How to Restart a Failed iTunes Download on an iPhone

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 an iPhone to purchase songs, there may be times when a download is interrupted before it is complete.

Instructions in this article apply to iPhones with iOS 12 or iOS 11.

Reasons Downloads Are Interrupted on iPhone

An interruption during an iTunes Store download can happen for various reasons, including:

The iPhone drops the internet connection: This is the most likely reason why the song fails to download correctly. You may end up with a partial song or nothing at all.
An issue with the iTunes Store servers: Apple servers are rarely down, but it can happen. A problem with a server can terminate the connection to the iTunes Store.
An unexpected iOS restart: If the iPhone suddenly restarts during a download, the song cannot fully download.
The internet connection is slow or the Wi-Fi router has problems: If your internet connection slows down or your Wi-Fi router loses its sync during a song download, the result may be a failed song download.

How to Resume a Failed Song Download on the iPhone

To restart a failed song download:

Open the iTunes Store app on the iPhone.
Tap More.
Tap Downloads to display content from the iTunes Store that didn't transfer to the device.
Tap the arrow next to a download to restart it.

If these steps don't fix the download problem, restart the iPhone and repeat the process. If the failed download doesn't appear in the list or if you can't fix the broken download, either report the issue to Apple in person at an Apple Store or use iTunes on a computer.

Use iTunes on a Computer to Fix a Download

If you sync your iPhone with iTunes on a computer, fix an interrupted download by using the iTunes software to sync the song to the iPhone. Open iTunes on your computer, select Music from the menu in the upper-left corner, then select Store from the options at the top of the screen. Then, go to the menu bar, select Account, and choose Check for Available Downloads.

If there are no available downloads, check your account details in iTunes to confirm you purchased the song and to request support.

Go to Account and select View My Account.
Enter your Apple ID name and password.
In the Account Information screen, go to the Purchase History section and select See All.
Go the song that did not download properly and select More.

The list of purchases is in reverse chronological order.
Select Report a Problem.
Select the Choose Problem drop-down arrow and choose Item didn't download or can't be found.
Type a brief explanation of the problem, then select Submit.
Your problem is submitted to Apple Support, and you will receive a reply, although not immediately.