What to do When iTunes Won’t Detect an iPhone, iPad, or iPod
You’ve plugged an iPhone into a computer, and nothing happens. You look in iTunes, and the iPhone, iPod, or iPad isn’t there. Great, now what? What in the heck is going on? Don’t worry, there are usually a few simple solutions that will resolve the problem, try these tricks first in any whatever order works best for you.
5 Simple Tricks to Get iTunes to Recognize an iOS Device
- Quit and relaunch iTunes
- Connect the iOS device to a different USB port on the computer
- Reboot the iPhone, iPad, or iPod
- Reboot the computer
- Use a different syncing cable (if possible)
The last option is most relevant for torn and frayed cables and for those using the cheapy third party cables that seem to fail .
The iPhone/iPad/iPod is Still Not Detected, Now What?
If the iPhone, iPad, or iPod is still not recognized by iTunes, the next thing you should do is delete iTunes and reinstall it with a fresh version from Apple. That process is going to be different whether the computer is a Mac or Windows PC.
- Uninstall iTunes: In OS X, iTunes is a protected app and must be uninstalled from the Terminal, in Windows it will be uninstalled through Control Panel
- Download and reinstall the latest version of iTunes from Apple
Reboot and try again, it should be detected now.
Still Not Working?
If you’ve done all the troubleshooting tricks above and the iOS device is still not detected, try connecting the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch to a different computer and see if it’s identified. This can help rule out if the problem is with the original computer, or if it’s a problem with the iOS device itself. If it’s connected to another computer and still won’t be recognized, there could be a problem with the physical connector port on the iOS device itself, or some other hardware related issue, and you’ll probably want to call Apple to sort it out. Before doing so, be sure to back up the device manually with iCloud, since iCloud will be able to backup important data in iOS even if the device can’t connect to a computer.
OK so this could be a fluke with my Mac, but for MacBook Pro owners do this: only use the USB cable closest to the power adapter. Maybe it draws more power because it’s closer? Who knows, but I had sporadic problems with my iPad not charging and not being recognized and switching to the other USB port solved it.
LOL . iOS devices can charge on from USB 3.0 ports . Most Laptops / Computers have 1-2 USB 3.0 ports and others are USB 2.0 ports . You just found the USB 3.0 port .
My iPhone 4 and my old Classic iPod are quite often not found on my Windows 7 POS 64 bit. All have the latest updates. And when I connect my iPad 3 using the same cables, it’s always found. I fairly sure that the iPhone 4 and iOS 6.0.1 refuse to play well together. The more iTunes updates, the slower the Classic becomes, I guess that’s progress.
If I was you, I would check with another PC.
If it works with another PC then the problem is not iPhone or iOS device, but your installation of iTunes.
I’ve found that USB cables without a ferrite core near the two connectors would cause problems for all sorts of devices’ recognition. My new Nikon D3100 came with two snap-on ferrite cores: one for the USB cable (not supplied) and the other for an A/V cable (also not supplied). I’d already figured out the noise-damping ferrite’s presence made the difference between my el-cheapo-supreme Olympus camera being recognized or not. Electrical noise would also account for the anecdotal account of one USB port being better than another (closer to ground).
there’s another, last-resort option not listed here. factory reset the device. i once had an iPhone that absolutely refused to be recognized, even after taking all the steps listed above. i finally did a factory reset, which completely wiped the phone but did make it recognizable by iTunes again. fortunately i had a recent backup on iTunes, so when i plugged in and set the “new” iPhone up i performed a restore from the backup. after that everything synced just fine, and the only annoying part was having to log in to all my connected apps all over again.
Indeed this is another tip that should be included, thanks David.
How are you supposed to factory restore the device if it isn’t recognized in itunes? Can you do it on the device itself?
Yes you can restore to factory settings directly on the iPhone
http://osxdaily.com/2012/01/17/reset-iphone-factory-settings/
If you are on Windows and your PC beeps (recognizes the USB device) when you connect your phone, if closing and open iTunes didn’t help, open Services and restart the Apple Mobile Device service. That usually does it for me and is faster than rebooting and certainly faster than uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes.
If your PC does not beep when you plug your phone in and trying a different USB port doesn’t help, instead of just restarting your PC, actually power it down and then turn it back on.
My Apple devices are detected by windows explorer but not by itunes. Tried a few tricks recommended by users but nothing helps. Something to do with Microsoft Portable Device being replaced or corrupted.
I was having an irritating problem when my itunes wasn’t recognizing my iphone 4. So after a whole bunch of websites, I finally got my answer on this one! I couldn’t seem to find out what the hell the problem was until i saw this….
Thanks OSXDAILY!
“The last option is most relevant for torn and frayed cables and for those using the cheapy third party cables that seem to fail.”
Ahahaha I was totally using the cheap third party cables cause the original cable breaks in 1 pull :/
I can finally destress now
Same problem. I thought it was related to multiple devices being on the account but the THIRD PARTY CABLE apparently was the culprit. Fine for charging. Not fine for synching, apparently.
Running windows 7 64 bit, itunes 11. I’ve tried all of these measures and none work. Device shows up in windows and beeps when i plug it in. But when I check itunes no device shows up. Tried using the original usb cable after using the one that always worked in the past and no go. Ridiculous. Any other solutions out there?
I’ve got Window 7 64-bit, What worked for me was to add SyncServer to the list of allowable programs in Window Firewall. The location of the file is C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\SyncServer.exe
Allow that and that’s all there was to it. If iTunes is slow to recognize the device after this, it also helps to go to Task manager and click the Services tab, Stop the “Apple Mobile device” service and start it again. Shortly after this, ITunes was able to find me and I exploded with glee! lol