How to fix the Apple App Store not working error

Connecting to the App Store is pretty darn important if you’re using an Apple product like an iPhone or iPad, but sometimes it just doesn’t work. If you’re receiving the “Apple App Store not working” error, there could be a few different reasons.

Before you try any of these steps, look to see if Apple itself is having issues. If Apple services are down, then there’s nothing you can do to remedy the problem on your end. If things seem to be running normally for others and the problem is unique to you, then you can begin going through these steps.

First, try simply closing and re-opening the App Store — this is the quickest thing to check. Double click the home button, swipe the app up to close it, then open it again from your list of apps. If that doesn’t work, you may want you clear your App Store cache. Press the app icon ten times from your home screen to do that (this works with any app). Open the App Store again to see if it works properly. You can also try signing out and back in to the App Store, which you can do through your device’s settings.

After this, there are some additional device-level settings to double-check. Make sure you’re connected to the internet — it seems obvious, but connections can easily be lost without realizing it if you’re not actively online when they cut out. Your device should also have the correct date and time settings because, without those, many features beyond the App Store simply won’t work correctly. If you’re not on the most recent OS for your device, then update it. You can also try a hard reboot by pressing and holding the power button to shut down.

There is one more somewhat technical thing to check to see if the problem is on your end. Apple devices use specific internet ports to access the App Store and iTunes: ports 80 and 443, respectively. To test this, you need to visit websites that use the same ports. Port 443 is easy — it’s used by Google. Try visiting that webpage, and if it loads, then that port is fine. For port 80, try a website like 3DV. If that also loads, then your other port is fine. If one or both don’t load, then forget your home network in your device’s internet settings. Fully rediscover and reconnect to reset your ports.