Mac Won%27t Let Me Download Apps

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Have you experienced problems on your Mac when you are updating apps but it won’t download the updates or the Mac app store won’t download anything, at all?

You are not alone because it is one of the most common problems encountered by Mac users whether it’s downloading or installing updates, apps, or files. There are also cases when the notification says the app or file has been downloaded but you just can’t find where it is, or when the installation process just quits all of a sudden even when you have a strong internet connection.

How To Fix The Download Problem

The easiest solution would be to empty your App Store’s temporary download cache folder. This solution works most of the time and it is easy to do. But before you start fixing your Mac download problems, run a scan of your computer first to make sure there are no corrupt files or cache affecting your App Store. You can use Outbyte MacRepair to scan and clean up your computer for all types of junk.

Mac Won%27t Let Me Download Apps

Once you’ve run the scan and deleted all unwanted files, don’t forget to backup your important files before you start fixing your App Store. This seems like a very simple problem with a very easy solution, but you’ll never know what could happen so always backup your files just to be safe.

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After these preparations, log out of the App Store and then log back in. Then, follow these steps to solve your App Store download problems:

Mac won%27t let me download apps
  1. Go to Spotlight and type in Terminal.
  2. Type in the following command: defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -boot true ; killall AppStore ; exit.
  3. Open App Store and sign out of it by going to Store > Sign Out.
  4. Then go to Debug Menu.
  5. Select Clear Cookies and Reset Application.
  6. Next, type the following commands in the Terminal one at a time. These commands will reset the plists:
    • rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.appstore.plist
    • rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.storeagent.plist
    • rm ~/Library/Cookies/com.apple.appstore.plist
  7. Then type in: open $TMPDIR../C/com.apple.appstore/. This opens your Mac App Store’s temporary download cache folder.
  8. Delete these files:
    • apple.appstore.plist
    • apple.installer.plist
  9. Or you can type in the following commands to delete these cached files:
    • rm -r ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.appstore
    • rm -r ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.storeagent
  10. Close the folder and restart your Mac.
  11. Then, try re-downloading your files that were causing problems before.

If this doesn’t solve the problem and your Mac App Store won’t download anything, the next solution is re-indexing. Your Mac uses Spotlight to determine what apps you have installed. And perhaps, due to a bug or a corrupted file, your operating system thinks that the app you are trying to download is already in your system which is why it is not letting you download it again.

To re-index your applications, follow these steps.

  1. Go the Apple Menu and go to System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy tab. This opens the Spotlight preferences pane.
  2. Add your primary HD (the default name is Macintosh HD) by clicking the + and selecting your HD. This will stop your OS X from indexing that particular drive.
  3. Close the System Preferences window.
  4. Click the Apple Logo and choose Log Out.
  5. Log back in and navigate back to the Spotlight preferences window.
  6. Click the button and select your HD.
  7. Close the System Preferences window.

The system will begin re-indexing everything in your HD. If you see a dot in the center of the magnifying glass, which can be found at the top right of the menu bar, then that means the re-indexing is ongoing.

Open the App Store to re-download the app or update what you were downloading previously.

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If you've followed the steps to connect your Mac to a Wi-Fi network, but the connection to your network or the Internet isn't reliable, the steps in this article might help.

Mac Won%27t Let Me Download Apps

Check for Wi-Fi recommendations

When your Mac tries to connect to a Wi-Fi network, it checks for issues that affect its ability to create a fast, stable, and secure connection. If an issue is detected, the Wi-Fi status menu in the menu bar shows a new item: Wi-Fi Recommendations. Choose it to see recommended solutions.

Wi-Fi recommendations are available in macOS Sierra or later.

Analyze your wireless environment

Your Mac can use Wireless Diagnostics to perform additional analysis.

  1. Quit any apps that are open, and connect to your Wi-Fi network, if possible.
  2. Press and hold Option (Alt) ⌥ key, then choose Open Wireless Diagnostics from the Wi-Fi status menu .
  3. Enter your administrator name and password when prompted.

Wireless Diagnostics begins analyzing your wireless environment:

If the issue is intermittent, you can choose to monitor your Wi-Fi connection:


When you're ready to see recommendations, continue to the summary. Wireless Diagnostics asks for optional information about your base station or other router, so that it can include that in the report it saves to your Mac.

Click the info button next to each item in the summary to see details about that item. Wi-Fi best practices are tips that apply to most Wi-Fi networks.


Back up or make note of your network or router settings before changing them based on these recommendations—in case you need to use those settings again.

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Monitor your Wi-Fi connection

Your Mac can monitor your Wi-Fi connection for intermittent issues, such as dropped connections. Follow the steps to analyze your wireless environment, but choose ”Monitor my Wi-Fi connection” when prompted.

During monitoring, a window shows that monitoring is in progress. Monitoring continues as long as this window is open and you're on the same Wi-Fi network, even when your Mac is asleep.

If Wireless Diagnostics finds an issue, it stops monitoring and shows a brief description of the issue. You can then resume monitoring or continue to the summary for details and recommendations.

Create a diagnostics report

Wireless Diagnostics automatically saves a diagnostics report before it displays its summary. You can create the same report at any time: press and hold the Option key, then choose Create Diagnostics Report from the Wi-Fi status menu . It can take your Mac several minutes to create the report.

  • macOS Sierra and later saves the report to the /var/tmp folder of your startup drive, then opens that folder for you.
    To open the folder manually, choose Go > Go to Folder from the Finder menu bar, then enter /var/tmp.
  • OS X El Capitan or earlier saves the report to your desktop.

The report is a compressed file with a name that begins “WirelessDiagnostics.” It contains many files that describe your wireless environment in detail. A network specialist can examine them for further analysis.

Use other diagnostics utilities

Wireless Diagnostics includes additional utilities for network specialists. Open them from the Window menu in the Wireless Diagnostics menu bar:

Can't Download Apps Mac

  • Info gathers key details about your current network connections.
  • Logs enables background logging for Wi-Fi and other system components. The result is saved to a .log file in the diagnostics report location on your Mac. Logging continues even when you quit the app or restart your Mac, so remember to disable logging when you're done.
  • Scan finds Wi-Fi routers in your environment and gathers key details about them.
  • Performance uses live graphs to show the performance of your Wi-Fi connection:
    • Rate shows the transmit rate over time in megabits per second.
    • Quality shows the signal-to-noise ratio over time. When the quality is too low, your device disconnects from the Wi-Fi router. Factors that affect quality include the distance between your device and the router, and objects such as walls that impede the signal from your router. Learn more.
    • Signal shows both signal (RSSI) and noise measurements over time. You want RSSI to be high and noise to be low, so the bigger the gap between RSSI and noise, the better.
  • Sniffer captures traffic on your Wi-Fi connection, which can be useful when diagnosing a reproducible issue. Select a channel and width, then click Start to begin capturing traffic on that channel. When you click Stop, a .wcap file is saved to the diagnostics report location on your Mac.

Learn more

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Additional recommendations for best Wi-Fi performance:

  • Keep your router up to date. For AirPort Time Capsule, AirPort Extreme, or AirPort Express Base Station, check for the latest firmware using AirPort Utility. For non-Apple routers, check the manufacturer's website.
  • Set up your router using Apple's recommended settings, and make sure that all Wi–Fi routers on the same network use similar settings. If you're using a dual-band Wi-Fi router, make sure that both bands use the same network name.
  • Learn about potential sources of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth interference.

Why Won't My Mac Download Apps

Learn about other ways to connect to the Internet.