How to Fix the Could Not Communicate With Your Google Home Mini Error

This article will walk you through a series of steps designed to fix your Google Home Mini when the Google Home app on your smartphone or tablet begins showing the “Could not communicate with your Google Home Mini” error message.

What to Do When You Get This Google Home Mini Error Message

The “Could not communicate with your Google Home Mini” error message can be caused by various factors. These range from minor glitches with your Wi-Fi network and router to the incorrect settings on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device.

Here’s how to fix this annoying Google Home Mini bug. We listed these steps in order of difficulty and recommended working through them in that order. After all, you don’t want to waste time doing something like a router reboot and then find out all you needed to do was turn your phone’s Bluetooth on.

1. Make sure you’re using the Google Home app. Unlike basic wireless speakers that you can connect to via your device’s general Bluetooth settings, Google Home devices require the use of the Google Home app, which you must install on either an Android smartphone or tablet or an iPhone or iPad.

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   You must connect compatible smart devices to your Google Home Mini via the Google Home app, not their native wireless or Bluetooth settings.

2. Check your Wi-Fi. Make sure your Wi-Fi network is working by trying to access it on one of your other devices.

   Your Google Home Mini and your smart device with the Google Home app need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi internet connection.

3. Turn on your smartphone’s Wi-Fi. Ensure Airplane Mode has been turned off and your tablet or mobile’s Wi-Fi is enabled.

4. Turn on Bluetooth. While your home or office Wi-Fi connection is needed to set up and manage your Google Home Mini, so is the Bluetooth connection between your new smart speaker and your smartphone or tablet.

5. Check your device’s minimum requirements. Your iPhone or iPad will need to be running at least iOS 12.0 or later, while your Android device will need to have at least Android 6.0 installed.

   If the connection error involves a specific device, check to ensure it's compatible with Google Home speakers.

   It’s important to update iOS and update Android devices regularly to maintain optimum functionality and improve the overall security of the apps and services you access.

6. Update the Google Home app on your iOS or Android device. If there are any compatibility issues, an app update could fix them.

7. Move your Google Home Mini closer to your internet router. The Google Home Mini might be out of range of your Wi-Fi network.

8. Move other wireless devices away from your Google Home Mini. They may be causing connectivity conflicts.

9. Turn off Wi-Fi on other devices. If you have an older internet router, it may be struggling to connect to several devices at once.

10. Only use the power supply that came with your Google Home Mini. If you’re using a different cable or plugging it into something other than a power socket, it may not be getting enough power to run correctly.

11. Unplug your internet router and Google Home Mini for five minutes and then power them on again. Doing this allows both devices to reset their internet and wireless connections and might fix whatever problems you’ve been experiencing.

    If your router is a 5G home broadband router, you may need to turn its power off for at least 10 minutes for the internet connection to reset with the 5G tower completely.

12. Remove the current Wi-Fi network from within the Google Home app and then reconnect your Google Home to Wi-Fi. This can be useful if you’ve recently changed your Wi-Fi password.

    To do this, tap Settings > Device information > Wi-Fi > Forget this network (on some versions it may be Forget network). 

    The Settings icon looks like a gear.

13. Factory reset your Google Home Mini by pressing the small button next to the power cable for about 15 seconds. You should hear a sound to indicate the factory rest process has begun. Once completed, set up your Google Home Mini as you did when you first got it.

    A factory reset will delete all data stored locally on your Google Home Mini device, but it won’t affect anything associated with your Google account. This information is stored in the cloud on Google’s servers.

14. Enable the 2.4 GHz band option if you have a dual-band router.

15. Try these essential internet router settings.

    These should only be changed as a last resort as doing so may affect your router’s functionality.

    Enable the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), multicast, and Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) options and disable AP/client isolation, virtual private networks (VPNs), proxy servers, and IGMP Proxy.

    Take a screenshot or photo of your router settings before you change them so you can undo any adjustments you make if they don’t fix your Google Home Mini communication issues. 

Why Can I Not Communicate With My Google Home Mini?

A combination of factors can cause communication errors or bugs that result in messages such as the “Could not communicate with your Google Home Mini” warning. Factors include Google Home Wi-Fi issues and Bluetooth problems to out-of-date operating systems and apps.

Hardware issues can also be a cause of Google Home Mini communication problems. For example, your internet router may have the wrong settings selected, or it could be having trouble broadcasting a strong enough Wi-Fi signal. Other internet-enabled smart devices can also cause conflicts if they connect to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth simultaneously with the Google Home Mini.

Why Does It Say “Could Not Communicate With Your Chromecast”?

If you’re having trouble getting your Google Home Mini to communicate with a Chromecast-enabled device, you may need to add the Chromecast to your Google Home app to make the initial connection. For example, while your Android tablet can send media to your smart TV with minimal effort, you need to connect your Google Home Mini to your smart TV via the Google Home app before you can enable the Chromecast functionality.

How Do You Fix “Could Not Communicate With Your Chromecast”?

A communication error can be frustrating. Fortunately, there are several proven solutions for fixing connectivity problems between Google Home and Chromecast you’re experiencing.