Comments on: What to do When iTunes Won’t Detect an iPhone, iPad, or iPod

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:26:28 +0000

Yes you can restore to factory settings directly on the iPhone

http://osxdaily.com/2012/01/17/reset-iphone-factory-settings/

By: Patrice

Patrice — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:21:09 +0000

How are you supposed to factory restore the device if it isn’t recognized in itunes? Can you do it on the device itself?

By: Dwayne

Dwayne — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 22:52:29 +0000

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

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:06:06 +0000

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?

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:45:47 +0000

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.

By: Me

Me — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:58:48 +0000

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 .

By: IronMIke

IronMIke — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 04:41:32 +0000

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….
“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 Thanks OSXDAILY!

By: Tai

Tai — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 08:22:37 +0000

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.

By: Rich

Rich — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 02:17:29 +0000

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.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 17:46:47 +0000

Indeed this is another tip that should be included, thanks David.

By: David

David — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:05:06 +0000

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.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:50:36 +0000

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.

By: Nevin

Nevin — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 01:17:56 +0000

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).

By: Harvey

Harvey — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:43:51 +0000

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.

By: Budopri

Budopri — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:28:28 +0000

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.