With your Apple account you can make purchases in apps such as Apple TV, Music, Books and of course the App Store. This means you can purchase and install movies, music, applications, books and more. Of course, the rule applies: once you purchase an item from one of these stores, you can always download it again.
Please note that this is not always guaranteed, because if Apple or the developer decides to remove a certain application from the App Store, you will not be able to download it later. But fortunately in most cases it is still possible via your Purchases overview.
Redownload purchased apps
You can re-download previously purchased apps on all your Apple devices via your Apple Account without paying again. This works on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch as long as you’re logged in with the same account.
With the same Apple Account you can do more than just your re-download your own purchased appsbut also apps purchased by family members. This works through Family Sharing, as long as family purchase sharing is enabled. We explain how you can find your previous purchases.
Steps for iPhone and iPad
- Open the App Store application
- Navigate to the ‘Today’ tab
- Tap your profile photo at the top
- Then choose ‘Apps and purchase history’ or ‘Purchases’
- Select ‘Your apps’ or choose a family member
- Tap the download cloud to reinstall the app
Steps for Mac
- Open the Mac App Store application
- Click on your profile photo
- Your Purchases will immediately be shown in ‘My Apps’
- Click on the name next to ‘Purchased by’ to switch members
- Use the download cloud to reinstall the app
View app purchases on Apple TV or Apple Watch
You can also re-download previously purchased applications via the Apple TV and Apple Watch. You do this using the App Store application on the relevant device. Follow these steps to view app purchases on Apple TV. You can find previously purchased apps on an Apple Watch here.
Redownload Music and Movie purchases
Music purchased in the iTunes Store can be re-downloaded via the iTunes Store application for iPhone and iPad. Tap at the bottom of the navigation bar Purchases and tap the cloud to add it back to the Music app. On a Mac you can do this via the Music app. In the menu bar, click Account â–¸ Family Purchases â–¸ Purchases.
You can re-download purchased films via the TV app. Open the ‘Library’ tab and immediately you can watch the films you have already purchased. If your Mac does not have the TV app, you can download it again via iTunes.
Download books again
Finally, it is also possible to re-download purchased books. To do this, open your profile in the Books application on your iPhone or iPad by tapping your profile photo on the Home tab. You can then tap ‘Books’ under ‘My purchases’ to download them. On a Mac you can consult these via the Books app â–¸ Book store â–¸ purchases. Use Family Purchases to download your family members’ books.
Suitable for sharing with family
With the help of family sharing for Apple, it is possible to share purchases with your entire family. This means that everyone in the family can download each other’s purchases for free on their own devices, that is if the developers allow it. Free downloading is only possible via the above method and by choosing the relevant family member in the list.