Mac App Store Tips

Troubleshooting the Mac App Store

If an app purchased on one Mac does not open after being copied to another Mac

On the other Mac (where the app was copied, not purchased):

1. Delete the app that will not open.
2. Open the Mac App Store.
3. Ensure that you are logged in to the Mac App Store with the same account that purchased the app.
4. Select the Purchases view from the top of the Mac App Store window.
5. Find the app and click the Install button beside it.
6. The app will be installed on the Mac you are using.

If you are unable to find an app you purchased from the App Store

Apps you purchase from App Store have an icon added to your Dock and are installed in the Applications folder. To locate them:

1. Open the Finder.
2. Choose Applications from the Go menu.
3. Locate your app in the Applications folder.

If the Mac App Store application was removed after installing the Mac OS X v10.6.6 Combo Software Update

First, confirm that you haven’t simply removed the App Store icon from your Dock:

1. Open the Finder.
2. Choose Applications from the Go menu.
3. Locate App Store in the Applications folder.

If you cannot find the app, confirm that it isn’t in your Trash by clicking on the Trash icon on your Dock and looking for App Store in the Trash contents. If it is listed in the Trash contents, follow the steps in this article under Step 1, “If you change your mind…” to return the App Store to your Applications folder.

If the Mac App Store has been fully removed from your computer, visit AppleCare Support Downloads to download the Mac OS X v10.6.6 Combo Software Update package. Double click the file that downloads to run the Software Update. The Mac App Store will be replaced in the Applications folder and in your Dock.

If nothing happens after clicking Buy when purchasing an app

Select the Purchases view at the top of the Mac App Store window. Look for your purchased app. If it is listed under Purchases and says Installed next to it, check your Dock or Applications folder for the app. If the app’s listing under Purchases says Install next to it, click the Install button. The app will then be downloaded and installed into the Applications folder. You will not be charged again for the app.

If the app is not listed under Purchases, your previous attempt to buy was not completed and you were not charged for the app. Navigate to where you tried to purchase the app earlier and click the Buy button for the app. This will charge your account for the app. If you delete the app and wish to to reinstall it later, you can use the Purchases view to reinstall it without being charged again.

If downloading an app is interrupted

Once an Internet connection is reestablished, your purchased downloads should automatically restart. The Mac App Store may alert you that there was an issue with the download and ask if you’d like to restart the download(s). Confirming will restart all pending downloads.

Note: The download time will vary according to the file’s size and your Internet connection speed.

Additional Information

• You can find additional information by choosing Help > App Store Help from within the application.
• Additional articles and support resources for the Mac App Store are available here.

If you forgot your Apple ID password

Use these steps to reset it and regain access to your Apple ID.

Reset your password

First, follow these steps:

1. Go to My Apple ID and select “Reset your password.”
   
2. Enter your Apple ID, then select Next. If you don’t remember it, choose Forgot your Apple ID.
   
3. After you enter your Apple ID, there are three ways you can reset your password. Choose an option below:
   • Answer your security questions. Use these steps if you know the answers to your security questions.
   • Use email authentication. We’ll send you an email that you can use to reset your password.
   • Use two-step verification. If you set up two-step verification, you can use it to reset your password. You just need your recovery key and a trusted device.

Answer your security questions

1. Select “Answer security questions,” then select Next.
2. Select your birth date, then select Next.
3. Answer your security questions.
4. Set a new password and select Reset Password.

Use email authentication

1. Select “Email authentication,” then select Next. Apple will send the email to your primary or rescue email address.
   
2. Open the email and select the link to reset your password.
3. When the My Apple ID page opens, set a new password and select Reset Password.

Didn’t get the email?

Use two-step verification

1. Enter your Recovery Key.
   
2. Choose a trusted device. We’ll send your device a verification code.
3. Enter the verification code.
4. Set a new password and select Reset Password.

If you permanently lost your recovery key or access to your trusted device, you can’t reset your password.

Get help

If these steps didn’t help you reset your password, contact Apple Support.

What’s next?

After you reset your password, we’ll ask you to sign in with your new password the next time you use your Apple ID. If you want to, you can update your email address or change your Apple ID.

How to browse and purchase from the Mac App Store

Learn how to browse and purchase from the Mac App Store.

With the Mac App Store you can buy and download apps directly on your Mac. To download and purchase apps from the Mac App Store, you need to sign in with the same Apple ID you use on the iTunes Store. If you don’t have an Apple ID, you can create an account at My Apple ID (appleid.apple.com).

Note: If you have an existing credit balance on your iTunes Store account, that balance will be shared across the iTunes Store and Mac App Store.

Browsing for apps

If you already know what you’re looking for, you can search for the app name using the Search field in the upper-right corner of the Mac App Store. Your search results will be displayed after you press Enter or Return. You can also browse apps by categories such as games and productivity,

You can sort your search results by Relevance, Most Popular, Release Date, and Customer Rating using the Sort By function located just below the Search field. You can read app descriptions, user reviews, and view screenshots for any app.

Purchasing an app

When you find an app that you like, click Buy (you may be asked to sign in with your Apple ID). For more information about Apple ID, please see this article. When you click Buy, the app will begin downloading automatically, and the app icon will be added to your Dock with a progress bar below the app icon. Once the app is done installing, the progress bar below the app icon will go away.

Hide and unhide purchases in the Mac App Store

Learn how to hide and unhide your Mac App Store purchases.

Hide your purchases

If you hide an item you purchased in the Mac App Store, you won’t get update notifications for it, and you won’t see it on your Purchases page. If you’re using Family Sharing, hidden items will also be hidden from your family members.

Use these steps on OS X Mountain Lion or later:

1. Open the Mac App Store.
2. Choose Store > Sign In, then enter your Apple ID and password.
3. Click Purchases.
4. Right-click the item that you want to hide and choose Hide Purchase. A prompt will ask if you’re sure that you want to hide the item.
5. Click the Hide Purchase button. The item will fade. The item below it, if there is one, will replace it in the list.

Use these steps on OS X Lion:

1. Open the Mac App Store.
2. Choose Store > Sign In, then enter your Apple ID and password.
3. Click Purchases.
4. Locate the item that you want to hide.
5. Click the X to the right of that item. The item will fade. The item below it, if there is one, will replace it in the list.
   

Unhide your purchases

1. Open the Mac App Store.
2. Choose Store > Sign In, then enter your Apple ID and password, if you’re not already signed in.
3. Choose Store > View My Account.
4. Enter your Apple ID password, if prompted.
5. From the Account Information page, click View Hidden Purchases.
   
6. From the Hidden Purchases page, locate the app you want to unhide.
7. Click the Unhide button.

 

 

Finding your purchased apps

Finding the apps you’ve purchased from the App Store is designed to be easy—read below to find out how.

Apps purchased via the Mac App Store

When purchased via the Mac App Store, apps are installed in the Applications folder. Icons for purchased apps are automatically placed in the current user’s Dock. There is also a purchases tab in the Mac App Store where you can see all of your Mac App Store downloads.

Apps purchased on another household Mac

Apps purchased on another Mac can be installed on other Macs in the household by opening the Mac App Store on each destination Mac and signing in with the same Apple ID as you used to purchase the apps originally. Selecting the Purchases view at the top of the the Mac App Store window will display all apps which have been purchased with that account. Apps not yet installed on the current Mac will show an “Install” button next to the app name and description. Clicking the Install button will install the selected app on the current Mac without charging the account again. The apps installed in this manner will be placed on the current user’s Dock and installed in the Applications folder.

Sharing apps with other household Macs via File Sharing

Apps which have been shared with other Macs in your household via file sharing/copy should be manually placed in the Applications folder on the the computers they were shared or copied to. The first time you open a copied app, it will require the user to authenticate with the Apple ID which was originally used to purchase the app.

 

 

How to resume interrupted downloads

If a Mac App Store download is interrupted, the App Store will automatically restart or resume your download. Follow the steps in this article If your download does not automatically resume.

Follow the steps in this article If your download does not automatically resume, or if you see this alert:

The application could not be downloaded.

The application you tried to download could not be
downloaded. Check your internet connection and try
again.
To resume your download:

1. Open the Mac App Store.
2. From the Store menu, choose Sign In.
3. Enter your Apple ID and password.
4. Click Purchases to get to your Purchases Page.
5. Click the Resume button next to the app name.

Update OS X and App Store apps on your Mac

Use Software Update to keep OS X and Mac App Store apps up to date.

Automatic Updates

Your Mac notifies you when updates are available for OS X or software you’ve purchased from the Mac App Store.

Always Update

In OS X Yosemite, you can tell your Mac to automatically install updates as needed. The first time updates are ready, Yosemite gives you the option to always update automatically.

If you click Turn On when you see this notification, your Mac installs OS X and app updates overnight as they become available. Your computer automatically restarts as part of the update process when needed. The next morning when you log in, your apps and windows re-open just the way you left them. This way your computer is up to date and ready to continue where you left it.

Notifications

If you don’t turn on Always Update, your Mac lets you know every time updates are ready to install. You might see a notification in the Apple menu, a badge on the App Store icon, or an alert telling you that updates are available.

When you see a Software Update alert, Click Update, Install, or Restart to install the updates that are ready. You can click the banner to dismiss the alert without updating and see the list of updates that are available and their descriptions.

For updates that can be postponed, a Later button appears in the alert. If it’s not a convenient time to install your updates, click Later to tell OS X to remind you about the update at another time. Click and hold the Later button to see additional options, like “Try Tonight” and “Remind Me Tomorrow.”

Check for Updates

OS X Mountain Lion, Mavericks and Yosemite

You can use these steps to manually check for updates, or to see more information about available updates:

1. Choose App Store from the Apple menu.
2. Click the Updates button in the toolbar at the top of the App Store window.

Updates to OS X and software that you purchased from the Mac App Store are listed in the Updates pane of the App Store window. OS X updates appear at the top of the updates list. If more than one OS X update is available, you can click “More…” to see the complete list, along with descriptions of each update.

• Click the Update button next to a item to update it.
• If more than one update is available, click the Update All button to download and install all the updates that are listed.
• A list of items that have already been updated in the last 30 days are shown at the bottom of the window.

You can monitor the process of an update from this window, or pause and resume updates if you want to continue downloading an item later.

Earlier versions of OS X

In earlier versions of OS X, choose Software Update from the Apple menu to manually check for OS X updates. Follow the onscreen prompts to install any updates that are available. If you’ve installed software from the Mac App Store, open the App Store app and check the Updates pane for updates to your purchased software.

If you can’t connect to the Software Update server

If you’re using your iPhone as an Instant Hotspot, OS X doesn’t check for updates automatically. If you need to install an update while you’re using your cellular data connection, open the Updates pane of the Mac App Store to manually check for and download updates.

If you are using your Mac at a business or school, ask your network administrator if you’re using a proxy server. Software Update uses HTTPS to create a secure connection to Apple’s Software Update servers. Make sure you have a working Internet connection by opening http://www.apple.com in Safari. Your administrator can configure a proxy server to allow allow a secure connection to Apple’s Software Update server if needed.

Using standalone installers from Apple Support

Sometimes you might want to download a standalone installer instead of using Software Update. For example:

• If you think you might need the same download again later
• You want to install the same software on multiple computers
• You have a faster Internet connection available from another computer
• You have no Internet connection on the computer that needs the update

You can get standalone installers for many Apple software updates from the Apple Support website. Carefully read the download description before using a standalone installer. It lets you know if you need to apply other updates first. It also helps you determine if your Mac is compatible with the related download.

Find apps

There are several ways to browse for apps on App Store. If you’re looking for a specific app or kind of app, use search to find it quickly.

Browse apps, purchases, and updates

Click a button in the toolbar.

• Featured: Browse new and noteworthy apps.
• Top Charts: Browse the most popular apps.
• Categories: Browse apps in specific categories, such as Photography. (You can browse apps in a particular category by choosing an item from the All Categories pop-up menu in the Quick Links section. The Quick Links section is located in the right part of the window shown when you click Categories.)
• Purchases: View apps you purchased.
• Updates: View updates to apps you installed on your Mac and updates to OS X.

Search for apps

Type text in the search field at the top right of the App Store window, and then choose an item from the list or press Return to display results.

How to create a Mac App Store account

Learn how to create a Mac App Store account.

In order to purchase and download from the Mac App Store, you’ll need to have an Apple ID. If you have used the iTunes Store, then you can sign in to the Mac App Store using the same Apple ID you use on the iTunes Store. If you don’t have an Apple ID, you will need to create one before you can begin using the Mac App Store.

Note: The payment information on your iTunes Store account will be the same as the Mac App Store. If you have a store credit balance on the iTunes Store, that balance will be shared with both the iTunes Store and Mac App Store. The balance will be updated upon you making a purchase from either store.

Creating an Apple ID for use on the Mac App Store

1. Open the Mac App Store.
2. From the App Store menu, choose Store > Create Account
3. Once you have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions, click Agree.
4. When prompted, you’ll need to enter your email address and password, your email address will be used as your Apple ID.
   
5. Once you’ve created your password and filled out all of the required fields click Continue.
6. You’ll now be asked to enter your payment and billing information. Once you’ve completed entering your payment information click Create Apple ID.
7. A verification email will be sent to the email address you provide. You will need to check for an email from Apple, and click the link to verify your email address.