Are you getting a “cannot estimate gas” error on PancakeSwap?
Here is the full error message, “The transaction cannot succeed because of an error: it is not possible to estimate the gas.”
Followed by, “the transaction may fail or may require a manual gas limit. This is probably a problem with one of the tokens you’re trading.”
The error message prevents you from buying or selling the token.
It can be caused when you are trading a token like Safemoon, Bonfire or others.
Mistakes like these are very common on PancakeSwap, so you’re not the only one experiencing it.
What does “gas cannot be estimated” mean on PancakeSwap?
“cannot estimate gas” on PancakeSwap means that the exchange cannot estimate the transaction fee.
It usually happens when there are too many decimal places in the number of tokens.
When there are too many decimal places in the number of tokens, the error “Unable to estimate gas” can occur.
For example, if you are trading BNB for 155.968325 ANKR, you may receive the error message.
This is because the token has too many decimal places.
Another reason why you received the error “unable to estimate gas” is because the token could be a scam.
However, this is usually not the case.
To check if the token is a scam, you need to view its recent transactions.
If there are people buying and selling the token recently, then most likely it is not a scam and the error message is caused by PancakeSwap.
The error message can be easily resolved by using the steps below.
How to Fix “Impossible to Estimate Gas” on PancakeSwap
To correct “unable to estimate gas” on PancakeSwap, change the slip tolerance to 12%.
Then, you need to change the number of tokens that you are trying to exchange.
After you change the number of tokens that you are trying to exchange, the error message will be corrected.
For example, if you are looking to exchange BNB for Safemoon, safemoon’s number may have many decimal places.
Or, the latest numbers of Safemoon could be very random (e.g. 5123859).
When this happens, PancakeSwap may have trouble estimating the transaction fee.
As a result, the transaction will fail and you will get the error “Unable to estimate gas”.
In addition, a low tolerance to slippage could cause the transaction to fail as well.
This is due to the token fee.
You can mitigate this situation by increasing your slippage tolerance in increments to find out the lowest slippage tolerance for the transaction for transaction success.
Here’s how you can fix “it is not possible to estimate gas” on PancakeSwap:
Step #1: Change your slip tolerance to 12%
To begin with, you need to open PancakeSwap.
Once you are on PancakeSwap, choose the tokens you want to trade.
You can do this by selecting the token you want to buy in the “To” field.
Then, select the token you want to use to trade it in the “From” field.
Next, you need to change the tolerance to slippage.
To do this, tap on the Settings icon.
After tapping on the Settings icon, the Settings popup will open.
In the Settings pop-up, you will see a “Slip Tolerance” field.
On the field, enter “12” as the slip tolerance.
Then, close the Settings pop-up by tapping on the “x” icon.
Alternatively, you can increase the slip tolerance in increments.
Start with a slippage tolerance of 2%, then work your way up to 4%, 6%. 8%, and more.
This will allow you to find the lowest slip tolerance for the success of the transaction.
However, if you’re looking to buy a token like Safemoon, you’ll need to set a slippage tolerance of 12%.
This is due to the token fees.
Step #2: Change the last numbers to zero
Next, you need to change the last token numbers to zero.
First, select the token you want to buy in the “To” field.
Then, select the token you want to use to trade it (for example, BNB, Ethereum).
Then, enter the amount of BNB or Ethereum you want to trade for the token.
For example, if you want to exchange 0.04515 BNB, enter “0.04515” in the “From” field.
This will estimate the “To” field.
However, the “To” field cannot be estimated if you are buying a token.
If the “To” field is estimated, you may receive an error message such as the error “Unable to estimate gas” when tapping “Swap”.
Instead, you need to estimate the “From” field.
When buying a token, you need to estimate the “From” field.
To do this, change the latest numbers of the token you are trying to buy to zero.
For example, if you’re trying to buy 155,958 ANKR, change it to 155,000.
In most cases, this will solve the “impossible to estimate gas” error.
However, if the last numbers of the token you’re trying to buy are already all zeros, try changing it to random numbers.
For example, if you’re looking to buy 155,000 ANKR, change it to 155,958.
If you still receive the error “Unable to estimate gas”, try changing the numbers in the “To” and “From” fields to the random ones until the transaction is successful.
This is because the error message is typically caused by the number of tokens you are trying to exchange.
Conclusion
Here are some general rules to follow every time you buy a token sale:
If you are buying a token, make sure that the “From” field is estimated.
To do this, edit the last token numbers in the “To” field.
On the other hand, if you are selling a token, make sure that the “To” field is estimated.
To do this, edit the last token numbers in the “From” field.
This will reduce any transaction errors, such as the “gas cannot be estimated” error.