iPhone Not in iTunes? Fixing It Is Probably Easier Than You Think
The iPhone is connected to a computer with it’s USB cable, you launch iTunes and… the iPhone isn’t shown in iTunes. What gives? Fixing this problem is probably a lot easier than you think, and after fielding a call about this I found the simplest explanation was the solution as to why someones iPhone wasn’t appearing in iTunes:
- Ensure the iPhone is connected to the computer with a functioning USB cable
- Launch iTunes
- Hover over the “DEVICES” item in the sidebar until the “Show” button appears and click on it
The iPhone will now be visible, as technically it was always in iTunes it was just hidden. It seems like the “Hide” button can be clicked accidentally, which can lead users to believe they have a more serious problem than there is. Save yourself some work and try this first the next time the iPhone isn’t in iTunes devices list.
If you attempted this and the iPhone (or iPad or iPod touch) still isn’t showing up in iTunes, you may need to reinstall iTunes itself.
I have had this happen to me, however slightly different. My iPhone would appear in iTunes only while connected with the usb cable. In other words, there was no wifi syncing, only connected syncing. The fix was to reboot my iMac. It has happened twice and I’m not sure what is causing it.
Yea unfortunately wi-fi syncing doesn’t really work as you’d think, that’s not a bug it’s just the way it’s implemented.
My phone shows up in iTunes but none of my folders are showing. The icons appear to be all loose even though the phone itself shows the icons in folders. I just jailbroke it recently – is this normal?