How to Restart a Failed iTunes Download on an iPhone

iPhone & iPod

Updated October 03, 2018

It's rare to have a problem downloading digital music from the iTunes Store to the iPhone. But, things can and do go wrong from time to time. If you use your iPhone to purchase songs then there can be times when downloads can get interrupted before they complete. This can happen for various reasons including:

Your iPhone Drops its Connection to The Internet This is the most likely reason why the song you just purchased fails to download correctly. You may end up with a partial song or nothing at all.
An Issue With The iTunes Store Servers A rare event, but it can happen. An issue at the server end can result in a terminated connection to the iTunes Store.
Unexpected iOS Reboot If your iPhone suddenly restarts during a download (due to a buggy app etc.), then obviously the song will not have fully downloaded.
Internet connection Too Slow / Wi-Fi Router Problems If during a song download your Internet connection slows to a crawl or your Wi-Fi router loses its sync then this can result in a failed song download.

Resuming a Failed Song Download on The iPhone

On the iPhone's home screen, tap on the iTunes app.
Tap on the More tab (near the bottom right-hand corner of the screen). This will bring up a sub-menu with extra options to choose.
Tap the Downloads option. This will display content from the iTunes Store that didn't fully transfer to your device.
If you aren't currently logged into your Apple account then you will be prompted to enter your username and password. Enter your security details and tap the Sign In button.
You should now see a list of downloads that haven't completed. Tap on the arrow next to the download to re-start it.

If the above steps don't fix your download problem, then try rebooting your iPhone and repeat the above steps. If you still can't fix your broken download, then it may be worth rebooting your home Wi-Fi router (if you are using one) to see if that fixes the problem.

Tips

You can also fix an interrupted download by using the iTunes software on a computer and then syncing to your iPhone.
As a last resort after trying to resume a failed download using both your iPhone and computer, you'll need to report the issue to Apple. In some circumstances, you can still be charged for a failed download so it's important to let them know.