How to run internal testing in Google Play Console: from adding testers to install links and ending the test

1. When to use internal testing

Internal testing is the track for quickly getting a build in front of a small group of people you trust. Here’s how the Play Console Help Center article describes it.

• You can add up to 100 testers per app.
• You can start before you finish setting up your app.
• It may not be subject to the standard policy and security reviews, so it’s distributed quickly.
• Internal testers install even paid apps for free.
• Testers in countries where you don't distribute your app can still get access.

So it’s what you use to check, on your own devices and your teammates’ devices, that a build installs and the first screen loads. But the release requirement for personal developer accounts (12 testers for 14 days) only counts closed testing. A table comparing the three tracks is in internal vs. closed vs. open testing.

2. How to start an internal test

1. In the left menu, go to Test and release → Testing → Internal testing.
2. On the Testers tab, click Create email list, enter your testers’ Google account emails, check the list, and click Save changes.
3. Create a new release, upload your App Bundle (.aab), add release notes, and save.
4. Send your changes from Publishing overview.
5. Copy the opt-in link from the Testers tab and send it to your testers. Each tester opens the link with the account you added to the list, joins, and installs the app from the Play Store.

The screen for creating an email list is the same as for closed testing. The CSV format and what to check when testers can’t join are covered, with screenshots, in how to add testers.

3. When it overlaps with closed testing

Google’s documentation says users who have joined an internal test can’t join an open or closed test for the same app, and to switch they must leave the internal test first. If you put your own account or a teammate’s in internal testing and then try to count the same account toward your closed test, it won’t work.

• Use different accounts for internal testers and closed testers.
• To move the same person over, have them leave the internal test and then join again through the closed testing opt-in link. Their time counts from when they joined the closed test.
• Upload the version you'll use during the 14-day closed test to the closed testing track. Releases on the internal testing track don't reach closed testers.

4. Ending an internal test

Play Console’s documentation doesn’t describe a way to delete a testing track. To end a test, pause the track (Pause track) from the top right of the track page. Once paused, testers stop receiving updates, but the app they installed stays on their device. For details, see can you delete a testing track?