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Mac App Store Stops Working on Older macOS Versions

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Mac users running macOS Mojave (10.14) and earlier versions are reporting widespread issues accessing the Mac App Store, with many unable to sign in or download previously purchased apps.

Mac-App-Store-General-Feature.jpg

Based on reports compiled by Michael Tsai, the problems appear to have emerged around January 24, 2025, coinciding with Apple making changes to Mac App Store receipts. Users attempting to access the store on affected systems are receiving various error messages, including "An unexpected error occurred while signing in" and "The data couldn't be read because it isn't in the correct format."

Different behaviors have been reported across affected macOS versions. Catalina (10.15) and later versions continue to function normally, while users on Mojave (10.14) can browse the store but are unable to complete new purchases or download previous purchases once their current session expires. Meanwhile, High Sierra (10.13) users are reporting missing interface elements and failed sign-in attempts, and Sierra (10.12) users are encountering error messages preventing access.

The timing suggests a possible connection to Apple's recent changes in Mac App Store receipt handling, but the exact cause remains unclear. For users affected by these issues, Apple provides alternative sources for macOS installers, and many third-party apps remain available outside Apple's App Store ecosystem via direct downloads from developers' websites.

Article Link: Mac App Store Stops Working on Older macOS Versions
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/02/07/mac-app-store-not-working-older-macos-versions/
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Not to worry, everybody, for the OFFICIAL Apple troubleshooting steps are available from Apple Support:
  1. This is not an issue because Apple Support has not heard of it. Apple Support hears of issues before they affect any customers, because Apple Support talks to millions of customers an hour.
  2. To troubleshoot this known issue, you should uninstall and reinstall the app. To do so, uninstall the app, restart your device, and reinstall the app.
  3. If the issue continues, you will need to erase and reinstall the OS. After reinstalling the OS, do not restore from a backup.
  4. If the issue continues, Apple Support will initiate an RTA to Engineering. They will need to collect logs. You will download the log-collecting app, open the app and initiate the log collection, with Mail logging enabled just to be safe. You will then need to replicate the issue. After you have replicated the issue, you will end logging and upload the logs to Apple Support.
  5. Engineering will reply within 48 hours. The standard response will be issued: this is a known issue, keep your device up to date, and no further troubleshooting will be provided.
 
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goonie4life9 said:
Not to worry, everybody, for the OFFICIAL Apple troubleshooting steps are available from Apple Support:
  1. This is not an issue because Apple Support has not heard of it. Apple Support hears of issues before they affect any customers, because Apple Support talks to millions of customers an hour.
  2. To troubleshoot this known issue, you should uninstall and reinstall the app. To do so, uninstall the app, restart your device, and reinstall the app.
  3. If the issue continues, you will need to erase and reinstall the OS. After reinstalling the OS, do not restore from a backup.
  4. If the issue continues, Apple Support will initiate an RTA to Engineering. They will need to collect logs. You will download the log-collecting app, open the app and initiate the log collection, with Mail logging enabled just to be safe. You will then need to replicate the issue. After you have replicated the issue, you will end logging and upload the logs to Apple Support.
  5. Engineering will reply within 48 hours. The standard response will be issued: this is a known issue, keep your device up to date, and no further troubleshooting will be provided.
Click to expand...
You skipped the reset network settings which I would put after item 2.
 
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I literally had the same problem a couple of weeks ago, and pulling my hair out trying to troubleshoot the problem. This was on my old 2009 iMac 27 inch (11,1) running on Yosemite. Finally upgraded to High Sierra (10.13), the highest OS officially supported, and able to get back into the App Store
 
Can confirm. I’ve got a 2012 Mac Mini running 10.13.6 and encountered the "The data couldn't be read because it isn't in the correct format." alert last week. This happened when trying to launch the app Diptic and my system wanted me to login to the App Store first.
 
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Literally just ran into this with a client. He has a 2016 15" MacBook Pro, which he hadn't updated in years (still running Mojave) and suddenly he couldn't open the App Store version of Quicken 2016. Fortunately, I was able to upgrade him to Monterey without issue and get Quicken to start working again. Also fortunately, he didn't have any 32-bit apps, so upgrading him to Monterey wasn't an issue at all. For those who still need 32-bit app functionality however... Hopefully Apple can get this resolved.
 
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OT….but I was just able to re-download an app on my iPad 2 (ios9)….. 😁

My App Store on my cMP seems normal, but some apps (Affinity v1) show a ‘unable to connect to store’, but these are not available anyway since v2 came out (but v1 still show the app page on my Studio when clicked in purchased). Most apps on my cMP (which are not installed) open the app info screen, but need a newer version of MacOS to run anyway.
 
For completeness: I saw this problem yesterday in all of 10.11.6 (El Capitan) thru 10.14.6 (Mojave), but it is fixed today on the same computers without me having to do anything, therefore it must have been a server-side issue with something sent by Apple that older versions couldn't handle, which Apple has now corrected.

I also confirmed today that App Store is working on 10.9.5 (Mavericks) and 10.10.5 (Yosemite).

App Store can't connect at all on 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) thru 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion), and I've confirmed it is due to the server requiring a newer TLS version than is supported by these old OS versions.

One remaining issue I ran into: on 10.13.6 (High Sierra) only, on two separate Macs, I have missing buttons in the toolbar so can't access Purchased, Updates, etc. Some searching revealed others having this problem a few years ago so it is probably unrelated.
 
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These poor mid 2010’s Macs are running out of options. Win10 EOL and Apple will probably drop Intel support this year — meaning end of OpenCore.

They’ll be like the PPC Macs in 2009.
 
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