The latest Pokémon Go update just wiped a bunch of users’ data. But don’t panic! You can still be the very best.
Remember when you were 13, and you were thisclose to taking over the final gym in Pokémon Crystal, and then your little brother “borrowed” your GameBoy Color and created a new file, and boom — days and weeks and months’ worth of Pokémon training gone in an instant?
Today, Niantic is your little brother and your save file was just overridden.
The latest software update of Pokémon Go — which also introduced a “trading” clause that we’re very excited about — caused a number of users’ accounts to reset once they accepted the new terms.
As someone who’s only on level 16 and whose highest Pokémon is a Golduck at 1003 CP, this wasn’t a huge catastrophe, but the prospect of starting over was still hugely disheartening. I just wanna be the very best.
Luckily, there’s an easy fix if this happened to you!
Note: This fix is for the iPhone version, and users all over the world are reporting success with it — but a few are saying it’s not working for them. It’s definitely worth giving it a try! If anyone has had luck getting their accounts back in other ways and/or on Android, tell us in the comments!
Step 1: Delete your Pokémon Go app
Locate the Pokémon Go app button on your home page, and press and hold the button until all the apps start to shake.
Click the ‘X,’ and say ‘yes’ if it prompts you to delete the app and all data. The app is now gone from your phone.
Step 2: Delete your Google account data from Safari
Go into Settings, scroll down and click on ‘Safari.’ In Safari, go to GENERAL, and click on ‘Passwords.’
In ‘Passwords,’ find any tabs labelled “google.com” (the subheader is “accounts.google.com”) and click on them one at a time.
Click the ‘Edit’ button in the top righthand corner, and under the WEBSITES header, click the red button that prompts a red ‘Delete’ tab to appear. Click it to make the Safari app forget your Google account password.
Step 3: Download the app again, and log in as normal
Go to App Store, and download Pokémon Go again.
The first time you log in, it’ll prompt you to enter your birthday again — make sure you enter the same birthday as before.
Log in with Google, and again make sure it’s the same Google account you used before. (If it defaults to another account, you can change it.)
When it asks you for access to your location, say yes.
And voilá! Your account should be back to the way it was, and your lv 677 Chris Ekans is alive and well.
Tell us in the comments if you have other issues/fixes for this problem! We Pokémon trainers gotta stick together!
Aside from the shock of seeing your account deleted for a hot second, Niantic’s latest update is actually pretty great. They’ve done away with the buggy ‘nearby’ tracking system, and if you want to transfer Pokémon, you now have to click the little tabs button at the bottom right at the screen. As someone who has mistaken the transfer and evolve buttons more than once, this is very helpful.
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