with your phone, maybe your connection or possibly Gumtree itself? There’s only one way to find out for sure and fix the problem, and that’s by following this guide.
Gumtree App not working — Check this first
There are a bunch of different problems that have been known to pop up while using the Gumtree app.
Here’s a list of some of the most frequent problems:
- Website or App Not Loading: This could be due to server issues, maintenance work, or internet connectivity problems on the user’s end.
- Login Issues: Users might face difficulties logging into their Gumtree account, often due to forgotten passwords, account suspension, or technical glitches.
- Posting Ads Problems: Issues like ads not posting correctly, images not uploading, or ad descriptions not saving are common.
- Search Functionality Issues: Sometimes the search feature may not work as expected, providing irrelevant results or failing to load search queries.
- Messaging Glitches: Users often report problems with the messaging system, like not being able to send or receive messages, or messages not appearing in the inbox.
- Payment and Refund Issues: Difficulties with processing payments or receiving refunds for Gumtree services can occur.
- App Crashes: The mobile app might crash unexpectedly due to software bugs or compatibility issues with certain devices.
- Slow Performance: Both the website and app can suffer from slow loading times, often due to high traffic or technical issues on the site.
- Account Verification Problems: Users sometimes struggle with verifying their accounts, which is required for posting certain types of ads.
- Notification Issues: There can be problems with receiving notifications, either through email or the app, about ad responses or other activities.
These are general issues and the specific problem a user faces may require a tailored solution, often available through Gumtree’s customer support or help forums.
Most of the time, there’s definitely something you can do if your Gumtree app is not working as it should. Run through the following steps to fix the issue.
Switch off Airplane Mode
There are a couple of quick things you can check first, just to get them out of the way, and you never know, they might just work!
- Check your device isn’t in airplane mode. This can prevent any online apps working and can sometimes be accidentally enabled. Make sure the plane icon isn’t lit up in your phone’s menu.
- Turn your device off and on again. A very cliché strategy, but it works a lot of the time, so I don’t really question it. It’s at least a good thing to try first if you are encountering problems.

If you have checked these, and you are still having problems then fear not, we will have a solution for you somewhere below!
Check your connection stability
Gumtree doesn’t cache its pages, so whenever you are having connection issues, you will get a lovely message telling you something went wrong and to try to reconnect. That message can be seen below.

If you see this, then there’s a couple of things you can try. First, make sure you are close to your router if using Wi-Fi, as being too far away can provide an unstable signal making it difficult for your app to connect reliably.
If this isn’t the case, and you can access other websites or apps on your Wi-Fi, then it’s not your internet that’s the problem, but your app or their servers.
Is Gumtree down?
When your connection seems fine, but you are still having problems retrieving pages from Gumtree, then it could be the case that the servers themselves are down.
It’s very easy to check if this is the problem by going here and looking to see if there’s a spike in user reports saying there are problems with the app.
If there are, it will be best to wait a few minutes to see if the problems get cleared up and the app becomes usable again.
Clear cache and data
Clearing the cache and data can rid your device of un-needed data clutter which would not only slow down your Gumtree app, but even give you some serious errors like incorrect listings, or out of date delivery addresses.
It’s very important to regularly clear your cache on the app to keep it working smoothly.



To clear the cache & data, go to settings > apps > Gumtree > storage > Clear cache & data.
Reinstall the app
If you’ve tried everything and none of it seems to be working, it might just be time to clean the slate and completely reinstall that app.
It’s annoying since you will have to redownload it, then set up all your preferences and logins again, but if you’ve already tried clearing the data and that hasn’t worked, you’re no stranger to this step.
To uninstall the Gumtree app, long press the icon on your app screen and then select the uninstall option.
Once it’s gone, you are free to go back to the Play Store, find the app again, and reinstall a brand-new fresh version, hopefully one without the problems of its past.
Conclusion
Keeping your Gumtree app updated and regularly clearing the cache is a great way to prevent any issues from cropping up while you are using the app.
This isn’t always the case though, as maybe you don’t have the best internet connection, but hopefully we’ve provided some good ways to get yourself connected reliably, and worst case, you can buy a new router on Gumtree if you need to replace yours.