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Problems updating your iPhone to iOS 17.2? If you've tried everything else, try this

A lot of things can get in the way of a smooth iPhone update, but this trick seems to solve the most persistent issues.
Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Senior Contributing Editor
Two hands holding up two iPhones next to each other
Apple/ZDNET

There are few things more infuriating than hearing about how you should update your iPhone because it'll give you access to some new feature or emoji, or plug up some serious security vulnerability, only then to find that your device just refuses to take the update.

Grrrrr!   

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If you've already exhausted all of the obvious stuff -- rebooted, checked that the date and time are correct, downloaded the update over a different network – then you might be getting ready to give up.

Not so fast!

The problem could be that there's already a download on your iPhone, but that it's corrupted or broken in some way, and what you need to do is delete it.

But where is it?

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Well, as with a lot of things in iOS, this download is buried deep in the bowels of the operating system.

To find the iOS update download, tap on Settings, General then [Device name] Storage. Here you will find the pending update in the list of apps. To get rid of it, tap on the update, then Delete Update.

Once you've done this, you'll then have to go to Settings > General > Software Update to download the latest update.

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If this doesn't work, then your next option is to use a Mac or Windows computer to carry out the update. Instructions for using a Mac running MacOS Catalina or later can be found here, and if you're using a Windows PC or a Mac running MacOS Mojave or earlier, the instructions are here.

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