10 ways to fix "Obtaining IP address..." error on Android

If your device is saying "Obtaining IP address..." indefinitely, here are some ways to fix it

Written by Tomas Lyngen

Published: 08 Jan 2022

Not being able to connect to the Wi-Fi can be frustrating, but it's often an easy fix. If not, we have also included some more advance steps

Please note that every Android device can have slight different layout, so the option you're looking for might be located slightly different compared to this guide. Most Android devices have search in settings and this is a good way to find it, if the path doesn't match your device

What even is "Obtaining IP address..."?

When you connect to a network, be that wirelessly or through wire. You're always provided an IP-address, this IP address is an ID that can only be used by one device at the time in your network and so that the Wi-Fi router (or modem) knows which device it's communicating with

When you use Dynamic IP (DHCP) and IP is automatically provided to you by the Wi-Fi router (or modem) and this is what's most common in home networks. In some cases Static IP is used, that means the IP address is manually entered on the device. Static IP is more commonly used in companies, when you have devices such as printer and CCTV cameras, that should always be reachable on a specific address

So if you are stuck on "Obtaining IP address...", you never get correctly registered in the network and aren't obtaining an IP address

How to solve "Obtaining IP address..."?

Now we'll try to help you device obtain an IP address, so that you can connect to the network

There's multiple approaches, let's go through them and see what works for you

#1 Turn Wi-Fi off and on

In most scenarios, turning off and on the Wi-Fi resolves most issues and is a good first step

1) Swipe down from the top (bottom on some devices) 2) Click on the Wi-Fi icon, to turn Wi-Fi off 3) Wait a few seconds 4) Click on the Wi-Fi icon again, to turn Wi-Fi on 5) Try to reconnect to the Wi-Fi

#2 Turn Airplane mode on and off

Similar to turning Wi-Fi on and off, turning Airplane mode on and off can often resolve the issue. Airplane mode will turn of all antennas on the device (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Cellular) and can help fix more than just the Wi-Fi issue

1) Swipe down from the top (bottom on some devices) 2) Click on Airplane mode, the looks like an Airplane 3) Wait a few seconds 4) Turn Airplane mode off, by clicking on the icon again 5) Try to reconnect to the Wi-Fi

#3 Reboot device

Before spending too much time trying to figure out what's causing the issue, a quick restart of the device fixes most issues

Just hold the power button 2-3 seconds and you should get a menu, where you can select Reboot

#4 Reboot Wi-Fi router

Especially if more devices have issues, the issue can be with the Wi-Fi router itself. Then a restart of the Wi-Fi can help resolve the issue

A good practice is to remove the power and wait 15 seconds. I normally count 1001, 10002, 1003 ... 1014, 1015, before reconnecting the power

#5 Remove any new apps

Some apps, can cause issues and you can try to uninstall recently installed apps first and then move onto recently updated apps

Especially VPN and other network related apps can cause mischief, if wrongly configured

Even if you don't have network, you can still see recently installed apps in Google Play

1) Open Google Play 2) Select your profile icon > Manage apps & device 3) Under Manage, sort by Recently updated 4) See if there's any apps recently installed or updated since around the time the issue started 5) If there are, Uninstall one by one from the top and check if Wi-Fi is working again

#6 Static IP

Considering the error is indicating the device can't get IP, a solution can be to put a static IP on the device

Advanced: This option is a bit more advanced and if you don't feel comfortable, proceed to next way

1) Go into the Wi-Fi menu 2) Select the network in question 3) Find IP Settings and change to Static 4) Enter your IP and Save 5) Try to connect to Wi-Fi

If it doesn't work, you can either change IP Setting back to DHCP or continue to the next way

#7 Forget network

It could be a setting or a cache for this network causing issues, especially if you can connect to other Wi-Fi's without issue

1) Go into the Wi-Fi menu 2) Select the network in question 3) Select Forget Network 4) Reconnect to network (you'll need to enter Wi-Fi password again)

#8 Network settings reset

Return all your network settings to factory default, this can't be undone and will require you to re-add the settings you need

1) Go into Settings 2) Search for reset 3) Select Network settings reset and follow the steps 4) Reconnect to network (you might need to enter Wi-Fi password again)

#9 Factory reset

If all above steps fails, then factory reset might be the second to last option you have

This will remove all data on your device, so if you decide to try this. Please ensure you backup all data you don't want to lose, such as photos and documents

1) Go into Settings 2) Search for factory reset 3) Follow the steps