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Play Console setup·About 2 minutes

Add our testers with a Google Group

Your app is not reachable by our testers yet. Four steps in Play Console fix it, and this page walks through every one.

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What your testers see right now

This is what “not accessible” looks like

When the group is missing from your closed testing track, our testers open your link and hit “Item not found”. Nobody can install, so nobody can opt in, and your 14 days never start counting.

Everything below fixes exactly that. It takes about two minutes.

A Google Play listing showing the Item not found error on a phone

The four steps

Tap a number to check it off as you go.

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  1. Add our Google Group under Google Groups

    In Play Console, open Test and release, then Testing, then Closed testing, and select your track. On the Testers tab, choose Google Groups and add this address:
    Pasted the address into the "Email lists" section
    Picked "Google Groups", pasted the address there, then saved
    The Testers tab of a closed testing track in Play Console with the Google Groups option selected and testers-community@googlegroups.com added
    Google Groups selected, the address added, ready to save.
    • This is the step almost everyone gets wrong. The address is a group, so Email lists will reject every tester behind it.
    • Paste the address rather than typing it. One wrong character and nobody gets in.
    • Click Save before you leave the tab.

  2. Select all countries

    Under Countries / regions, select every available country. Our testers are worldwide, and a country you leave out is a tester who cannot install.
    The Countries and regions tab of a closed testing track showing all countries and regions selected
    All countries and regions, not a hand-picked few.
    • Use the All countries / regions option rather than picking them by hand.

  3. Send the changes to review

    Submit the release for Google's review. Approval usually lands within a few hours.
    The Publishing overview page showing changes not yet sent for review and the Send changes for review button
    The tester change shows up here before it is submitted.
    • Save every change first. Unsaved edits are not included in the review.

  4. Publish after approval

    Approval is not the same as publishing. Once Google approves, click Publish so the track goes live and testers can opt in.
    The Publishing overview page showing changes ready to publish and the Publish changes button
    Changes ready to publish is not published. The last click is Publish.
    • Approved is not live. The last click is Publish.
The whole setup on screen, start to finish.

The six common mistakes

Almost every app our testers cannot reach comes down to one of these six. Go through them in order and check each one against your own setup. In most cases the fix takes a couple of minutes.

  • Adding the group under "Email lists"

    By far the most common one. Play Console accepts the address in either section, so nothing warns you, but an email list only lets in the exact addresses on it. Our address is a group, so it lets in nobody. It has to go under "Google Groups".

  • Retyping the address by hand

    Copy testers-community@googlegroups.com exactly as it appears here. One typo and the track lets nobody in.

  • Leaving countries out

    Select all available countries so international testers can reach the app.

  • Forgetting to save

    Click Save after each change before you move on.

  • Not sending the changes for review

    Saved changes still have to be submitted for Google's approval before they go live.

  • Stopping at approval

    Approved is not published. The last click is Publish.

Console access sorted?

The next step is creating your closed testing release. Our walkthrough covers every Play Console screen.

Closed testing walkthrough

Stuck on something? We are one email away.

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