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Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) delivers email, file storage, video conferencing, and collaboration tools through the browser and dedicated desktop or mobile applications. Problems can arise from account provisioning errors, browser configuration issues, network restrictions, or transient Google service outages. This guide covers the most common issues IT teams encounter and the steps to resolve them efficiently.

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Sign-In Issues

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Account Suspended

A suspended Google Workspace account prevents the user from signing in across all Google services.
1

Confirm the suspension

When a user’s account is suspended, they receive the message: “Your account has been suspended. Please contact your administrator.” Confirm this is the error before proceeding.
2

Check the Admin Console

Sign in to the Google Admin Console at https://admin.google.com. Navigate to Directory → Users and search for the affected user. A suspended account displays a grey user icon with the label Suspended.
3

Review the reason for suspension

Click the user’s name to open their profile. Google may display a reason such as policy violation, abuse detection, or a failed payment on the domain account. Note the reason before proceeding.
4

Restore the account

Click Restore User on the user’s profile page in the Admin Console. The restoration typically takes effect within a few minutes.
5

Reset the user's password

After restoring, reset the user’s password and notify them. If the account was suspended due to a suspected compromise, enforce a password reset at next sign-in.
If the account was suspended due to a Google Terms of Service violation or abuse detection (e.g., spam sending), simply restoring it may result in immediate re-suspension. Investigate the root cause — such as a compromised account sending spam — before restoring.

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Domain Not Provisioned

The “The Google Account you entered is not a valid Google Workspace account for this domain” or similar error usually means the domain is not correctly verified or the user’s account was created on the wrong domain.
1

Verify the domain in the Admin Console

Go to admin.google.com → Account → Domains → Manage Domains and confirm that the user’s domain appears as Verified. An unverified domain indicates the DNS TXT record has not been added or has not yet propagated.
2

Check DNS propagation

If the domain was recently added, verify the DNS TXT verification record has propagated using a public DNS lookup tool:
Look for Google’s verification token in the output (e.g., google-site-verification=...).
3

Confirm the user's primary email address

In the Admin Console under Directory → Users, verify that the user’s primary email domain matches the provisioned Google Workspace domain, not a personal Gmail address.
4

Check organisational units (OUs)

Ensure the user belongs to the correct Organisational Unit. Users in suspended or restricted OUs may be blocked from signing in.

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Google Drive Not Syncing

1

Check if Drive for Desktop is running

Look for the Google Drive icon in the system tray (Windows) or menu bar (macOS). If it is absent, relaunch Google Drive for Desktop from the Start menu or Applications folder.
2

Review sync status and errors

Click the Drive icon and look for any error messages or a spinning/paused icon. Click the gear icon → View error details to see specific file or folder errors.
3

Check available local disk space

Drive for Desktop requires free disk space to sync files. Verify there is sufficient space available:
4

Pause and resume sync

Click the Drive tray icon, select Pause syncing, wait 30 seconds, then select Resume syncing. This forces Drive to re-check pending sync operations.
5

Sign out and sign back in

Click the gear icon in the Drive tray icon → Preferences → Accounts. Disconnect the account and sign back in to force a fresh connection to Google’s servers.
6

Reinstall Google Drive for Desktop

If sync problems persist, uninstall Google Drive for Desktop, download the latest version from https://www.google.com/drive/download/, and reinstall.
Files stored in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides format do not take up space in Drive and sync differently from regular files. If only native Google file types are not syncing, check the Google Workspace Status Dashboard for a Google Docs service incident.

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Google Meet Audio/Video Not Working

Audio and video failures in Google Meet are almost always caused by browser permissions, device driver issues, or hardware conflicts.
1

Run the built-in diagnostics

Navigate to https://meet.google.com/diagnostics in your browser. This tool tests your microphone, camera, speakers, and network connection, providing a report with specific failure details.
2

Check browser permissions

Your browser must have explicit permission to access the microphone and camera.
  • Chrome: Click the lock/info icon in the address bar → Site settings → ensure Camera and Microphone are set to Allow.
  • Firefox: Click the lock icon → Connection Secure → More Information → Permissions.
  • Edge: Click the lock icon → Permissions for this site.
After granting permissions, refresh the Meet tab.
3

Verify operating system permissions

On Windows 10/11, go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera and Microphone and confirm that both browser access and app access are enabled.On macOS, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera and Microphone and ensure your browser is listed and enabled.
4

Check the correct device is selected in Meet

During a meeting, click the three-dot menu → Settings → Audio/Video and confirm the correct input/output devices are selected. If you have multiple microphones or cameras (e.g., a USB headset alongside a built-in mic), the wrong device may be selected.
5

Update or reinstall audio/video drivers

On Windows, open Device Manager, expand Sound, video and game controllers, right-click your audio device, and select Update driver. Do the same under Cameras for webcam issues.
6

Try a different browser

If Meet still fails, test in a different Chromium-based browser or in Google Chrome directly. Meet is optimised for Chrome and some features may not work in other browsers.
7

Check network and firewall restrictions

Google Meet requires access to Google’s STUN/TURN servers and specific port ranges. If users are behind a corporate firewall, ensure UDP ports 19302–19309 and TCP port 443 are open to Google’s IP ranges. Reference the full list at: https://support.google.com/a/answer/1279090
If a user’s audio works in all other applications but not Meet, ask them to clear their browser cache and cookies specifically for meet.google.com, then sign back in.

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Gmail Not Loading

1

Clear browser cache and cookies

Cached data from older versions of Gmail can prevent the page from loading correctly.
  • Chrome: Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete → select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files → click Clear data.
  • Firefox: Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete → select the appropriate items → Clear Now.
2

Try an Incognito or Private window

Open an Incognito window (Ctrl + Shift + N in Chrome) and navigate to https://mail.google.com. If Gmail loads correctly in Incognito, the issue is caused by a browser extension or stored session data.
3

Disable browser extensions

Extensions such as ad blockers, privacy tools, or script blockers can interfere with Gmail. Disable all extensions and reload Gmail to confirm. Re-enable them one by one to identify the culprit.
4

Check the URL for correct account

Gmail supports multiple signed-in accounts. Ensure the URL is https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/ for the primary account. If the user has multiple accounts, try switching accounts via the profile icon in the top-right corner.
5

Try Gmail Basic HTML view

Navigate to https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=html to load Gmail’s lightweight Basic HTML view. If this loads when the standard view does not, there may be a browser compatibility issue.
6

Check browser compatibility

Gmail officially supports the latest two major versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If the user is on an outdated browser, update it via Help → About in the browser menu.

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Checking Google Workspace Service Status

Before escalating or spending time on deep troubleshooting, always rule out a Google-side outage.
1

Open the Google Workspace Status Dashboard

Navigate to https://workspace.google.com/status in your browser. No sign-in is required.
2

Review service statuses

The dashboard lists all major Google Workspace services (Gmail, Drive, Meet, Calendar, Admin Console, etc.) with colour-coded statuses:
  • Green circle: Normal operation
  • Orange circle: Service disruption
  • Red circle: Service outage
3

Check incident details

Click any service showing a disruption or outage to view the incident timeline, affected regions, and Google’s current mitigation steps.
4

Subscribe to notifications

At the bottom of the status page, click Subscribe to email updates to receive alerts for future incidents.
The Google Workspace Status Dashboard shows only major incidents. Some users may experience issues that Google has not yet escalated to the dashboard. Check the Admin Console → Reports for unusual patterns in your own tenant’s activity.

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Escalation

Google Workspace Support

Sign in to https://admin.google.com, navigate to Support, and open a new support case. Premier and Enterprise tiers include phone and chat support with faster response times.

Google Admin Help Centre

Search the extensive help documentation at https://support.google.com/a for articles, known issues, and community answers before opening a support ticket.

Google Workspace Status

Always reference https://workspace.google.com/status and include any active incident numbers in your support ticket to help Google’s engineers correlate your report.

Information to Provide

When escalating, include: the affected user’s email address, the Admin Console Customer ID (found in Account → Account Settings), the browser and OS version, and the exact error message or screenshot.