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iPhone Apps Won’t Update? Here’s How to Troubleshoot

iPhone Apps Won’t Update? Here’s How to Troubleshoot

Are you having issues updating apps installed on your iPhone or iPad? Is the problem you’re facing related to a specific app or just all apps in general? This could occur due to several reasons, but it’s actually pretty easy to diagnose and resolve, whether you’re using an iPhone or an iPad.

Most of the time, updating your iPhone or iPad apps is nothing short of a seamless process, since your device is set to automatically update all the installed apps by default, as long as you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network. However, automatic updates may fail sometimes due to the lack of a reliable Wi-Fi connection, occasional software glitches on iOS or iPadOS, and other minor issues. In some cases, you could easily fix it with a system reboot, whereas in other cases, you’ll need to check some additional settings.

If you’re unable to figure out what’s causing this issue on your device, we got you covered with various troubleshooting methods to fix app updates on your iPhone or iPad.

Troubleshooting App Updates on iPhone & iPad

Whether you’re unable to update any of your apps or you’re having trouble updating one or two apps installed on your iPhone, you can make use of the following troubleshooting methods to get your device to update apps as intended.

Try to Update Apps Manually

If automatic updates aren’t working as intended, or if one or more of your apps fail to update, the first thing you need to try is a manual update. Head over to the App Store on your iPhone and tap on your profile icon to view the list of all apps that have available updates. Tap on the “Update” option next to the affected app and see if the update completes.

iPhone Apps Won’t Update? Here’s How to Troubleshoot

Check Wi-Fi Connection

If your attempt to manually updating the apps failed, there’s a chance that the issue is related to your internet connection. Check if you’re actually connected to a working Wi-Fi network and not using cellular instead. This can be done from the iOS Control Center. Note that some apps that are over 200 MB in size may fail to automatically or manually update over a cellular connection.

iPhone Apps Won’t Update? Here’s How to Troubleshoot

Pause/Cancel Download and Retry

This method is for those people who’re unable to finish updating iPhone apps that have already been initiated. If the app update is stuck on your iPhone, you can cancel the update and restart the download. To do this, simply long-press on the affected app and choose either “Pause Download” or “Cancel Download”. If you’re cancelling, head over to the App Store and try to manually update the app. Pausing and resuming can be quickly done by tapping on the app icon during an update too.

iPhone Apps Won’t Update? Here’s How to Troubleshoot

Uninstall and Reinstall the App

Canceling and restarting the update didn’t work? In that case, you can take things up a notch and uninstall the app from your iPhone. Once done, go to the App Store and redownload the app from scratch. This particular troubleshooting step is good enough to fix the updating issues most of the time. You can simply long-press on the app icon to access the “Remove App” option as shown below.

iPhone Apps Won’t Update? Here’s How to Troubleshoot

Reboot Your iPhone

If none of the above troubleshooting steps worked in your favor, you can proceed to reboot your iPhone by turning it off and powering it back on again. A reboot can fix minor software glitches within iOS that may prevent your iPhone apps from updating. If you’re using an iPhone or iPad without a physical home button, hold the side button and the volume up button to access the shut down menu. However, if you’re using an iPhone or iPad with Face ID, you just need to hold the power button. You can shut down your iPhone or iPad through Settings too.

iPhone Apps Won’t Update? Here’s How to Troubleshoot

If this didn’t work either, you can additionally try a force restart, which is slightly different from a regular reboot and requires a combination of button presses. On Touch ID devices, you can simply press and hold the power button and home button simultaneously until you see the Apple logo on the screen. As for the newer Face ID devices, you’ll need to click the volume up button first, followed by the volume down button, and then hold the side/power button until the Apple logo shows up to properly force reboot.

By now, you should’ve fixed the app update issues that you were facing on your iPhone. Although we were focusing primarily on the iPhone in this particular article, these troubleshooting steps can be used if you’re facing these issues on an iPad too, since iPadOS is just iOS relabeled for the big-screen tablet device.

Sometimes, when you’re unable to update apps, you may get a message saying “your account is disabled in the App Store”. This is mostly due to the payment method that’s used for App Store purchases. If this happens to you, do not edit any of your account information or payment information, and just contact Apple Support for further assistance at the earliest.

Which of these troubleshooting methods worked for you? Do you have any additional tips that may help in these situations? Feel free to share your experiences and drop your valuable opinions in the comments.