macos - How do you update Xcode on OSX to the latest version?

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Look in the top right for the updates section (may also be in lefthand column "Updates"..)

Find Xcode & click Update Just want to also note that this will only show as an update if you installed your version directly from the App Store. However, if you installed it from elsewhere, you will need to re-download the entire new version of Xcode. – CodeBiker Aug 3, 2013 at 20:39 No Xcode update shows up for me in the Updates section. I've just updated from Yosemite to El Capitan and Xcode is currently version 7.2. But need 7.3 to develop for my iPhone which now is on version 9.3 of iOS. – Alyoshak Mar 29, 2016 at 14:31 Just search for the xcode in the searchbox, there you will get the xcode with the option to update the xcode even if you not installed using appstore. It works for me in Yosemite – Mohamed Hussain Apr 27, 2016 at 7:06 Apple is so damn frustrating. The last several OS upgrades have broken so many things. Wasting hours trying to fix everything Mojave broke. – Andrew Leyva May 3, 2019 at 1:34 OK, I'm on Mojave 10.14.5 and my Xcode is 10.1. I see in AppStore the version history shows lastest version as 10.2.1, but still no suggestion to update from it, only OPEN is available, no matter if I try to search for it or whatever else, damn buggy piece of crap... I need this latest version to build my app! – RAM237 May 22, 2019 at 23:24

softwareupdate --list see the list of outdated software.

softwareupdate --install --all update all outdated software.

softwareupdate --install <product name> update the software you named.

Did not work for me on Sierra.


     softwareupdate --list Software Update Tool  Finding available software No new software available.

– Jonathan Cross Nov 28, 2017 at 23:52 Doesn't work on MacOS Catalina 10.15.1.


     softwareupdate --install Xcode

says


     Xcode: No such update

– Ron Kalian Oct 30, 2019 at 13:44

Sometime I don't see the Xcode update in Updates tab in AppStore
So I search Xcode in AppStore

Then click update and it update

I was asked to install Xcode all over again. Perhaps due to the High Sierra upgrade.. No idea. Had it installed before. – rhand Jan 20, 2018 at 11:31 After an OS update, it was saying there were no updates, even though 12 was available and I was on 11.5. I went to the app store and searched, it had an "open" button (not an "update" button). But when I clicked into the details, it did have an "update" button. – Dale Sep 28, 2020 at 16:35

If attempting to download via the App Store leaves you with a little grey spinner and nothing actually happening, then you can go to :

https://developer.apple.com/download/more/

This only allows me to download xCode 9, I want to download 8.2.1 what should I do? @kris – alper Sep 22, 2017 at 8:52 @Avatar - that is strange, when I visit developer.apple.com/download/more and scroll down I can also see earlier versions, including 8.2.1 - maybe pursue this with Apple Help – kris Sep 27, 2017 at 14:39 why appstore keeps hanging on this spinner? I'm sure it spins but actually doesnt do anything behind the wheel. – Nicolas Manzini Nov 7, 2017 at 14:33

In my case (Xcode 6.1, iOS 8.2) I did not see the update in AppStore. I found Xcode 6.2 for download and pressed "Install". Then, it installed and asked for the update (more than 2 Gb). Xcode 6.2 works correctly with iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.1.2

Hopefully this tip will help somebody else...

Good point. there was nothing in the AppStore for me, even though I'm on 6.0 instead of 7.0. – PatrickT Oct 12, 2015 at 17:39 There was no update indicator for me either, had to find the update in the store manually. – Nestor Ledon Apr 13, 2016 at 5:47

Another best way to update and upgrade OSX development tools using command line is as follows:

Open terminal on OSX and type below commands. Try 'sudo' as prefix if you don't have admin privileges.

brew update
and for upgrading outdated tools and libraries use below command
brew upgrade
These will update all packages like node, rethinkDB and much more.
Also, softwareupdate --install --all this command also work best.
Important: Remove all outdated packages and free some space using the simple command.
brew cleanup
I was able to fix the 'no updates' problem by going to the AppStore via the developer's link:
https://developer.apple.com/download/release/
Also, you might want to try this 'mas-cli-github' command,
$ brew install mas
$ mas list
$ mas search Xcode
$ mas install <id> 
$ mas upgrade <id>
I ran into this bugger too.
I was running an older version of Xcode (not compatible with ios 9.2) so I needed to update.
I spent hours on this and was constantly getting spinning wheel of death in the app store. Nothing worked. I tried CLI softwareupdate, updating OSX, everything.
I ultimately had to download AppZapper, then nuked XCode.
I went into the app store to download and it still didn't work. Then I rebooted.
And from here I could finally upgrade to a fresh version of xcode.
WARNING: AppZapper can delete all your data around Xcode as well, so be prepared to start from scratch on your profiles, keys, etc. Also per the other notes here, of course be ready for a 3-5 hour long downloading expedition...
                Note once you zap xcode you'll have to reinstall dev tools: gist.github.com/gaquino/87bdf0e6e852e445c0489379d3e9732a
– Jake Sylvestre
                Jul 14, 2018 at 5:14
You DO NOT need to upgrade Xcode.
Just open the file /usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Homebrew/extend/os/mac/diagnostic.rb ,
then remove this line check_xcode_minimum_version in the following function.
def fatal_build_from_source_checks
      check_xcode_license_approved
      check_xcode_minimum_version //<-- this one
      check_clt_minimum_version
      check_if_xcode_needs_clt_installed
    ].freeze
Then brew install should works fine.
                Why do you assumed that he DO NOT need to upgrade XCode,  Apple Store consistently requires updates of Xcode builds, unless they do not allow you to upload app updates.
– DJ.
                Jun 11, 2020 at 15:55