I cannot download Xcode from the App Store

xcode app-store

84,474

Solution 1

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

Solution 2

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!

84,474

Kisama329

Updated on July 31, 2022

Comments

Kisama329 over 1 year

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?
- Andrew Paul Simmons almost 9 years
  
  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 almost 9 years
  
  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.
- user229044 over 8 years
  
  @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.
- Henrik Erlandsson over 8 years
  
  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.
- Vyacheslav almost 8 years
  
  In my case, the downloading started at moment when I removed the previous version.
- Krunal over 6 years
  
  Try here stackoverflow.com/questions/44390162/…
- Jeremy about 5 years
  
  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.
Sventies over 6 years

The downloads in this link do not seem to work anymore (at least if I'm trying to download xcode 9.0.1)
atlanteh over 6 years

It works for me for 9.2
ivan133 over 5 years

Works for x code 10
shredding over 5 years

2018 - problem still persists and solution does work.
Diogo Bernardelli over 5 years

Awesome! Works for me with x code 10.1. Thank you very much!
Andrew Paul Simmons about 5 years

It still works for me.
Aaron almost 5 years

2019 - problem still persists and solution does work
Andrei Konstantinov almost 5 years

New link to find all Xcode downloads (use search on the right) developer.apple.com/download/more developer.apple.com/download is still valid but leads to AppStore when you try to download app.
Andrei Konstantinov almost 5 years

If you want to download Xcode faster - download it from Apple site, unpack and replace old application with new one. developer.apple.com/download/more
Kevin almost 5 years

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.
Hews about 4 years

2020 - problem still persists and solution does not work
Jake over 3 years

2021 - problem still persists and solution does not work
Boris over 2 years

Apple seems to make it more difficult to us. New link is developer.apple.com/download/all/?q=xcode
Sachin Tanpure about 2 years

2022 - problem still persists and solution does not work- Mackbook Air M1
outrowender about 2 years

insane how this still happening in 2022