Pokémon GO “GPS Signal Not Found” on Android? 11 Fixes

Quick answer: “GPS signal not found (11)” means Pokémon GO cannot get a location fix it trusts from your phone. On Android, the two most common causes are Google Location Accuracy being switched off and a mock-location app still selected in Developer options. On iPhone, it is almost always Precise Location turned off for the game, Low Power Mode, or a location permission set to “Ask” instead of “While Using”. Fix those, step outside with a clear view of the sky, force-close the game, and reopen it. The full list of 12 fixes below is ordered by how often each one actually solves the error.

You are standing in the open. Google Maps or Apple Maps knows exactly where you are. Yet Pokémon GO greys out the map, your avatar drifts down the street on its own, and a red banner reads GPS signal not found (11). Sometimes it is the sibling error, Failed to detect location (12). Either way, you cannot spin a PokéStop, catch anything, or count your Adventure Sync steps.

Despite the wording, this is rarely a satellite problem. Nine times out of ten it is a phone setting: location accuracy in the wrong mode, a permission that is “Approximate” instead of “Precise”, battery saving throttling the GPS chip, or a fake-GPS app you installed months ago and forgot about. Pokémon GO’s anti-cheat is strict, so it refuses any location it cannot verify, even when your phone knows perfectly well where it is.

Error 11 vs Error 12: what the numbers mean

Find your situation

How to fix “GPS signal not found” in Pokémon GO

Fix 1: Get a clear sky view and restart the game

• Step outdoors, away from tall buildings, tunnels, underpasses, and dense trees. Reflected signals between city buildings genuinely break the fix.
• Force-close Pokémon GO (swipe it away from recent apps on Android, or swipe up from the app switcher on iPhone) and reopen it. Give it a full 30 seconds to acquire a lock before judging.
• Toggle Airplane Mode on for ten seconds, then off. This forces every radio, GPS included, to reconnect.

Fix 2: Turn on high-accuracy location (Android)

This is the single most common fix on Android. If location is set to “Device only”, the phone relies on satellites alone, which is slow outdoors and hopeless indoors.

• Open Settings → Location and make sure Location is on.
• Tap Location services → Google Location Accuracy and turn Improve Location Accuracy on. On older Android versions this is Location → Mode → High accuracy.
• In the same Location services screen, turn on Wi-Fi scanning and Bluetooth scanning. These let the phone use nearby networks to sharpen the fix even when you are not connected to them.

Fix 3: Turn off mock locations (Android)

This is the hidden trigger. Pokémon GO’s anti-cheat rejects your location if any app holds mock-location permission, even if you never spoofed anything and installed that app for something else entirely.

• Go to Settings → About phone and tap Build number seven times to enable Developer options (Samsung: Settings → About phone → Software information → Build number).
• Open Settings → System → Developer options → Select mock location app and set it to None. On older phones, turn off “Allow mock locations”.
• Uninstall any fake-GPS or location-changer app completely, then restart the phone. Rooted phones and phones with an unlocked bootloader can also trigger Error 11 permanently, because the game’s integrity check fails.

Fix 4: Give the game Precise Location permission (Android and iPhone)

“Approximate” location is a guaranteed Error 11. The game needs metre-level accuracy, not neighbourhood-level.

Android:

• Long-press the Pokémon GO icon → App info → Permissions → Location.
• Choose Allow all the time (or at least “Allow only while using the app”) and turn on Use precise location.

iPhone:

• Open Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services and make sure Location Services is on.
• Scroll to Pokémon GO, set it to While Using the App or Always (Always is needed for Adventure Sync), and turn on Precise Location. If it is set to “Ask Next Time” or “Never”, that is your error.
• While you are in Location Services, scroll to the bottom, open System Services, and make sure Compass Calibration and Motion Calibration & Distance are on.

Fix 5: Recalibrate the compass

• Open Google Maps, tap the blue dot, and choose Calibrate. On iPhone, open Apple Maps or the Compass app instead. Then move the phone in a figure-eight motion a few times.
• This resets the magnetometer that both your maps app and Pokémon GO use for heading and position stability, which is why the avatar stops spinning and drifting afterwards.
• Keep the phone away from magnets and magnetic car mounts while you play. A MagSafe or magnetic mount can throw the compass off by itself.

Fix 6: Stop battery saving from throttling GPS

Power-saving features reduce how often the GPS updates. The game reads that gap as a lost signal, which is why the error shows up a few minutes into a session or right after the screen wakes.

• Android: long-press Pokémon GO → App info → Battery → set to Unrestricted. On Samsung, also open Settings → Battery → Background usage limits and remove the game from Sleeping apps and Deep sleeping apps.
• iPhone: turn off Low Power Mode (Settings → Battery). Then go to Settings → General → Background App Refresh and make sure Pokémon GO is allowed.
• Turn off Battery Saver, adaptive battery, or any third-party “booster” app while you play. If your phone has been draining fast since an update, our guide to Android battery draining after an update covers the settings that also affect GPS.

Fix 7: Turn off the VPN and check for a “developer” or jailbreak flag

• Pokémon GO compares your GPS position with your network location. A VPN makes those disagree, and the game treats the mismatch as spoofing. Disconnect the VPN before you play.
• On Android, if you leave USB debugging or Developer options on, some phones trigger the error intermittently. Turn Developer options off entirely once you have cleared the mock-location setting from Fix 3.
• Jailbroken iPhones and rooted Android phones fail the game’s integrity check and will keep returning Error 11 no matter what else you change.

Fix 8: Update Pokémon GO, Google Play Services, and your OS

• Update Pokémon GO from the Play Store or App Store. Niantic pushes location and anti-cheat fixes regularly, and older builds are sometimes blocked outright.
• Android: the game leans heavily on Google’s location APIs, so update Google Play Services and Google Maps too. If Play Services itself is misbehaving, see Google Play Services keeps stopping.
• Install any pending Android or iOS system update. Location bugs are a common item in point releases.

Fix 9: Clear the game’s cache (Android) or reinstall (iPhone)

• Android: long-press Pokémon GO → App info → Storage & cache → Clear cache. Your account and Pokémon live on Niantic’s servers, so nothing is lost. If that does not help, use Clear storage and log back in.
• iPhone: iOS has no cache-clear button, so delete the app and reinstall it from the App Store. Have your login method ready (Google, Apple, Facebook, or Pokémon Trainer Club).
• Restart the phone and reopen the game outdoors.

Fix 10: Reset network settings

Assisted GPS uses your Wi-Fi and mobile connection to get a faster first fix. Corrupted network settings interfere with that.

• Android: Settings → System → Reset options → Reset Wi-Fi, mobile & Bluetooth.
• iPhone: Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Reset → Reset Network Settings. Our step-by-step guide to resetting network settings walks through both platforms.
• You will need to rejoin Wi-Fi networks afterwards. Restart and test outdoors.

Fix 11: Reset location and privacy settings (iPhone)

If an iPhone still shows Error 11 after every step above, the location permission database itself may be stuck.

• Go to Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone → Reset → Reset Location & Privacy.
• Every app will ask for location permission again the next time you open it. Open Pokémon GO, choose Allow While Using App and turn Precise on when prompted.

Fix 12: Check it is not a server-side day

• Niantic’s servers wobble during Community Days, Raid Hours, and GO Fest, and location errors spike for everyone at once.
• Check Downdetector or the Pokémon GO status page and social accounts before you dismantle your settings. Niantic also keeps an official GPS troubleshooting guide that lists any current known issues.
• Confirm your internet actually works. The game needs a data connection alongside GPS, so if mobile data is down you will see location errors too. See mobile data not working on Android or iPhone cellular data not working.

Adventure Sync not working? It is the same problem

Adventure Sync counts steps while the game is closed, so it needs Always location permission plus access to your fitness data. If your buddy stopped earning candy or your eggs stopped hatching:

• In the game, open Settings and make sure Adventure Sync is on.
• Android: connect Google Fit (or Health Connect on newer phones) and grant Pokémon GO access to activity data. Location permission must be Allow all the time.
• iPhone: go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Health → Pokémon GO and allow steps and walking distance. Location must be set to Always, and Background App Refresh must be on.
• If the game logs distance but not steps, or vice versa, log out and back in once so the permissions re-register.

A word about “GPS spoofer” tools

Search results for this error are full of paid location-changing software presented as the fix. Two honest points before you click any of them. First, they do not fix Error 11; they are one of its most common causes, because the game detects mock locations. Second, Niantic’s three-strike policy starts with a warning, moves to a suspension, and ends with a permanent ban. A settings fix is free and keeps your account.

Still showing Error 11?

Test the phone’s GPS with a different app. If Google Maps or Apple Maps also cannot find you outdoors, the problem is the phone, not the game: try a GPS test app on Android, and on iPhone try Reset Location & Privacy from Fix 11. If maps work but Pokémon GO does not, the likely culprits are a leftover mock-location app, a VPN, or a rooted or jailbroken device. If none of that applies, contact Niantic support from inside the game with your device model and OS version. For other app problems on your phone, start at our app fixes hub.

Frequently asked questions

What does “GPS signal not found (11)” mean in Pokémon GO?

It means the game is not receiving a location fix it trusts from your phone. The cause is usually a phone setting, such as location accuracy mode, a missing Precise Location permission, or a mock-location app, rather than a real loss of satellite signal.

Why does Error 11 appear when Google Maps works fine?

Maps will happily use an approximate, Wi-Fi-based position. Pokémon GO needs a precise fix and runs anti-cheat checks on top of it, so it rejects locations that Maps accepts. Turn on Precise Location, switch off any mock-location app, and disconnect your VPN.

How do I fix GPS signal not found on iPhone?

Open Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Pokémon GO, set it to While Using or Always, and turn on Precise Location. Turn off Low Power Mode, calibrate the compass, and if the error persists use Reset Location & Privacy under Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone.

What is the difference between Error 11 and Error 12?

Error 11 (GPS signal not found) means there is no usable fix at all. Error 12 (Failed to detect location) means the game got a location but it was too inaccurate or jumped too far, or the permission is missing. Both are fixed with the same steps: precise location on, mock locations off, battery saving off, and a clear view of the sky.

Do GPS spoofing apps fix this error?

No. They cause it. Pokémon GO detects mock locations and returns Error 11 or Error 12, and continued use leads to a warning, a suspension, and finally a permanent ban.

Why does the error only happen indoors or in the car?

GPS needs a line of sight to satellites. Roofs, car bodies, and tall buildings block or reflect the signal, so the fix degrades. Turning on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning on Android, or keeping Wi-Fi on for iPhone, gives the phone extra reference points and usually restores the fix.