Historically, recovering deleted apps on your iPhone was a complicated process and sometimes meant having to buy the app again. Fortunately, those days are history, and Apple has seen to it that restoring deleted apps is something that iOS or iPadOS users can do easily. That’s true for both built-in apps as well as any of the almost two million apps in the App Store. If you ever want or need to restore an app, here’s how to do it in no time.
Also read: 7 of the Best Apps to Help You Beat Porn Addiction (Android, iOS)
Restoring from iPhone or iPad (First Method)
For iPhone and iPad owners, the process of restoring apps is the exactly the same. It’s also important to know that redownloading an app will not cost you anything. In most cases, developers have also added a way to restore previous in-app purchases. That’s especially true for most app fields aside from games. All totaled, there are two ways you can go about restoring apps. Let’s take a look.
1. Start by opening the App Store on either your iPhone or iPad.
2. As the App Store opens, it takes you to the “Today” screen. Tap on the profile button at the top of the screen.
3. Locate and tap on the “Purchased” option, taking you to “All Purchases.” It’s important to note that if you are an individual account, it will just show apps you have downloaded. On the other hand, if you are using Family Sharing, you will see available apps everyone in your family account has downloaded.
4. When you tap on “My Purchases,” there are two options. Tap on “Not on this iPhone.”
5. You can now scroll through this list or enter in an app name in the search bar to locate the app you wish to re-download. When you locate the app, all you need to do is tap on the download button to get it to re-download to your iOS device.
There is a caveat here that your entire app download history will be available. However, in 2017, Apple stopped support for 32-bit apps, which includes some of the earliest apps available in the App Store. Any app built with 32-bit support and not updated to 64-bit will be viewable in your app download history but not available for download.
Restoring from iPhone or iPad (Second Method)
While the first method for locating previously deleted apps from your iPhone is recommended, it’s not the only option. However, if you know which apps you want to download, all you need to do is search for that app in the App Store and click on the same download icon. It’s really that simple. This download process is the same as the method above and will similarly allow you to restore in-app purchases as well if the developer has added support for that.
Restoring from macOS
Even as Apple removed iTunes as software on macOS back in 2019, that’s not to say all macOS users have had it removed. If you are one of the lucky few that still have iTunes, you can restore apps from your Mac as well. To do that, follow the quick steps below:
1. Start by connecting your iPhone and iPad to your computer, then launch iTunes and click on your device inside iTunes.
2. Click on “Apps” in the “Settings” menu.
3. You should now see a list of all of your available apps. Click on “Install” next to the app, and while your iOS device is connected (or syncing via Wi-Fi), it will automatically download o your device.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, restoring apps on your iPhone or iPad is incredibly easy. Should you ever need to find a previously downloaded app, rest comfortably that doing so very simple.
Image credit: imobie
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