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Mac OS X App Store Not Loading, Try Resetting NVRAM

Not long after upgrading to Mac OS 10.9 the Mac OS X App Store stopped loading on my Macbook Air. Starting the app took several minutes and once the window actually came up it was empty. Clicking buttons in the App Store window did nothing.

I found a suggestion that resetting NVRAM ( the equivalent of PRAM on the old PowerPC Macs ) would solve the issue. In my case that worked. The processing of resetting NVRAM is simple and short ( from http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379 ):

  • Shut down your Mac.
  • Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command (⌘), Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
  • Turn on the computer.
  • Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys before the gray screen appears.
  • Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
  • Release the keys.

I don’t reboot very often, I usually try to avoid it, but it was worth it to get the Mac OS X App Store app working again.

33 replies on “Mac OS X App Store Not Loading, Try Resetting NVRAM”

You made my day! I was trying to resolve this issue with the App Store for over a month now, and I browsed through Apple’s support forums to no avail.

I’m posting a link to your post in Apple’s forum.

Thank you very much, Joseph ! :o)

Note: when started again, AppStore shows app updates are available, even though I updated the apps minutes ago. I’ll try to find a solution for this problem, but at least now I can browse the AppStore and install apps :o)

Only thing now is that as soon as the loading bar finishes on the start up the computer shuts down and when I turn it back on it starts again

Dear Joseph,
thank you so much! Your solution, so clearly described solved my problem. I am grateful for that. You see after six months your answer is still useful. Same on apple though…They become more like MS: they distribute unfinished products…

Hi,
I just put in Snow leopard(osx 10.68), now the app store in itunes ( not mac app store) will not load any of the different app sections ( i.e. business, productivity and any others) the main page does come up. It looks like it is loading, then comes up with a blank page on any app section I try. I don’t have a firewall or snitch or any other types of software that should be an issue. This just happened after I loaded Snow leopard. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

hi Joseph,
to me did not work, still have issue showing emails, app store, terminal window, all core applications, though other installed applications and browser works well
do you have any suggestions?

thanks

It didn’t help me i have still the same issue it’s been 3 month and i cant do anything about it

It is possible the NVRAM reset is a red herring. I had this same problem: App Store very slow to open window, and window permantently blank and disfunctional. In my case it was enough to reboot my Mac (MacBook Pro, Mavericks) with no NVRAM. So the NVRAM reset may not be the thing that fixes it; it is a very low level thing to affect something as high level as an app. And I’m generally reluctant to reset it because if it is not the default maybe there’s a reason for that.

It is generally best to be progressive in how hard you try to kick things, eg: log out and in, reboot, reboot with NVRAM. You will do less damage (misconfiguration) and learn more about the specific action that fixes your problem.
– Cameron Simpson

I can’t seem to shut down my mac! Each time I do it says “tried shutting down, but the application “app store” has blocked it” And for gods sake I just bought it yesterday!!!

Hi Joseph
didn’t work for me either…. still opens to a grey page. And – I can’t open any Apple Support pages either ! Also did a Disk repair. Nuttin’.
Any other ideas ?
Thanks. Liza

Joseph !!
It worked !
Please disregard my comment from 2 mins ago….
“Yer a bluddy gem Mate !”
Cheers from Downunder !! 😀
Liza G.

Joe
Thanks a bunch. This was killing me and I had to resort to downloading software from unauthorized sites.
Saved me lot of pain.
Regards
Krishna

I followed your instructions to the letter! But still, no dice. I’m still having issues getting the App Store to connect to the internet. Which is a shame, because I really want to get on El Capitan trial bandwagon! It seems that I’ve already missed out on the first three betas.

My specs right now are following:
OSX Yosemite Version 10.10.2
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014)
Processor 2.6 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics Intel Iris 1536 MB

Please help me out as soon as possible!
Sincerely,
Ookimaru

THANK YOU!!! I was about to throw something at this incredibly expensive macbook pro. you saved the day.

Thank you! This worked for me. Again, thank you!
Amy (Scotland, MBPro 15″ Mid 2009, 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

My Safari and Appstore were not working after update and it didn’t work for me either but this did

Edit your Keychain.
The Keychain holds passwords and certificates used to create authenticated connections from apps such as Mac App Store. If the issue still happens after following the previous steps, try editing your Keychain.
1. Open Keychain Access located in /Applications/Utilities/
2. Select Certificates from the left hand column under Category
3. Type Class into the search field in the top right corner of the Keychain Access window and press return.
4. Look through the list of results for any certificates that have a blue + over the icon.
5. Double-click on a certificate that has the blue + over the icon to ‘Get info’ on the certificate.
6. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the word Trust to reveal the certificates permissions.
7. Change Secure Sockets Layer (SSL): to ‘No Value Specified’ then close the window.
8. Confirm the Administrator password in the window that will appear.
9. Double-click on the same certificate that was opened in step 5.
10. Again Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the word Trust to reveal the certificates permissions.
11. Change When using this certificate: to ‘Use System Defaults’ then close the window.
12. Again confirm the Administrator password in the window that will appear.
13. Repeat steps 5 through 12 for any certificates that have a blue + over the icon. (Generally there are only one or two that will need to be edited.)
14. Restart the system and test for the issue.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203811
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZp8Hmow0hk

Please help, when i try to download free apps on my app store. my app store can’t show the green button after i click “get” button… There’s no respon, no green button…. :(( anyone have solution?

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