Why can't I watch a movie I just bought in iTunes?

Just got a new Apple iPhone and bought a movie from the Apple iTunes Store so I can watch it on the phone, but it fails with "computer is not authorized to watch this movie", even though I bought it and originally downloaded it on my Mac. What the heck? How do I authorize my computer?

Dave's Answer:

I recently had the same experience with my new iPhone too, actually, where I bought the terrific Will Smith movie Enemy of the State, just to find that I couldn't copy it onto my phone -- or even watch it on my Mac itself -- because it wasn't "authorized". Try to play it and here's what I saw:

iTunes Movie DVD: Computer Mac PC Not Authorized

Yes, it's darn annoying, but the way to solve it is to use the same login credentials you used to access and buy the movie in the first place. Enter that, click on "Authorize" and now you'll see:

iTunes Movie DVD: Computer Mac PC Not Authorized: Authorizing

Give it a minute or three (depending on your network connection) and you'll see:

iTunes Movie DVD: Computer Mac PC Now Authorized

Now that it's authorized, you'll also be able to sync the movie with your iPhone by going into the "Summary" view in iTunes and selecting that particular movie:

Synchronizing Movies between iTunes and the iPhone

Last step: watch your movie on your slick new iPhone! :-)

Oh, and stay tuned here on Ask Dave Taylor for lots more iPhone Help in the coming weeks and months.

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Categorized: Mac OS X Help , iPhone and Cell Phone Help (Article 7466, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: apple iphone, itunes
Previous: How do I copy music onto my Apple iPhone from iTunes?
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Reader Comments To Date: 10

tommy said, on September 15, 2008 2:13 PM:

i can't view films on itunes, the screen turns green and then pink, i can hear the background music though.

katiee said, on April 9, 2009 6:21 PM:

i bought a movie from itunes and it cost 20$ ok, and i cant find it but it charged it from my account and now i have no money and no movie~ please tell me what to do and how to find and download my movie

thanks so much plz helpz me

Katherine said, on January 8, 2010 8:04 PM:

my itunes did the same thing. i followed your directions and it worked! thanks for your help!

kristobal said, on February 5, 2010 8:56 PM:

Is it possible to watch movies bought from itunes in spanish, what options are avalable from movies bought from itunes?
I would appreciate much if you could help me,
thanks lots

Dave Taylor said, on February 6, 2010 11:13 PM:

Kristobal, as far as I can tell, there aren't any iTunes movies in Spanish or any other language other than English. Perhaps if you have your iTunes language preferences set to Spanish that your movies would be in Spanish too?

Lily said, on April 13, 2010 10:16 PM:

thank you so much for posting this it really helped me.

TheAngryIntern said, on June 25, 2010 8:29 PM:

This doesn't really help, since I *AM* using the same account. I only have 1 iTunes store account. I just bought a TV series season and it won't let me play or transfer to my iPad.

user3744 said, on September 20, 2010 6:39 PM:

I bought a movie and downloaded it directly to my iPod Touch, rather than to my iTunes like usual. Now, when I go to iTunes, I see there is an icon for the movie, and it will play the menus, but I can't play the movie. How can I download the movie again to my iTunes so I can watch it on my computer as well as my Touch?

VIMAL JOHN said, on January 5, 2011 9:43 PM:

I DOWNLOAD A MOVIE FROM YOUR BIT TORRENT BUT IT NOT SUPPORT WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER WHAT CAN I DO TO WATCH THAT MOVIE IN MY COMPUTER

Christal said, on March 3, 2013 7:22 AM:

I downloaded twilight on my iPhone 5 when I go to watch it it says u must connect to wifi ? How can I watch it with out wifi??

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

Why can't I watch a movie I just bought in iTunes?

Reader Comments To Date: 10

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

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