Gemini not working? The fix for your phone, car, watch or Chrome, now that Google Assistant is gone

How do you fix Gemini when it is not working?

Find out first whether Google or your device is the problem, because the fixes don't overlap. Google's outages hit every device at once. Device bugs hit one.

1. Check the Gemini row on Google's Workspace Status Dashboard. It covers personal accounts too. If an incident is open, nothing on your side will help, so stop here and wait.
2. Try gemini.google.com in a browser. If the website works and the app doesn't, the problem is the app or the device, and the table below names what each one needs.
3. Update the Gemini and Google apps from the Play Store or App Store. Google's June 2026 fix for broken calls in Android Auto shipped as an app update.
4. Restart the phone, and pair the watch or car again if that's where Gemini fails.
5. Turn off your VPN. Google's Chrome help page lists it as a fix, and Gemini checks where you are.
6. Sign in with a second Google account. If that one works, the block is on your account, not your device.

We read the dashboard's incident history on 25 October 2026. It lists four Gemini incidents in the past year, and the longest ran 4 days and 4 hours, from 18 to 22 February. The page showed "No incidents" at 22:37 UTC that day. The two device bugs never reached the dashboard. Google confirmed both to the press: the Android Auto calling bug on 16 June, and the Pixel Watch 5 bug on 16 September. So a quiet dashboard doesn't clear Gemini. It only clears Google's servers.

What does Gemini need on each device?

Gemini needs something different on every device, and Google publishes each minimum on a separate help page. We put them in one table on 25 October 2026:

The surprise is the car. Google's car help page asks for "An Android phone with at least 2 GB of RAM, running Android 11 or newer", while its mobile app page accepts Android 9. That's why a phone that runs Gemini fine can still fail the moment it's plugged into a car.

Language is the other quiet limit. Google marks some languages on the mobile app page with an asterisk, and those don't support "Hey Google" voice commands or some Gemini actions. If your phone is set to one of them, voice won't work however many times you retrain it.

Why is Gemini not responding to Hey Google?

Gemini ignores "Hey Google" when Voice Match is off, so turn it back on before anything else. Google's Hey Google help page sends Android users there: in the Google Home app, tap your profile picture, then Manage your Google Account, Data & privacy, and Voice Match under Other settings. Turn on Hey Google and set up Voice Match.

Three other causes are on Google's own pages. A school account on Google Workspace for Education may have the setting switched off by an admin, and only the admin can turn it back on. Your phone's language may be one of the asterisked ones with no voice commands. And in a car, Google's car help page says Hey Google works only when both Voice Match and Hey Google are on.

For a Nest speaker or display, check the hardware first. Google says the microphone switch on the back shows orange or red when the mic is off, and the speaker has to be on the same wifi as your phone.

Why is Gemini not working in Android Auto?

Gemini fails in Android Auto most often because the phone doesn't meet the car's higher bar: Android 11, 2 GB of RAM, and Gemini set as the digital assistant. Check those three, then update the Gemini and Google apps.

One known bug is already fixed. On 16 June 2026, 9to5Google reported that Gemini couldn't place calls on Android Auto and phones, showing "Something went wrong. Please try again". Google said "A fix is now available", through an app update in the Play Store. If calls still fail, that update is the first thing to check.

The old escape hatch is closing. In April 2026, Android Authority collected complaints about Gemini in the car (long answers, missed music commands, calls to the wrong contact) and gave switching back to Google Assistant as the fix. Google had announced the end of that option on its Keyword blog in March 2025: "the classic Google Assistant will no longer be accessible on most mobile devices". That date slipped. Google hasn't put the new one on a help page. It sent it to users by email, which Droid Life printed on 5 August 2026: "We will begin removing access to Google Assistant starting on September 4." PC Guide quoted the same email. On 28 September, Droid Life found the setting gone on its Pixel: "That option is gone and searching through settings on our Pixel 11 Pro comes up empty." It named Wear OS watches, earbuds and Android Auto among the paired devices that change with the phone.

Cars with Google built in work differently. There, Google's car help page says to sign a Google Account in to the car and pick Gemini in the car's own assistant settings. If Gemini isn't listed, the car needs a software update. These cars also keep the old assistant for now. Google's email says: "For cars with Google built-in, Google Assistant will continue to function beyond September 4, 2026."

Why is Gemini not working on a Galaxy Watch or Pixel Watch?

Gemini works only on select watches running Wear OS 4.0 or later, so an older watch is the first suspect. Google's watch setup page says to check support with the watch maker, and that some features don't work over LTE.

When a supported watch stops answering, Google's watch fix page gives three steps: connect the watch to your phone, add a Google Account to the watch, and turn Airplane mode on and off. Messages need more. Google writes: "If your watch is paired with an iPhone, you can't send chat messages." Gemini sends through WhatsApp or Text Messages, and the page says to update that app on the phone.

Sometimes it's Google's bug. In September 2026 Pixel Watch 5 owners saw replies like "I'm just a speech model, I can't do that", and a Google representative told Android Authority: "Our Google teams have fixed the issue, and the update has officially rolled out."

Why is Gemini not working in Chrome?

Gemini in Chrome fails most often in an Incognito window or a signed out profile, and Google's Chrome help page rules out both: "This feature isn't available in Incognito mode." It also needs a Chromebook Plus, a Mac or Windows, and the latest version of Chrome.

Google's troubleshooting list on that page runs in this order. Restart Chrome, because your location may not have updated after travel. Turn off your VPN. Update Chrome. Reset Chrome flags if you changed any. Right click the Gemini side panel and choose Reload. On a work or school account, an admin has to switch the feature on, so ask before you try anything else.

What if Gemini is down and the work can't wait?

Switch to another assistant until Google's incident closes, because nothing on your side shortens one. Whizi, which publishes this page, puts Gemini, GPT and Claude models in one picker from the Pro plan at $29.99 a month (Gemini in Whizi). Where it loses: the $15.99 Starter plan has no Gemini model, and Whizi can't import Gemini history, only ChatGPT and Claude exports.