I cannot download Xcode from the App Store

Question

I just don't know what is happening but I can't download Xcode.

I did click on the update button on the App Store, but it did nothing.

What should I do?

I have the same issue. and when I go to purchased it just says waiting. Then after a really long time of waiting it said installing... and the install time started to bounce between 3 and 15 minutes. — Andrew Paul Simmons, Jul 06 '15 at 16:01
btw, if it means you can't install your app on your device, (because you need the latest version of xcode to do this) it is programming question. — Andrew Paul Simmons, Jul 06 '15 at 16:01
@AndrewPaulSimmons By that logic, "help, I forgot my password" is a programming question. If something prevents you from programming, that doesn't mean it's a suitable topic. — user229044, Oct 23 '15 at 09:54
Vote to re-open since it can be reproduced today again :) Using Apple's dev tools and systems just results in a bigh "sigh, what are they doing over there?" Failbuckets. — Henrik Erlandsson, Nov 10 '15 at 08:31
In my case, the downloading started at moment when I removed the previous version. — Vyacheslav, Jun 29 '16 at 05:00
Try here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44390162/download-install-xcode-9-1-beta-or-xcode-9-version-without-premium-developer/44390183#44390183 — Krunal, Sep 28 '17 at 09:56
I reproduced it today. The download icon spun for 20 seconds or so before stopping with no further feedback. The solution was to go to System Preferences -> Software Updates, and allow Mac OS to update itself. Apparently X-Code won't install if your OS is a major version behind. — Jeremy, Feb 09 '19 at 07:52

score 55 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 25 '21 at 04:36

55

Maybe it is just temporary bug… wait some time, and try again. Or try to restart the Mac App Store application.

But, if you need it right now, and nothing helps - you can download a dmg file with latest Xcode from: https://developer.apple.com/downloads

edited Jan 25 '21 at 04:36

pkamb

answered Sep 28 '14 at 21:30

Bogdan Savluk

1

The downloads in this link do not seem to work anymore (at least if I'm trying to download xcode 9.0.1) – Sventies Oct 19 '17 at 10:41
1

It works for me for 9.2 – atlanteh Dec 20 '17 at 06:30
1

Works for x code 10 – ivan133 Oct 02 '18 at 18:48
1

Awesome! Works for me with x code 10.1. Thank you very much! – Diogo Bernardelli Jan 08 '19 at 01:15
It still works for me. – Andrew Paul Simmons Feb 12 '19 at 21:07
1

New link to find all Xcode downloads (use search on the right) https://developer.apple.com/download/more/ https://developer.apple.com/download/ is still valid but leads to AppStore when you try to download app. – Andrei Konstantinov May 23 '19 at 19:39
Apple seems to make it more difficult to us. New link is https://developer.apple.com/download/all/?q=xcode – Boris Oct 21 '21 at 00:56
insane how this still happening in 2022 – outrowender Mar 16 '22 at 03:11

score 27 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 22 '15 at 23:52

27

The problem is that there is an issue updating Xcode. The update process is stuck so when you press update nothing really happens.

The solution is:

delete Xcode (put it in the trash).
search for Xcode in the Mac App Store
do a fresh install of Xcode. (The button in the Xcode page in the Mac App Store will say "install" instead of "update" because you removed Xcode in step 2.)

Cheers!

edited Oct 22 '15 at 23:52

answered Jul 06 '15 at 16:10

6

2018 - problem still persists and solution does work. – shredding Nov 22 '18 at 09:28
14

2019 - problem still persists and solution does work – Aaron Apr 29 '19 at 04:28
4

If you want to download Xcode faster - download it from Apple site, unpack and replace old application with new one. https://developer.apple.com/download/more/ – Andrei Konstantinov May 23 '19 at 19:41
2

Putting Xcode in the trash, even emptying the bin, does NOT signal the app store that Xcode is no longer installed. It still says "update" on the store page. – Kevin Jul 17 '19 at 06:39
8

2020 - problem still persists and solution does not work – Hews Feb 21 '20 at 13:12
2

2021 - problem still persists and solution does not work – Jake Oct 29 '20 at 20:36
2

2022 - problem still persists and solution does not work- Mackbook Air M1 – Sachin Tanpure Feb 16 '22 at 04:54

2 Answers2