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Sync is currently experiencing problems

Update: I now recommend you install Google Chrome and disable the built in Browser as it supports encrypting all synced data.

After picking up a gorgeous Galaxy Nexus yesterday I was running into an issue where my browser data wasn't syncing to the phone. After a little Googling I found this is commonly caused by having all of my synced Chrome data encrypted instead of the default of only encrypting the passwords. These are the steps I went through to get my dat syncing again without losing any of it. The exact error I was getting was "Sync is currently experiencing problems. It will be back shortly."




In Google Chrome open the personal stuff settings page by clicking this link or by opening the wrench menu, and click on "signed in with example@gmail.com".  Hit "disconnect your Google Account" to temporarily disable syncing from your browser.



Visit the Google Dashboard and "Stop sync and delete data from Google". I waited until the stored data was removed before continuing so I don't know what will happen if you don't.

Go back to the personal stuff settings page in Google Chrome and sign in with your Google Account to set up sync again. Open the advanced options to make sure "encrypt passwords" is selected and hit OK. You pre-existing browser data is now being synced to the Google cloud.


Open the Accounts & Sync settings page in Android, deselect "Sync Browser" and select it again. Your browser data should now be syncing.



Comments

  1. Awesome tutorial, worked perfectly. I did have to wait a little while ~ 5 minutes after removing the sync from my google account. I hope this shows up higher in google - I found this in your post on google support.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks bro, my bookmark sync again!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Worked!! Hope my bookmarks stay on my Nexus as I synced my chrome bookmarks on a public computer.. We'll see.
    Great tutorial 4braham!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks mate. Worked a treat.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello there - I've been experiencing this problem for a while now. I've seen similar solutions posted on forums and it looks like it's working for people, but for whatever reason, it's not working for me. I'm tempted to remove my account from the phone and then reconnect it, but I don't know what that'll do in terms of all the data and setup on my phone. Also, I wonder if there is a logfile that I can examine, because this is driving me nuts and I can't get around it.

    I had the same exact problem you had as you described it (it will be back shortly) and I also had Chrome encrypting all data. Since then, I've changed it to only encrypt passwords and I've followed the steps exactly as you've explained, multiple times. No dice. All I get when I tick the checkbox is the gray syncing icon move for a second and then stop, and it just stays there, and it never fully syncs or finishes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Removing and re adding your account shouldn't do anything to the local data that isn't synced and local data that is synced will just come back it it disappears.

      Delete
  6. "The sync server is busy. Please try again" is what I'm getting....

    ReplyDelete
  7. Worked just as you described...been trying for 2 weeks! thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am an android developer. So I tried this on my android emulator but still I am getting the same error but because of the Calender not for the browser.
    Please help me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It sounds like a different issue. The calendar is not part of Chrome's sync, encrypted or not.

      Delete
  9. @yodaveoh -- you're not alone. I can get it work on one of my Galaxy Nexus, but the other one does exactly what you experience. One thing I notice, if I bookmark something, then the Google account appears above the Local bookmarks; I can see the folders have synced, but not the bookmarks themselves. Odd and frustrating.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds awful. Hopefully Google will release a proper fix soon.

      Delete
  10. Hello, my problem is the same but with the twitter contacts, please if you could help me

    Thanks and regards

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is a longtime known issue with the Twitter app. I think Twitter has even removed support to contact syncing in a recent release.

      Delete
  11. Thank so much for this! Just waiting until everything stops syncing with my account.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The error I was getting in LogCat was a very cryptic "Sync failed due to hard error: Server reports a different identifier (birthday) birthday_error_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, which does not match the client value."

    This fix worked for me thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is an odd error. Glad you got it working though.

      Delete
  13. doesnt work on HTC sense... no sync at all...error
    "Sync is currently experiencing problems. It will be back shortly."
    2 weeks and counting

    booooooo

    ReplyDelete
  14. Tried this...no luck!

    I think the problem started when I could no longer access bookmark information due to a Google account password change. I wanted to access some bookmarks but needed my old password. Yeah...I don't remember that...so I deleted the information. I think this is when the Browser sync started to fail.

    I think my only course is to re-sign in on my phone...how do you do that without removing the account?

    ReplyDelete
  15. ahhh...I have found the missing link to this problem.

    complete all the steps above except the last one.

    Before you turn on browser sync on your phone... In your android Smartphone go to Settings -> Apps -> All -> browser and Clear data.

    Now you should be able to sync properly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It only worked for me after I performed this extra step. Thanks Editor and Abraham!

      Delete
  16. Does any of my saved passwords or extensions or bookmarks etc. get deleted if i do the above procedure? (Sorry am kinda dumb in these.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you follow the steps no. All of that is saved as is locally in Chrome and synced back to the cloud. If you delete the cloud stored data and the local data it will however.

      Delete
  17. Worked perfectly. Thanks so much for posting!

    ReplyDelete
  18. worked 100%

    Thanks !!! my bookmark sync again with stock browser!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Only worked for me after doing what Editor said: Before you turn on browser sync on your phone... In your android Smartphone go to Settings -> Apps -> All -> browser and Clear data


    ReplyDelete
  20. Haha, this worked a treat! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  21. finally someone who knows how to deal with this problem. It's been driving me nuts for months now. I've hard reset my phone twice(!) to try to fix this!
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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