Error 102 on Mac/MacBook: What Is It & How to Fix It

Unexpectedly, you receive an error message saying "An error has occurred. An error occurred while downloading the updates (102)" when you update certain apps or the operating system.

The error 102 Mac update issue is common, especially happens when you prepare to update iTunes combined with an OS update. If you don't know what error 102 is, why it pops up when updating apps, and how to fix error 102 on your iMac, MacBook, or other Mac models, just follow this post to get answers.

What is error 102 on Mac?

The Mac error 102 is the error message that pops up when you update apps or the system. It is to alert you that the programs or operating system can't be updated for certain reasons. Here are the common descriptions of the Mac update error 102:

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Why do you get the error 102 on Mac?

Your Mac won't update or the specific software can't be updated due to the block of the error 102. So, you may be curious about the reasons for the appearance of error 102 on your MacBook.

In fact, it is hard to point out the exact cause for Mac error 102 as it is not unique. Here, we've summarized the general reasons for the error 102 MacBook:

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How to fix error 102 on your Mac?

As mentioned above, the possible causes for error 102 on your Mac are diverse. So, the workarounds for this issue are also different as well. You need to troubleshoot this issue with all the possible workarounds.

How to fix error 102 on Mac:

Check your network

As we know, updating apps and macOS requires a stable and well Internet connection to ensure the installer is successfully downloaded. So, if error 102 pops up with a description like "An error occurred while downloading the updates", your network probably is broken.

You can reset the Internet connections and open a page in a web browser to check if the network goes well now. Then, retry to update the apps.

Restart your Mac

Sometimes, the Mac update error 102 is caused by temporary system errors. You can simply restart your Mac to refresh the operating system and remove the temporary system bugs. Then, check if you can update the software or the system normally.

Separately update the apps

If you click the Update All button in App Store to update all the apps at once, conflicts may appear during downloading the updates of these programs, leading to Mac error 102. To fix this problem, you can update the software that needs to be updated one by one. And this way is also beneficial for figuring out the problematic app that results in the error 102 on your Mac.

Delete the PLIST file of the problematic app

Every program on Mac has a PLIST file (or preferences file), which is used to store its configuration data. If the PLIST file of the app that you want to update is corrupted, it will bring misbehavior to that app, like the error 102 when updating the program on your Mac. 

You can delete the corrupted PLIST file of the app and then restart your Mac and reopen it. That is to allow the app's PLIST file to be automatically recreated, in other words, to be auto-repaired.

To delete the PLIST file of the problematic app, you need to:

Uninstalling the suspicious app

If you still can't update the specific program, there's also a possibility that this app may be not fully compatible with your Mac or carry some bugs leading to the updating failure with error 102.

To uninstall an app on your Mac, you can open Finder and right-click the app in the Applications folder, and then select Move to Trash. Or, you can select the app and move it to Trash.

Disable the login items

Apps that keep running in the background may be the culprits for the appearance of error 102 on Mac. Especially those third-party programs that automatically set themselves to run once your Mac startup.

You can disable the unfamiliar or all login items and then update the target software again.

Here's how to disable the login items on your Mac:

Clean up junk files

The accumulated temporary files (in other words, the junk files), being created by the system and programs that are used to enable them to work properly,  can also lead to the error 102 on your Mac.

And the junk files also eat your storage space, slowing down your Mac as time goes by. So, you'd better clean up those useless files on your Mac to make the machine runs smoother and faster. But the trouble is, the junk files are scattered at every corner of your Mac, and it is very hard for you to thoroughly remove them from your MacBook.

Don't worry. You can use the Mac cleaner to help you, like iBoysoft DiskGeeker. This tool is designed to remove types of junk files from your Mac with one click, including the system cache files, app leftovers, useless user log files, etc. After using it, your Mac will run faster and won't happen with weird problems caused by junk files, like error 102.

To use iBoysoft DiskGeeker, you need to:

Step 1: Free download and install it on your Mac.

Step 2: Open the app and select your startup disk, meanwhile click the Clean Junk button on the right sidebar.

Step 3: Wait until the scanning process is done.

Step 4: Choose your unwanted files or select all of them and then click Clean to remove them.

Reinstall macOS

If you step so far but the error 102 still appears on your Mac when updating software, your last trial is to reinstall macOS. That can refresh the operating system and fix the system errors that may lead to the error 102 on your MacBook.

To reinstall macOS, you need to boot into macOS Recovery Mode. And then click "Reinstall macOS" > "Continue" to reinstall macOS with the on-screen instructions.

If these solutions help you fix the error 102 when updating software on Mac, go to tell more people.

Final words

Although the software update trouble error 102 on Mac is tricky, there still have available ways to fix it. This post contains all the possible and efficient solutions to help you out with the error 102and then, you can update the apps and operating system smoothly.