failed to download, use the purchases page to try again

Hi cracka727, I got the same "failed to download" error message with a couple of different app updates and an app re-install. After spending a couple of hours investigating it, I hit upon a combination of steps that worked for me. Here are the steps I followed:

Step 1. Reinstall iTunes.

Download and reinstall current version of iTunes (which is currently version 12.6.2). Here is the link: https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Step 2. Change your DNS setting.

Here’s how to do that: Go to Network Setting in Settings Preferences. Select your network connection, click Advanced in the lower right-hand corner, then click DNS in the top row of options. At the bottom of the left side pane titled “DNS Servers:” click the plus (+) button and 0.0.0.0 should appear as the first line in the window. Type over it and change DNS to a different setting.

One possible DNS setting is Google’s 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 DNS settings. You could also insert one of these OpenDNS settings: 208.67.222.222 or 208.67.220.220 on the first line.

Just for the record, I used a different Cox Communications (my Internet provider) DNS setting: 68.105.28.11

Step 3. Clear the App Store cache.

Open the Terminal utility (in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder) and run the following command:

open $TMPDIR/../C

A Finder window will appear that shows a number of folders. Locate and delete the folder named "com.apple.appstore," then empty the trash.

Re-start your Mac, allow all background startup processes to finish, then try launching the App Store and purchasing or updating the application again. Hopefully, it will download and install without any error messages.

Step 4. Optional: Clear the DNS setting you previously set.

It’s no big deal if you leave the DNS setting you selected but if you want to restore the default setting, simply repeat the steps in Step 2 above. Click on and highlight the DNS setting you previously typed in, then hit Delete. Close the windows and your network settings will automatically reset to the default settings (which on my Mac is to default to the Airport Extreme setting: 10.0.1.1). You may possibly have to restart your Mac.

These are the steps I followed on four out of five Macs that gave me the App store "failed to download" error for different updates and app re-installs. These steps worked for me and I hope they work for you. Good luck!

Firewalls, anti-viral software and apps such as Little Snitch are know to interfere with the Mac App Store.

Late 2012 Mac mini, OS X El Capitan 10.11.4; Apple Watch, 38 mm silver AL, Watch OS 2.2; iPad Air 2 & iPhone 6+, iOS 9.3

Please launch the Console application in any one of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take an action that isn't working the way you expect. Select any lines that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

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When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

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