Chrome’s sync function allows you to save your browser settings, saved passwords, bookmarks, history, among others across all the devices signed in with the same Google account. This effectively streamlines the workflow across all the linked devices and is often regarded as among the most useful features of this browser.
So with such a long list of perks attached, there are no points in guessing why it’s always recommended to keep this feature enabled. However, for some, the browser seems to be automatically pausing the sync, without any manual intervention from the users themselves.
It is okay if we need to sign-in chrome once in a month or two, but frequently pausing the sync is often painful.
What is more concerning is the fact that this issue seems to be persistent for close to a year, as is evident from the Google Support Forums as well as this Reddit thread. The fact that this issue seems to behave in a rather arbitrary and unsystematic manner only makes it worse.
Related: How to Sign-in Google Chrome and Manage Sync Data?
With that said, there do exist some handy workarounds that seem to have worked out for quite a lot of affected users. And this guide will make you aware of just that. So without further ado, let’s check out the methods to fix the ‘Sync is paused, Sign in again’ issue in Chrome.
Contents
Disable Identity Consistency
Chrome’s Identity Consistency setting manages the synced accounts, however, as of now, it seems to be behaving in a conflicting manner across various signed-in devices. In this regard, you should consider disabling this feature.
Here are the steps to disable the identity consistency settings in chrome:
- Head over to Chrome’s browser’s address bar and type in chrome://flags in its address bar.
- Now search for the Use Multilogin endpoint flag and change its state from Default to Disabled.
However, if you are using an older build of Chrome (73.0.3683.103 or lower), then the above flag wouldn’t be there. Rather you will have to disable the Identity consistency between browser and cookie jar flag.
Once done, you will be notified to relaunch the browser, do so as instructed. When Chrome restarts, verify if the Sync is paused issue has been rectified or not.
These flags are experimental features, hence you might experience performance and stability issues with the browser. If that happens, then it’s better to revert the chrome flag to its default state and try out the other fixes mentioned below.
Related: 7 Best Google Chrome Flags to Try!
Whitelist Google Account Cookies
Cookies generally store data such as the login info to the sites you visit, your preferences, and your browsing activities so that the offerings are tailored made for you. However, for some users, the data related to Google Accounts are no longer being stored in the cookies.
Hence as there is no data to deal with, Chrome seems to be pausing the sync functionality across all the synced devices. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to deal with this issue by manually adding the Google Accounts Site to the cookies whitelist.
Here are the steps to whitelist Google Account cookies in chrome browser:
- Under Chrome’s Settings page, go to the Privacy and Security section and click on Site Settings.
- Select and open the Cookies and other site data menu tab.
- Scroll to the Sites that can always use cookies option and click on button.
- Enter accounts.google.com in site address field.
- Hit on the command button.
- Restart your browser and check if it fixes Chrome’s Sync is paused issue.
Adding to the above point, make sure that you access this page in a normal window and not in an Incognito tab. This is because the Incognito window will overlap all the existing cookies rule and it wouldn’t allow any site to access the stored cookies, which in turn will then end up re-creating the sync issue.
Update Windows 10
This might arouse a genuine query that how would updating the OS be able to rectify an application-side issue? Well, I was tracking the Chromium Bugs page where I got hold of this exact same issue. While it dates back to a year, the OS giants seem to have finally addressed it.
As per a Microsoft Contributor, this issue has been fixed in the latest Windows 10 insider channel build and is slated for a stable rollout pretty soon. To check if your PC has been blessed with the latest update, proceed with the below steps:
- Use the + shortcut key combinations to bring up the Settings page.
- Open Update and Security and check if there is any pending update or not.
This will check for pending updates and install on Windows OS. - Download pending updates, and install right away.
- Hit on the your PC for the update to be successfully applied.
If the issue is still persistent, then the update with the patch has not yet arrived on your PC. Unfortunately, there’s no specified timeline for the update to go live. But when it does, we will update this post accordingly, so don’t forget to bookmark this page.
Bottom Line: Chrome Sync is Paused Error
With this, we conclude the guide on how to fix the Sync is Paused: Sign in again issue in the Chrome browser. We have shared three different workarounds to rectify this issue.
In my case, instructing the browser to store the accounts.google.com cookies was enough to restore Chrome’s sync functionality. Generally, when we clear the site data and cookies, the signed-in accounts will be automatically logout.
If you are also on the same page, then make sure not to delete the browser’s cookies in the near future (until an official patch is released), otherwise, it will make this fix null and void.
Related: Multiple Google Login for Chrome to Become Productive Champ!
Rounding off, do let us know in the comments which method spelled out successful for you. What has worked to fix the Chrome Sync is Paused, Sign-in again error?
Lastly, here are the recommended web browsers for your computer and mobile phone that you should give a try.
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The only way that worked for me is deleting google chrome then install it again
But think, if you have it installed in 2 different laptops and in each laptop you have 2 different OS, Linux and Windows. So, basically we have to handle with 4 different timeline using Google Chrome, so maybe because of this the problem, sometimes in my case I don’t use Windows for months and when I needed to use I got that problem and right now it a common issue every time, just restart the browser and the message is there, PAUSED, sync again!
Nothing has worked for me. I even reset my windows 10 completely and did a fresh reinstall. I deleted and reinstalled Chrome 3-4 times. I tried the 3 steps in your article after every reinstall. But, still same issue. Extremely annoying.
Works! I finally can stop resigning every time! Thank you so much!!
That fix did not work for me, still paused.
nothing seems to work
Did you try login in to the Google account? How frequently do you get this Sync is Paused alert?
Every time I log into a certain email address that I used for my iCloud account. Do you know if pausing is also affecting the updates of my photos? It seems my photos are updating on all other devices except my MacBook Pro which has the most storage and has this pausing error status dating back 10th of July. So I am going to try to do these steps and perhaps one of these options will work for me.
I’m glad I found this article. I’ve been having a problem with this for about 3 months as of Sept. 19, 2021, today. I was about ready to uninstall Boogle Chrome and install a browser that didn’t make me sign in everytime I opened the browser. [When I’m the ONLY ONE that even uses my PC and it has a password so it’s not even enough of a security issue for me to even be logged out in the first place] My go to Alternatives are Opera and Mozilla Firefox. Thanks to this article Boogle doesn’t make me log in to my account to sync the data each time I open the browser. I tend to call Google Boogle because they’re always bungling something. Thank you for the very useful article.
None of these work for me.
[System Summary]
Item Value
OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.19043 Build 19043
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name CERBERUS
System Manufacturer To Be Filled By O.E.M.
System Model To Be Filled By O.E.M.
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 6-Core Processor, 3701 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. P1.70, 2021-03-02
SMBIOS Version 3.3
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer ASRock
BaseBoard Product B550M/ac
BaseBoard Version
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State Off
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = “10.0.19041.1151”
Hello Matthew, sorry to hear that it didn’t work. The issue mostly lies in the browser itself rather than the system, however, your system configuration looks great and has no problem. I’d suggest rechecking the browser settings once again, especially cookies and javascript settings. Let us know how it goes.
Go to Settings, Privacy and security, Cookies and other site data. Then turn off “Clear cookies and site data when you close all windows”. That’s the fix