Recently upgraded Mac to macOS Catalina but cannot log into the App store? Does the App store simply show a blank screen? Here are some tips to assist you if your app store is not working on macOS Catalina.
Please make sure to back up your Mac before attempting to troubleshoot.
Quick Tips
Open FaceTime or iMessage and log in using your Apple ID (or sign out and then back in)– that often jump-starts your Apple Service apps including the App Store
Quit App Store and reopen holding the Shift Key on the left side of the keyboard. Once the app store opens, try updating the apps
If you use a VPN, toggle it off
Shut Down and then power up (DO NOT USE RESTART–perform a full shut down)
Change your Date & Time Preferences to something other than your current time zone and region
Sign out & back into Mac App Store. And verify your selected country is correct
Remove App Store cache folders from your User’s Library’s Cache
Reset your cache of accepted certificates
Update using a combo macOS update download rather than an app store update
Create a new admin user and see if you can open the Mac App Store using that new user account
Why is the App Store not working on macOS Catalina?
Let’s get the basics covered before we move on to App Store specific issues on macOS Catalina. The most common reasons why the app store may not be working on your Mac are poor Wi-Fi connection, different Apple ID, proxy setup in-network, VPN setup with enhanced security settings or the Apple systems are down.
In this section, we want to rule out these basics before we explore some of the specific App Store problems.
Check your connectivity on Mac
Are you able to connect to your Wi-Fi and do you have a strong signal via the network? Are other Apple devices able to connect to this Wi-Fi and access app store? Check using your iPhone or iPad.
If you are able to connect to a strong Wi-Fi and access the internet without any issues, let’s move forward. On the other hand, if you have performance issues with Wi-Fi after updating to macOS Catalina, take a look at the suggested ideas here. ( particularly around the settings of 2.5ghz and 5 GHz router settings).
Here’s what some of the readers suggested:
When a “Sign in to FaceTime” notification popped up, I signed in to the Apple ID account we use for AppStore and macOS updates, etc. After that, the App Store app opened as normal. The short solution is to launch FaceTime and log in
I think my problem had something to do with my Mac’s network settings. So I opened network settings, selected the network adapter, clicked Advanced, went to the Proxies tab, and unchecked Automatic Proxy Configuration. That fixed everything.
Select“all apps use the VPN” in Preferences, disconnect, or turn any VPN off, then the App Store worked normally.
Check Apple Server System status for Mac App Store
There are often times when Apple is performing maintenance activities with the Mac app store and other related servers. Before you make any changes to your MacBook settings to deal with the app store issues, check the Apple System status page. You are looking here to make sure that the ‘Mac App Store’ has a green icon next to it.
Check Apple System status
Using the right Apple ID Credentials?
Are you using the right Apple ID to access the app store? This is a check item for readers who tend to use multiple Apple IDs. One id for iCloud and another Id for App store et al. Make sure that you are using the right Apple ID.
Now that we have covered some of the basics, let’s dive in and look at some specific App Store issues on macOS Catalina.
Unable to update apps in macOS Catalina, Check these tips
Some users report that they are unable to apply updates for their apps. The App store shows notification for pending app updates but when you click and try to process the updates, it prompts you to Sign in and after you enter your credentials, nothing happens.
The best thing to try and fix this issue is to sign out and then sign back in.
Click on > System preferences > Apple ID
Choose Overview on the left
Click on Sign out…
Wait for 30 seconds
Restart your Mac and sign back in using the steps above
Now try and sign in into the Mac App Store.
If you are signed in to Apple Music or podcast or TV app,Sign out of it using the ‘Account’ menu item at the top. Sign back in into the app and next try and access the Mac App Store and check if you are able to sign in and apply the app updates.
Update Apps via Terminal
Use Terminal to Update! Terminal installs your updates manually and once you are finished, restart and check the mac app store again. So open Terminal (Applications>Utilities>Terminal) and enter: softwareupdate -i -a and check if that works.
Unable to Install New apps on macOS Catalina, Fix
If you are experiencing challenges around installing new apps on macOS Catalina, chances are that it is likely due to the new security changes on macOS Catalina. We have written a detailed post that addresses dealing with this issue. Please check and see if it helps your situation. This is particularly the case with third-party apps that you are trying to download from the internet. The new macOS Catalina’s enhanced Gatekeeper module might be preventing these apps from installing.
Mac App store blank screen and other issues on macOS Catalina
If you see a bank app store screen or your app store app simply freezes or experiences interim crashing on macOS Catalina, check the following tips out.
One trick that has worked in the past when dealing with odd behavior on the Mac app store is to change the System date/time.
Change your time zone to another location, restart your Mac and then go back to > System Preferences > Date & Time and selected Set time zone automatically using current location.
Change System date time
Clear App Store Cache Files from MacBook and check
If the system date/time change didn’t work for you, you can try and restore the app store cache files on your MacBook, restart and then launch App Store.
Quit App Store app on your Mac if you have it open.
Launch Finder App
Click on Go followed by Go To..and type in ‘~/Library/Caches/’
Drag these folders to desktop. If it works you can move these to Trash
Drag the following files out from this folder onto your desktop
com.apple.appstore
com.apple.appstoreagent
Restart your MacBook and then open your App Store and check
Reset your cache of accepted certificates and check
Sometimes these old certificates might be preventing you from accessing the Mac App Store. Follow steps to remove these files and then check if you are able to access and use the App Store on macOS Catalina.
Open the Finder > Go > Go to Folder
In the Go to the Folder search bar, type /var/db/crls/
Trash the files crlcache.db and ocspcache.db
Enter an administrator password if prompted
Restart the system and check if App Store works
Update or reinstall your macOS using a combo update
Many of our readers recommend updating your Mac using a combo update instead of the update via Software Update in System Preferences.
If you’re wondering what the heck is a combo update and how is it different from a regular update?
A macOS or OS X combo (combination) update contains all of the changes since the original release of that major macOS or OS X version. You can use combo updates to update your macOS from any version within that major update.
A regular macOS update is a delta update and contains only the files that changed since the last update. You can use delta updates to update your macOS ONLY from the previous macOS version.
What makes a combo update special is that it tends to fix underlying problems with ANY of the previous updates.
You can even reinstall a combo update on a Mac to fix problems–even if that Mac is already running the latest macOS version. Just make sure you backup first before running any update–delta or combo!
You find combo updates at Apple’s Downloads site–not via the Software Update function in System Preferences.
Visit Apple’s downloads page to find macOS and OS X combo updates
Create a new admin user on your Mac
A great way to identify problems with your account is to create another admin user on your Mac and then test out the Mac App Store.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences > Users & Groups
Mac System Preferences Users & Groups
Click the lock icon to unlock it
Enter an administrator’s name and password to confirm
Choose the Add button below the list of users
In the New Account menu, choose Administrator as your type of user
An administrator can add and manage other users, install apps, and change settings
Enter a full name for the new user and the account name
Create a password, then enter it again to verify
Set-up a password hint to help the user remember it
Click Create User
Once you created the new admin user, log out of your current user and log in to the new user and set it up
Try opening the Mac App Store in this new user account
If the Mac App Store still doesn’t work, try using a different Apple ID or create a new Apple ID and test
Wrap up
We hope that you were able to address some of the App Store problems on macOS Catalina using this troubleshooting guide. Please let us know in the comments if you have any questions or if you want to share a tip or trick that worked for you.
Reader tips
Reader Terence suggests resetting your Mac’s keychains. Go to Keychain Access. Select preferences and reset default keychains–the only thing that worked for Terence
Try creating a new admin user and see if you can open the App Store with that new user. If so, you might want to move your old user folders and files into that new user and continue working with the new admin user credentials instead
I created a new user with a new Apple ID–that’s what ended up working for me
I disconnected/reconnected to iMessage and bam! App Store White screen was gone!
Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the original editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.
Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.
In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.
I am in Catalina 10.15.7 on a late 2012 Mac Mini and about a week or so ago I noticed that the App Store was inaccessible, it froze at a blank screen while loading. I tried every possibility given here (and elsewhere) and nothing worked. I even tried zapping the PRAM. I was also having troubles in Thunderbird checking my Yahoo and Gmail (which have switched to OAuth2 authorization) and I couldn’t find any solution there either. Finally I decided to switch the Proxy setting within Thunderbird to “No Proxy”, and that cured the problem. So I decided to check the system-wide Proxy settings for the OS and there are by default two set, “Web Proxy (HTTP)” and “Secure Web Proxy (HTTPS)”, both of which actually just point to ‘localhost’, which is simply the computer you’re using. I unchecked them and instantly the App Store was accessible. The settings are in ‘System Preferences->Network->Advanced->Proxies’.
The Proxy settings are intended to provide a level of anonymity and security to your Internet activities and I can anticipate that there may be criticisms of disabling them as I recommend. I can see situations where Proxies would make sense but for the home user, connecting to the Internet through an ISP, I challenge the usefulness of Proxies. Your home computers are on a network that normally uses the Class C non-broadcast IP 192.168.x.x. Your home network appears on the Internet with the IP your service provider has assigned your network, though a DHCP lease; that number may even vary over days or weeks, etc. Any bad actors who try to penetrate your home network will hit at least one hardware firewall and, unless you have foolishly opened up a bunch or ports on your router or modem-router, incoming connections are restricted. In fact if you look at the definition of a proxy it is a computer between you and the Internet. Surely your ISP serves that function in the most simple, basic way, if only through its routers.
The fact is that as email systems and many browser-related activities have adopted tighter and tighter security they need to confirm that you are indeed who you claim to be and they will fail if some intermediate computer system is effectively altering your “appearance”.
Now VPNs are a totally different beast and you may wish or need to use them for specific purposes.
Struggled to get me old iMac to update to Catalina and then the App Store went blank.
The only thing that worked is creating a new Admin User and deleting my account and ten re-making my Account…Thanks for the good advice…
I used the suggestion of removing to my desktop the folders com.apple.appstore and com.apple.appstoreagent in order to get the app store to work. It worked. What I’m not clear about is what to do with those folders now. Should I bin them?
Just bought a new MacBook Air on August 8. The initial OS updates were successful, as was the system update that appeared yesterday (Aug 26). However, in the App Store I am told that 5 apps need updates (iMovie, GarageBand, Keynote, Numbers, and Pages – the last three are critical to me). When I attempt to do the updates, I get messages like “iMovie cannot be updated because it was refunded or purchased with a different Apple ID”. This is a new machine and I have never been refunded for anything. Nor have I changed the Apple ID. I am occasionally told there was an error in my Apple ID preferences, but nothing ever tells me which preferences have the error, nor how I might fix the problem. How do I get these critical apps to update?
Here’s what I tried and what I think worked.
1. Shutting down the laptop (not restart) – Did not work
2. Signing on facetime – Did not work
3. Quit App Store and reopen holding the Shift Key on the left side of the keyboard – Did not work
3. Drag the following files out from this folder onto your desktop
com.apple.appstore
com.apple.appstoreagent
– Seem to have worked
4. Go to Keychain Access. Select preferences and reset default keychains – Seem to have worked
All in all, the problem is fixed and I am able to access the Appstore now, though I keep getting promts to sign in to my icloud account.
Thanks for posting this detailed article here.
Wow hours later… tried everything in that article and at the end, created the new user admin, and the App store worked along with Notes and Reminders which had not been working. Went back to original user and reset the keychain access which worked and solved other problems too. App store worked! BUT Notes only downloaded old ones. And Reminders does not yet work! UGH!
What an effin mess. Spent my entire afternoon on this.
Thanks Terence for your help.
After you reset default keychains, make sure you have your most recent password memorized to unlock your computer. If you’re getting a bunch of weird systems errors for passwords, you’ll need to restart your mac, which should take care of that problem too.
With help from Apple Helpdesk this solution worked.
Keychain Acces, preferences, reset default keychain and press CANCEL. That was enough. So don’t actually reset the defaults!
We came to this solution after all else failed.
(Before this step made a new user account and there the App Store worked fine!; that gave the clue).
oh! WoW you solved my problem.
I disconnect/reconnect to iMessage and bam! App Store White screen was gone.
—–
Open FaceTime or iMessage and log in using your Apple ID– that often jump-starts your Apple Service apps including the App Store
Me too. All the other methods were not working for me, until I created another Admin account. Even my old “accountsd”, “secd” issues where these processes were hogging 60% CPU are all gone.
It’s unbelievable that such stupid thing can happen in a Apple OS… I just updated to Catalina 10.15.3 with finger crossed but nothing to do.
I think that if Steve Jobs was still alive he would fire everyone working on Catalina…
About 2-3 hrs with 3 different Apple phone techs. Have not solved this problem. App store continues to hang. Works with other user, just not mine – the admin.
Will probably just start using the other user acct and change it to an admin. Nothing else to do. Too many hours spent on this craziness.
I am a complete and utter novice with Macs, however after trying ALL the suggestions, I think I have found a solution for the app store problem.
1st, I created a brand new user, with new Apple Id and logged them on, the App store worked!
2nd I created a new user using my Apple Id, it worked!
I have now made that user Admin and am giving myself a rest before deleting the original admin account.
I have been struggling with this for nearly a week.
I am also experiencing this issue and cannot believe it is happening. Spinning wheel. Rebooting my system and following all steps mentioned in this thread do absolutely nothing.
App store just sits at grey screen with rainbow wheel of doom. I have to force close it. I am running 10.15.2.
-tried signing out of appleid and signing back in
-tried logging out and in to messages and facetime
-did the time and date trick
-Cleared App Store Cache Files
-Reset cache of accepted certificates
I put a new SSD in my mid 2012 macbook last night after factory resetting it. After updating through a few different operating systems, I finally got caught up to Catalina 10.15.2 and now the app store wont load (giving black and gray blank screen with rainbow spinner). Any solution or reason it may not be working?
This definitely appears to be a bug with Catalina’s current version. A lot of users and readers are complaining about this exact issue.
You might want to try some of the reader tips listed in creating a new admin account on the Mac and/or creating a new Apple ID (for testing purposes)
Raghusays
Thanks Elizabeth. The issue is resolved for me.
I created a new admin account and logged into it without signing into iCloud account.
The App Store was working as expected. I then logged into the appstore without any issues.
Then was able to successfully log into the iCloud account as well.
Now I am going to remove the old account and start using the new one.
BertCsays
The same thing was happening to the system I was working with after updating to 10.15.2, got the blank AppStore then spinning rainbow hang.
I tried everything, delete user AppStore plist, cache and crlcache but the issue remains.
This system happens to be the master image installed to an external SSD that I use to deploy to users at my work and I was using mainly a 2017 model 13″ MacBookPro to update the system.
I remembered about a month earlier that I test boot into a 2019 T2 model 13″ MacBook Air so I thought I would try to boot using that to see if I get the same issue.
As soon as I logged in, a “Sign in to FaceTime” notification popped so I signed in to the account we use to do AppStore and macOS updates, etc. After that, the App Store app opened as normal.
The short solution is to launch FaceTime and log in. Good luck.
The same thing for me, after update to Catalina 10.15.2, the app store proposes update but when you click on it you obtain only the grey wheel but AppStore does not use the network to download something. Don’t know how to fix that for the moment.
Mine is doing the same thing also. I tried troubleshooting and have read everything i can on what “might” fix it, but i still can’t get my app store to open. It says i have 4 updates that need to be done, but won’t let me get in it in order to fix that. Anyone else get any help on this?!
I’m in the same boat. I’ve done everything on this list plus a reinstall. Just beach balls out. If anyone finds a solution let us know! Please! I don’t *need* the App Store at the moment but I will eventually.
Sharvinsays
After updating to Catalina several of my previously installed working apps would not work and had a notification about them needing an update through the App Store.
The app store does not load, it stays on a blank screen (part black, part gray) with the spinning wheel.
It doesn’t close when I try to restart it (had to use force quit). I tried, restarting, power off completely and back on again, starting in safe mode, terminal update, time zone, clearing cache, and certificates…basically everything on this list at least twice, I even reloaded Catalina. Nothing as changed
Yesterday I updated to Catalina 10.15.2 and the App Store doesn’t work anymore: it doesn’t load and shows a blank window. I just tried all your tips but nothing changed, the app is still not working.
Any other suggestion?
After updating Catalina to 10.15.1 I encountered an issue that the App Store window was completely blank.
The cause of this problem was the use of split tunneling for AppStore in the ExpressVPN.
When I selected “All apps use the VPN” in Preferences – Split tunneling – Settings, or disconnected, or turned the VPN off, the App Store worked normally.
Gentlemen: I recently upgraded to Catalina and noticed that it doesn’t have an app store or a google play store. How do I get these for the catalina os
Korush Rouzbeh says
thanks a lot it worked I checked both network proxies and FaceTime
DSpencer says
I am in Catalina 10.15.7 on a late 2012 Mac Mini and about a week or so ago I noticed that the App Store was inaccessible, it froze at a blank screen while loading. I tried every possibility given here (and elsewhere) and nothing worked. I even tried zapping the PRAM. I was also having troubles in Thunderbird checking my Yahoo and Gmail (which have switched to OAuth2 authorization) and I couldn’t find any solution there either. Finally I decided to switch the Proxy setting within Thunderbird to “No Proxy”, and that cured the problem. So I decided to check the system-wide Proxy settings for the OS and there are by default two set, “Web Proxy (HTTP)” and “Secure Web Proxy (HTTPS)”, both of which actually just point to ‘localhost’, which is simply the computer you’re using. I unchecked them and instantly the App Store was accessible. The settings are in ‘System Preferences->Network->Advanced->Proxies’.
The Proxy settings are intended to provide a level of anonymity and security to your Internet activities and I can anticipate that there may be criticisms of disabling them as I recommend. I can see situations where Proxies would make sense but for the home user, connecting to the Internet through an ISP, I challenge the usefulness of Proxies. Your home computers are on a network that normally uses the Class C non-broadcast IP 192.168.x.x. Your home network appears on the Internet with the IP your service provider has assigned your network, though a DHCP lease; that number may even vary over days or weeks, etc. Any bad actors who try to penetrate your home network will hit at least one hardware firewall and, unless you have foolishly opened up a bunch or ports on your router or modem-router, incoming connections are restricted. In fact if you look at the definition of a proxy it is a computer between you and the Internet. Surely your ISP serves that function in the most simple, basic way, if only through its routers.
The fact is that as email systems and many browser-related activities have adopted tighter and tighter security they need to confirm that you are indeed who you claim to be and they will fail if some intermediate computer system is effectively altering your “appearance”.
Now VPNs are a totally different beast and you may wish or need to use them for specific purposes.
Peter says
Struggled to get me old iMac to update to Catalina and then the App Store went blank.
The only thing that worked is creating a new Admin User and deleting my account and ten re-making my Account…Thanks for the good advice…
Fran Ruthven says
I used the suggestion of removing to my desktop the folders com.apple.appstore and com.apple.appstoreagent in order to get the app store to work. It worked. What I’m not clear about is what to do with those folders now. Should I bin them?
celia says
fantastic. created new admin user and the app store miraculously works on all accounts now. thank you for posting.
Alen says
I’ve tried everything, followed every instruction on how to fix this issue with appstore not working, and still no luck. very frustrating.
Nandipha Dilla says
The solution for me as well was Keychain Access -> Preferences -> Reset my default Keychains
Fred says
You are a lifesaver! Thanks!
Mohd Jamshaid Alam says
The solution to this was to go to Keychain Access -> Preferences -> Reset my default Keychains
Thomas says
Thanks, this is working fine
WHUC says
Just bought a new MacBook Air on August 8. The initial OS updates were successful, as was the system update that appeared yesterday (Aug 26). However, in the App Store I am told that 5 apps need updates (iMovie, GarageBand, Keynote, Numbers, and Pages – the last three are critical to me). When I attempt to do the updates, I get messages like “iMovie cannot be updated because it was refunded or purchased with a different Apple ID”. This is a new machine and I have never been refunded for anything. Nor have I changed the Apple ID. I am occasionally told there was an error in my Apple ID preferences, but nothing ever tells me which preferences have the error, nor how I might fix the problem. How do I get these critical apps to update?
Nanjappa says
Here’s what I tried and what I think worked.
1. Shutting down the laptop (not restart) – Did not work
2. Signing on facetime – Did not work
3. Quit App Store and reopen holding the Shift Key on the left side of the keyboard – Did not work
3. Drag the following files out from this folder onto your desktop
com.apple.appstore
com.apple.appstoreagent
– Seem to have worked
4. Go to Keychain Access. Select preferences and reset default keychains – Seem to have worked
All in all, the problem is fixed and I am able to access the Appstore now, though I keep getting promts to sign in to my icloud account.
Thanks for posting this detailed article here.
james says
Keychain Access -> Preferences -> Reset my default Keychains
Kirill says
Thank you, work for me!
Allison says
Thanks! This worked for me
Annette says
Wow hours later… tried everything in that article and at the end, created the new user admin, and the App store worked along with Notes and Reminders which had not been working. Went back to original user and reset the keychain access which worked and solved other problems too. App store worked! BUT Notes only downloaded old ones. And Reminders does not yet work! UGH!
Vali says
Been suffering for weeks/months. I think I tried every option in this article. The Keychain reset seems to have worked for me now. (Thanks Terence!)
Simon says
On Mac Catalina, removing the cached files (tip 5.1) worked for me. Thanks! Simon
Liis says
Creating a new administrator fixed somehow also the problems for my administrator! Thank you so much! Very helpful comments!
Liis
Terence says
Go to Keychain Access, go to preferences and reset default keychains. This worked for me. Tried all the other ways, none worked.
Edwin says
Yes! I tried everything else too and spent so much time researching howBut this method worked for me. Thank you, Terence.
Dan M says
What an effin mess. Spent my entire afternoon on this.
Thanks Terence for your help.
After you reset default keychains, make sure you have your most recent password memorized to unlock your computer. If you’re getting a bunch of weird systems errors for passwords, you’ll need to restart your mac, which should take care of that problem too.
I’m so pissed
Julie says
I have spent HOURS trying to fix this same issue and I tried everything until this post. I reset my default keychains and this worked. THANK YOU!!!
Satish A says
This worked for me too… thanks a lot.
Corne says
With help from Apple Helpdesk this solution worked.
Keychain Acces, preferences, reset default keychain and press CANCEL. That was enough. So don’t actually reset the defaults!
We came to this solution after all else failed.
(Before this step made a new user account and there the App Store worked fine!; that gave the clue).
Rob says
this worked! thanks so much!
jon says
great, thanks
Roelof says
Thanks, that worked like a charm.
Sylvain Breton says
oh! WoW you solved my problem.
I disconnect/reconnect to iMessage and bam! App Store White screen was gone.
—–
Open FaceTime or iMessage and log in using your Apple ID– that often jump-starts your Apple Service apps including the App Store
idot says
making a new account worked for me! Thanks!
alsome1 says
Me too. All the other methods were not working for me, until I created another Admin account. Even my old “accountsd”, “secd” issues where these processes were hogging 60% CPU are all gone.
Ewan says
Tried all of above and still nothing helps to solve the frozen App Store. Also since updating to Catalina all of my important Notes have disappeared.
Not the best start to updating.
Is there any further information on solving the App Store problem and how to fix the missing Notes?
Giordana says
It’s unbelievable that such stupid thing can happen in a Apple OS… I just updated to Catalina 10.15.3 with finger crossed but nothing to do.
I think that if Steve Jobs was still alive he would fire everyone working on Catalina…
Cathy says
About 2-3 hrs with 3 different Apple phone techs. Have not solved this problem. App store continues to hang. Works with other user, just not mine – the admin.
Will probably just start using the other user acct and change it to an admin. Nothing else to do. Too many hours spent on this craziness.
Clive Scott says
I’m still stuck with the same problem!
Charmi says
I am a complete and utter novice with Macs, however after trying ALL the suggestions, I think I have found a solution for the app store problem.
1st, I created a brand new user, with new Apple Id and logged them on, the App store worked!
2nd I created a new user using my Apple Id, it worked!
I have now made that user Admin and am giving myself a rest before deleting the original admin account.
I have been struggling with this for nearly a week.
Jane says
Hi, I have encountered the same thing. I was wondering if it is save to just delete the old account?
Joe says
I am also experiencing this issue and cannot believe it is happening. Spinning wheel. Rebooting my system and following all steps mentioned in this thread do absolutely nothing.
Arie says
App store just sits at grey screen with rainbow wheel of doom. I have to force close it. I am running 10.15.2.
-tried signing out of appleid and signing back in
-tried logging out and in to messages and facetime
-did the time and date trick
-Cleared App Store Cache Files
-Reset cache of accepted certificates
HELP… so annoying.
Elizabeth Jones says
Hi Arie,
There was an issue with the Mac App Store overnight that caused these types of non-responsive problems.
Here’s what Apple reports:
App Store – Resolved Issue
Yesterday, 5:00 PM – 9:12 PM
Some users were affected
Users may have experienced a problem with this service.
The App Store should be fine today, so try again.
If the issue persists, restart your Mac and try again. And if that doesn’t work, let us know.
Brett says
I put a new SSD in my mid 2012 macbook last night after factory resetting it. After updating through a few different operating systems, I finally got caught up to Catalina 10.15.2 and now the app store wont load (giving black and gray blank screen with rainbow spinner). Any solution or reason it may not be working?
Elizabeth Jones says
Hi Brett,
Apple System Status page shows sporadic problems over the past few days. So it’s quite possible this issue is not related to your Mac at all.
We suggest waiting a day or two, shutting down your Mac and then powering up and checking the App Store.
If you continue to have problems, let us know.
Raghu says
Hi,
I did a factory reset of my 2012 MacBook Pro to Mountain Lion (Original OS that came with 2012 MacBook Pro) and updated it to macOS Catalina.
Before Updating to macOS Catalina, I updated the system to High Sierra.
The App Store was working fine in High Sierra.
It started to hang with a grey screen and cursor spinning in Catalina.
By the way, I did this whole process twice (from mountain lion to Catalina) and still see the same result.
Please let me know if the issue is fixed for others, or its an issue with Apple servers.
Thanks.
Elizabeth Jones says
Hi Raghu,
This definitely appears to be a bug with Catalina’s current version. A lot of users and readers are complaining about this exact issue.
You might want to try some of the reader tips listed in creating a new admin account on the Mac and/or creating a new Apple ID (for testing purposes)
Raghu says
Thanks Elizabeth. The issue is resolved for me.
I created a new admin account and logged into it without signing into iCloud account.
The App Store was working as expected. I then logged into the appstore without any issues.
Then was able to successfully log into the iCloud account as well.
Now I am going to remove the old account and start using the new one.
BertC says
The same thing was happening to the system I was working with after updating to 10.15.2, got the blank AppStore then spinning rainbow hang.
I tried everything, delete user AppStore plist, cache and crlcache but the issue remains.
This system happens to be the master image installed to an external SSD that I use to deploy to users at my work and I was using mainly a 2017 model 13″ MacBookPro to update the system.
I remembered about a month earlier that I test boot into a 2019 T2 model 13″ MacBook Air so I thought I would try to boot using that to see if I get the same issue.
As soon as I logged in, a “Sign in to FaceTime” notification popped so I signed in to the account we use to do AppStore and macOS updates, etc. After that, the App Store app opened as normal.
The short solution is to launch FaceTime and log in. Good luck.
Mansoon says
After updating Catalina, the App Store does not load and remains black with the thinking wheel spinning.
ancientbriton says
I have exactly the same issue on my iMac with 10.15.2. Just a grey and black window and a spinner. No problem however with my Macbook Pro.
Did you find a fix?
tototiti says
The same thing for me, after update to Catalina 10.15.2, the app store proposes update but when you click on it you obtain only the grey wheel but AppStore does not use the network to download something. Don’t know how to fix that for the moment.
shortee3413 says
Mine is doing the same thing also. I tried troubleshooting and have read everything i can on what “might” fix it, but i still can’t get my app store to open. It says i have 4 updates that need to be done, but won’t let me get in it in order to fix that. Anyone else get any help on this?!
Chris says
I’m in the same boat. I’ve done everything on this list plus a reinstall. Just beach balls out. If anyone finds a solution let us know! Please! I don’t *need* the App Store at the moment but I will eventually.
Sharvin says
After updating to Catalina several of my previously installed working apps would not work and had a notification about them needing an update through the App Store.
The app store does not load, it stays on a blank screen (part black, part gray) with the spinning wheel.
It doesn’t close when I try to restart it (had to use force quit). I tried, restarting, power off completely and back on again, starting in safe mode, terminal update, time zone, clearing cache, and certificates…basically everything on this list at least twice, I even reloaded Catalina. Nothing as changed
Giordana says
Yesterday I updated to Catalina 10.15.2 and the App Store doesn’t work anymore: it doesn’t load and shows a blank window. I just tried all your tips but nothing changed, the app is still not working.
Any other suggestion?
Justin says
The App Store does not load and remains black with the thinking wheel spinning
Johanan says
After updating Catalina to 10.15.1 I encountered an issue that the App Store window was completely blank.
The cause of this problem was the use of split tunneling for AppStore in the ExpressVPN.
When I selected “All apps use the VPN” in Preferences – Split tunneling – Settings, or disconnected, or turned the VPN off, the App Store worked normally.
Melissa Workman says
Gentlemen: I recently upgraded to Catalina and noticed that it doesn’t have an app store or a google play store. How do I get these for the catalina os
Melissa Workman
(Missy)
Elizabeth Jones says
HI Melissa,
macOS includes the app store by default. In the top-right corner of your Mac, tap the magnifying glass and type in App Store–it should open it.
The App Store.app is located in your Applications folder.