How to Fix the iPod/iPhone “Download Error. Tap to retry” Error WITHOUT Using Your PC
It’s stuff like this, Steve. Stuff like this.
About a month ago, I used my iPhone to purchase a song from the iTunes store. Or, at least I tried to. My phone refused to download the song.
When I tried to download the song, I got a “Download Error. Tap to retry” error. So I did tap to retry. Same error. Tried again. Same error. In fact, I tried for about a MONTH to download the song, but kept getting the “Download Error. Tap to retry” error each time.
None of this stopped Apple from charging my credit card for the download, though. So bully for them.
The most annoying thing about this problem was that iTunes must have been trying to download the song in the background, because every single time I used my phone it popped up a little dialog box asking for my iTunes password. That’s right – EVERY time I used my phone. Using an app? I get the prompt. Trying to make a call? I got the pop-up box prompt.
I searched online for the solution to this problem, and every solution I found involved connecting my iPhone to my PC, downloading the song using the iTunes software on my computer, then manually transferring the song to my iPhone. First, I’d like to note that this doesn’t “solve” the problem of not being able to download songs to your phone – many people have reported using this method to clear the error, but it never fixes the problem. Second, I never tried it. I don’t connect my phone to my computer all that often, and I just never got around to it.
Anyway, I was able to find a way to “clear” the error without connecting my phone to my computer. The fix, from an Apple forums post that’s now over a year old:
I had this problem as well, however I did find one way to get this to download on my iPhone. What I found that worked was to tap to retry the download and as it’s attempting to download it again I hit the pause button (I had to be quick). Once it was paused I hit the button again to resume the download and it successfully completed. I hope this helps some of you out until Apple fix this bug.
I did this and it worked great – the song “completed” downloading, my phone stopped bothering me with popup windows, and the song is now in my music library.
Pro Tip: Tap the “resume” icon, then just keep tapping your finger.
I don’t know if this “fixed” the problem or just cleared the error. And I doubt I’ll ever find out. From now on, I’ll only be using Amazon for my music downloads. It’s only 99 cents per song, and the songs you download come free from cumbersome DRM copyright management restrictions. Maybe it won’t download directly to my phone, but hey, apparently Apple’s iTunes won’t either.
November 8th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Dude, thx a bunch Eddie. Your solution worked. God bless!!!!
November 11th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
It worked great! It takes a little skill to hit that pause button before the “error message” pops up…but keep trying!
December 6th, 2010 at 2:07 am
I tried constantly tapping the screen to no avail. I’m on the iPhone 4
December 6th, 2010 at 2:09 am
I tapped the screen like a mad man and it still didn’t work.
December 23rd, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Where is the pause button on iPod touch
January 9th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
you r a geinus!!!!love you<3
January 19th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
My hero x
January 31st, 2011 at 4:46 pm
I don’t get a pause icon when I resume.. I’m on iPhone 4. Could this be the reason why this fix doesn’t work for me?
February 2nd, 2011 at 6:10 am
OMG!! I just did what u said and it worked!! U have to be VERY fast with the pause button though!! THANKS SOOOO MUCH!!
February 4th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Yes, you have to be really fast with the pause button. It’s working now. Thanks so much!
February 11th, 2011 at 10:22 pm
I rencently bought the Ipod touch 4g. I Rented 2 movies for $4.99 EACH and it even showed on my card that the money was gone. So when I press 1 of the movies to download it, it showed “download error, Tap to retry.” I press it for a million times and FAST. It’s been 3 months & i havent been able to fix it. Even If I pause the pause button and pres it again it still says downlard error. I am very upset and i payed 10 dollars for NOTHING.
February 21st, 2011 at 7:40 pm
works a treat thanks
February 25th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
What happened with me was that my connection broke down halfway through and when i try to to tap the pause button its just too fast even if i constantly try to tap the pause button it doesn;t work?
February 27th, 2011 at 11:24 am
the thing with pausing works but when the download is finished it showsthe error again. pls help me.
March 9th, 2011 at 6:20 am
its physically impossible to tap it fast enough i’ve tried for hours and i can make my arm muscles spasm so i can tap at 8 per second? I payed 5 quid to watch a movie and i expect to get what I paid for.
March 10th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
This fricken works thans!!
March 18th, 2011 at 7:37 pm
Did not work on iphone 4
April 2nd, 2011 at 12:10 pm
I can’t press it fast enough, it only shows the pause button for a split second
April 13th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
It is so hard i can not get it
April 17th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Thank you!!!!
April 22nd, 2011 at 12:47 pm
I had this problem and couldn’t pause the downloads so I checked the amount of free disk space. There was hardly any. I deleted a video to free up some space and now the files download fine. : )
April 26th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Where is the Pause button?
April 26th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
I’m so glad I found this site! I can finally listen to “Let the Drummer Kick”! Thank You!
TIP: You really have to be quick! Tap it right away. It took two-three taps until my pause button showed up. Once you finally get it, it’ll start processing again. After I found this thread, I had the song downloaded in about a minute. Good luck!
May 1st, 2011 at 10:45 am
What’s happening is that iTunes is checking to see if you have enough space for the entire file, regardless of how much you’ve downloaded. You just need to free up space.
May 1st, 2011 at 11:38 am
That’s not even close to being anywhere close to correct, AEG. First, I (and I’m sure most of these people) had gigs of free space. GIGS.
Second, as you’ll note from reading the article, the entire file is downloaded, the only problem is the error message.
Third, don’t you think that if it was an space issue the phone would throw up some sort of warning other than “Download error, Tap to retry?”
May 7th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Didn’t work…thankz for trying…any other suggestions?
May 16th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Worked for me! On my 3GS. It was bloody hard to tap it at the right split second though.
Thanks man!
May 17th, 2011 at 7:23 am
Awesome, it worked for me as well without using my PC! Thanks a BUNCH! Free music for your men and horses!
May 19th, 2011 at 11:50 am
Wow. I wish this response was higher when googling for this issue. Solved my problem easily. Thanks!
May 22nd, 2011 at 10:10 am
how do i hit it fast enough? ive tried a bunch of times and i could have sworn i got it at least once.
June 9th, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Dude it worked! Thanks a lot man for real i’ve been trying to download this song for weeks!
June 13th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
I just tried doing this on my iPod touch 4th generation and my problem is I have 3 videos I that are download errors and tried doing your solution but Im not fast enoughto try pausing all 3 of them.
June 16th, 2011 at 12:48 am
does it work for movies please tell me
June 22nd, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Thank you it worked great! I had to just start tapping BEFORE the pause icon comes up – you’ll hit it eventually. If you wait for it to pop up it’s impossible to hit it.
June 26th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
Eddie I owe you a music video’s worth of sex ;)
July 10th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
I LOVE YOU FOR POSTING THIS!!!!!!! 1 FULL YEAR I’ve been trying to download a song tht I was already charged for…..a year of “download error tap to retry” bullcrap……now I’m jammin to my fav song from last year lol :D
July 12th, 2011 at 12:56 am
It worked! Thank you!
July 16th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
I have no idea how to use this advice I have the I pod touch 3G someone help me it’s so frustrating I’m trying to download a tv show plz reply :(
July 16th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
What the shit I still can’t figure it out post a YouTube video bro plz
July 19th, 2011 at 3:15 am
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! This immediately solved my problem. YES!
August 1st, 2011 at 9:13 am
You are a life saver. This worked perfectly. I was so annoyed with itunes popping up asking for my password every 5 mins!
August 1st, 2011 at 6:30 pm
oh my gosh this works so well!!!!! Thanks plus my videos were for a plane so I was panicing with all the things I read saying that the problem was resolved weeks later.
August 7th, 2011 at 11:33 am
It worked after eightmonths I finally got it. I managed to catch the pause button for thesong but the 2movies had no pause button so I had to delete most of my music to make room. Plugged it in and the movies disappeared. I never got my money back but at least it’s finally gone. Thanks Everybody!!!!
August 13th, 2011 at 6:54 pm
Ahhhh, I just got it! I had been trying to download a LOT of songs, and I was really upset because I thought I’d have to do the tapping for every single song. Fortunately, I only had to tap the pause button for one song and it cleared the problem up for every single song. Thanks SO much for the tip!
August 21st, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Alright I’ve tryes the pause thing a million times never worked say old error so I deleted 3 videos retryed and now I finally have all 3 albums I bought
August 29th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Thank you so much!!! :)
September 13th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
IT WORKS!
October 2nd, 2011 at 5:36 am
ahhhhh it actually worked! xD just won the war against apple happening in the downloads section of my ipod. WIN. xD
October 25th, 2011 at 10:29 am
Worked on my itouch, thanks!
November 15th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
can u please post a youtube video ive been trying to do what u asked but all i ended up waz a mad mom
November 16th, 2011 at 1:54 pm
Hi,
I tried all of these solutions and nothing worked! Turns out it was the wifi network I was connected to! I disconnected and was able to download without a problem.
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Jessica, which wifi network did you connect to afterwards?
November 25th, 2011 at 10:09 pm
Does is double change you? Because I did that same thing and it worked but its downloading again even though it already took out money and it didn’t show up in my videos
December 14th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Thanks I had 325 songs to do, interesting they were already downloaded and working I just had 325 icons that I could not ditch.
So your idea worked great, except for about 4 or 5 songs it simply would not let me get rid of.
I simply rebooted my phone and spanked those remaining puppies off my phone.
So for any of you folk that this idea isn’t working for you and your finger is getting worn out, try re-booting.
Then let your finger d the tapping.
Hope it helps.
The finger.
December 27th, 2011 at 10:41 am
Took some time catching the pause bottom when it briefly popped up but I finally tapped it just as it popped up and it WORKED!! Thanks a bunch!!
December 30th, 2011 at 3:50 am
I found an easier way to do this I simply went to the Itunes store and dowloaded it again it was free and it got rid of the error and downloaded the song fine :)
January 2nd, 2012 at 6:56 pm
it does work but u have to turn your ipod off then back on and hit pause it works
January 2nd, 2012 at 6:58 pm
it does work but u have to turn your ipod off then back on and hit pause it works totally
January 30th, 2012 at 10:32 pm
It never shows the pause button it just “loads” for fI’ve seconds says processing, then says download error tap to retry
January 30th, 2012 at 10:59 pm
I tried again and again but hey third time is the charm it worked it was probably because I came back to my iPod after karate and turned it on and then tapped the download button and it started no prob. And is still going smoothly.
January 31st, 2012 at 2:42 pm
Damn u anyone who thinks tap the pause button works. Get ur ass over here and do it for me!!!!!!
February 6th, 2012 at 10:35 am
I tiried everything and it still won’t let me download all of my episodes what can I do ?
February 10th, 2012 at 4:24 am
Just figured it out…. Im using an iPhone for this. Go to iTunes under downloads… Look at all the songs that say download error tap to retry. Now swipe each individual song to delete it. ( just like you’d delete anything else in the iPhone) I did this to all of the songs. Then go back to iTunes and fined the purchased tab. All your purchased songs will be here. And presto, you can re download them.
February 19th, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Thanks so much! That error has pretty much been impossible to fix until i decided to search the web! anyways, it’s people like you that make you realize why the internet was created in the 1st place. Thanks a million! =D
February 26th, 2012 at 12:00 am
Ooh yess thank you soo much man! It worked thank god! :D
March 19th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
Thank you so much. I’m abroad using my iPad and don’t have a computer to fix the issue. I greatly appreciate you spreading this helpful info.
March 29th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
Swipe to delete…..GENIUS! It works thank U Bobby12355
April 3rd, 2012 at 4:09 pm
I’m so sad,it won’t work. I tryed to download my favorite album of all time,but it comes up for every song like that,pleaaaaaasssee help!
April 15th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
What do I do if the message doesn’t show up again
April 15th, 2012 at 10:59 pm
My son just had the same issue. It appears that it is trying to download multiple files at the same time. If you pause and limit the download to one at a time, it appear to work.
April 16th, 2012 at 7:32 pm
Never works. Always saying ” retry “
April 17th, 2012 at 11:31 am
this acutally worked, didnt work for my movie though but thanks my song has finally downloaded!!!!
April 27th, 2012 at 9:00 am
THANK YOU!
May 6th, 2012 at 9:20 pm
Doesn’t work on iPod 2nd gen :(
May 9th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
My problem is that I downloaded a song and it just keeps continuously downloading like a loop and after about 8 times, it then posts an error message. Any tips?
May 9th, 2012 at 3:06 pm
Ohh and another thing the download will reach about the part when it should start to say processing and then it will restart. Plzzzzz help.