How to fix your Apple iPhone X OTA update problems, unable to check for, download or install update wirelessly

A faster way to update your iPhone software is through over-the-air (OTA). In order to do so, your iPhone must be connected to a Wi-Fi internet and the Internet connection must be stable. Whenever Apple releases a new iOS version, you can check your iPhone settings to see if the update is already available and then then update notification containing the update details should pop up. So it would be up to you to decide whether to get the update now or later.

While the overall updating process is simple, there are some factors that can cause updating failure. And this is the main issue to be addressed in this post. Highlighted below are suggested workarounds to deal with OTA update problems on the iPhone X handset. Read on to find out what to do if for some reasons, you won’t be able to check for and download iOS update wirelessly on your iPhone X.

Before we move on to our troubleshooting, if you are looking for a solution to a different issue, make sure you drop by our troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed some of the most common problems reported by our readers. Find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If you still need our help after that, then feel free to contact us by filling up our iPhone issues questionnaire.

First solution: Toggle Wi-Fi off and on then download the iOS update again.

The first obvious possible reason as to why OTA updates fail is network connection or Internet problem on the phone. Your device may be experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi, slow Internet, or no Internet connection at all. To rule this out, toggling Wi-Fi feature off and back on can help. Here’s how:

  1. Go to Settings-> Wi-Fi menu.
  2. Toggle the Wi-Fi switch to turn the feature Off. Doing so disconnects your iPhone from the Wi-Fi network and Internet as well.
  3. After a few seconds, tap the Wi-Fi switch to turn it back on, reconnect to Wi-Fi internet and then retry download and installing OTA update.

If you’ve already downloaded the latest iOS update on your iPhone X but it won’t install, remove and download the update again. Here’s how:

  1. Open the Settings app from Home.
  2. Tap General.
  3. Tap [Device name] Storage. A list of apps then populates.
  4. Locate the iOS update in the list of apps.
  5. Tap on the iOS update then select the option to Delete Update.
  6. After deleting the update, go back to Settings-> General menu.
  7. Then tap Software Update and download the latest iOS update again.

If the update still failed, move on and try the next solution.

Second solution: Soft reset or force restart.

The next culprits to rule out are software problems on the phone that may have halted OTA updates from downloading as intended. To rectify these glitches, you can either soft reset or force restart your iPhone X. Here’s how a soft reset is done:

  1. Press and hold the Side/Power button and either Volume Up or Down buttons simultaneously and then release both buttons when the Slide to Power Off menu appears.
  2. Drag the Power off slider to turn off your iPhone completely.
  3. After 30 seconds, press and hold the Side/Power button again until the Apple logo appears.

To force close and clear corrupted background apps, you can force restart your iPhone X instead. It works the same as soft reset does when it comes to rectifying software-related issues inflicted by random bugs and system errors, causing OTA update to fail. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Press and quickly release the Volume Up button.
  2. Press and quickly release the Volume Down button.
  3. Then, press and hold the Power button on the side of the phone and then release when the phone reboots.

Both these methods are used to clear out minor software issues without affecting any saved data on your iPhone.

Third solution: Check and manage your iPhone X storage space.

Insufficient storage space and other memory issues on the phone are also among the underlying causes. Software updates need to utilize storage thus your iPhone must have enough space to allocate the update file. Major iOS updates usually come in bigger file sizes, thus memory management is necessary.

  1. To check the current memory status of your iPhone, navigate to Settings-> General-> iPhone Storage menu.
  2. Tap to select an app to view how much storage space it uses.
  3. If the storage is running low, tap Delete App to delete unwanted apps from your phone.

Deleting other files like unused apps, old messages, and other unnecessary contents may be necessary to free up some space on your iPhone storage.

You can also manage storage space on your iPhone X using recommendations. Since the release of iOS 11, users can refer to the given tips on how to save space and offload or delete unnecessary apps and contents.

  • To do this, go to Settings-> General-> iPhone Storage menu, and then scroll to the Recommendations section.

Then read and review the given tips on how to optimize your device storage.

Fourth solution: Reset all settings.

To clear out invalid settings and iPhone restrictions, you may also need to consider resetting all settings on your iPhone X. This will erase customized settings on the device and restores the original or default values but saved data won’t be affected. That being said, you don’t need to back up files beforehand. Here’s what you should do then:

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Tap General.
  3. Scroll to and tap Reset.
  4. Select Reset all settings option.
  5. Enter your device passcode to continue.
  6. Tap the option to confirm all settings reset.

Your iPhone should reboot automatically when the reset is finished. Wait until it boots up and then you can start enabling features you want to use on your device including Wi-Fi. Reconnect to your Wi-Fi network then retry download OTA update and see if it’s already working as intended.

Fifth solution: Update your iPhone XS manually through iTunes.

If none of the prior workarounds helped but you’re still eager to get the latest iOS update for your iPhone X, then you can use iTunes instead. To update your iPhone X in iTunes, you will need to secure a computer that has the latest version of iTunes app installed. You can use either a Mac or Windows computer (with later or latest OS versions). Then follow these steps to manually download and install iOS update on your iPhone X:

  1. Connect your computer to the Internet either Wi-Fi or Ethernet network.
  2. Plug in your iPhone X to the computer using the supplied USB cable or Lightning cable.
  3. Open iTunes on the computer then select your device.
  4. Click the Summary section.
  5. Then click the Check for Update button. If a new iOS version is available, you will be prompted with the update information/summary.
  6. Click Download and Update to continue.
  7. If prompted, enter your device passcode.

Follow the rest of the onscreen instructions and wait for iTunes to finish installing the latest iOS version on your iPhone X.

Seek more help

Contact your carrier to escalate the problem if you’re still having trouble updating iOS on your iPhone X. Your carrier can double check on their updates system and determine whether or not the problem is on your end. Or you can also contact Apple Support to report the issue and verify if the update server is up and accessible. You may not be able to download the latest iOS update for your device if the update server is congested. In that case, you just have to wait until the server is available and then retry updating at a later time.

Connect with us

If you need more help with the use of certain functions and features of the Apple iPhone X smartphone, feel free to visit our Tutorial Page. There you can find a list of how-to contents, step-by-step tutorials, as well as answers to FAQs regarding iPhone X. If you have other concerns or encountered some troubles while using the phone, you can reach us through this form. Just be sure to tell us more details of the problem or device issue(s) you may have and we will be more than happy to assist you further.

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