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Fix: Your Account Has Been Disabled in App Store and iTunes

Updated on Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Written by

Connie Yang

Approved by

Jessica Shee

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You prepare to get an app or service from the App Store or iTunes, but receive the message "Your Media & Purchases account has been disabled" or "Your account has been disabled in the App Store and iTunes" on your iPhone or Mac.

It's a common issue across us. Here's a real case from an Apple Community user:

My account is disabled in the App Store and iTunes. All I can think of is, I canceled a payment in one app before. From then on, this message keeps popping up whenever I want to update an app or download something. How can I get out of the trouble?

It indicates that there's a problem with your account's payment method. Don't worry. Our post covers tricks to help you fix this issue. Let's try them out.

Why has your account been disabled in the App Store or iTunes?

The question, "Why is my App Store disabled?" is probably on your mind and bothering you. Before proceeding with solutions, we'd better learn the causes of the account being disabled in the App Store and iTunes error message.

Here are the common reasons we summarized for this issue:

You've entered the incorrect passwords over its ceiling. There are limited times to enter your password to proceed with payment in the App Store or iTunes. If you've entered the wrong password too many times (or maybe someone has attempted to hack your account), your account can be disabled and locked for the sake of security.

You haven't signed in to your Mac with Apple ID for a long time. Thus, your Mac may forget about your account and lock you out for security.

There is interference from billing issues. You haven't paid a bill over a long time or are being disputed charges from a certain service provider.

Apple blocks your signing in for security. If you log in to multiple Apple devices with your Apple ID, especially if you try a few times to log in, Apple may think a hacker is trying to attack your device and disable the account in the App Store and iTunes.

You've accidentally disabled in-app purchases. You might turn off the in-app payment for your account by mistake or enable certain privacy restrictions that stop you from updating or purchasing apps from the App Store or iTunes.

Go to help others analyze the causes of this problem.

 

Account disabled in App Store and iTunes, how to fix it?

After learning the causes of the occurrence of the error "Your account has been disabled in the app store and iTunes," now we follow the ways below to resolve it.

Sign out the Apple ID on your Mac or iPhone and then in

The simplest and quickest solution you can try is to sign out of the Apple ID on your Mac or iPhone. This way will make the App Store and iTunes refresh the errors in the payment interruption.

Sign out Apple ID and then back on a Mac:

  1. Click the Apple menu > System Settings.
  2. Click your account name, scroll down to find the Sign Out button, and click it. 
  3. Wait a moment.
  4. Enter your Apple ID account and password and type your Mac user password to sign in again.

Sign out Apple ID and then in on an iPhone:

  1. Tap Settings > your user name.
  2. Scroll down and tap Sign Out.
  3. Tap Sign in to your iPhone. 
  4. Choose a way to sign in. 

Now, go to the App Store to see if you can continue to get an app or service successfully.

Turn off restrictions for the App Store and iTunes

If you have set restrictions for in-app payment on your Mac or iPhone, it can also lead to the account being disabled in the App Store and iTunes.

You can turn off the restrictions for App Store and iTunes purchases with these steps:

On a Mac:

  1. Go to System Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy.
  2. Click Store Restrictions and enable all. 
  3. Click App & Feature Restrictions and turn on all. 

On an iPhone:

  1. Tap Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions.
  2. Tap iTunes & App Store Purchases.
  3. Check and ensure you are allowed to install apps, delete apps, and make in-app purchases.

Reset Apple ID password

If you forget your Apple ID password and try too many times, Apple identifies that your account is at risk of attack and locks it. Consequently, you can't pay for apps or services in the App Store and get the error "Your account has been disabled in the App Store and iTunes."

In this case, go to reset an Apple ID password.

On a Mac:

  1. Navigate to System Settings and click your user name.
  2. Click Sign-In & Security. 
  3. Click Change Password.
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions to set a new password and log in to with it.

On an iPhone:

  1. Tap Settings > your name.
  2. Tap Sign-In & Security > Change Password.
  3. Enter the log-in passcode of your iPhone.
  4. Finish password changing with the on-screen guide.
  5. Log in to the device with the new Apple ID.

Request Apple for reactivation

If you still receive the account disabled in the App Store and iTunes error when steps there, the last workaround is to request Apple for account activation. In this way, you need to supply your user information.

Share this post if it helps you resolve the "Your account has been disabled" error message.