Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. Guides

What to do when your iPhone isn’t showing up in iTunes

Simon Chandler
By

Connecting your iPhone to iTunes through a Mac or PC is an essential part of digital housekeeping. Whether you want to update your iPhone, sync it with your computer, or transfer some media onto it, connecting it to iTunes is often the best — or sometimes the only — option.

However, you may sometimes find that your iPhone doesn’t show up in iTunes. You connect the iPhone to your computer via your USB cable, but it doesn’t appear anywhere on your computer, and iTunes doesn’t seem to recognize it. In this article, we explain what to do in such cases, covering the five most useful solutions. Usually, the problem can be solved by simple restarts or updates, but in some cases, you may need to buy new cables or even contact Apple Support.

Recommended Videos

What to do when your iPhone isn’t showing up in iTunes

Try a different USB cable or USB port

iPhone USB cable

The simplest thing you can do when your iPhone isn’t showing in iTunes is to try a different USB cable or USB port. Sometimes, faulty hardware can be the reason why you can’t connect properly. So, if your computer has another USB port, try that one instead. Likewise, if you have another USB cable for your iPhone, try that.

Related

Also, it’s worth trying a different computer if a different USB cable or port doesn’t work. If a different computer does detect your iPhone, then you know that the problem is most likely with your computer.

Restart your iPhone and computer

iPhone restart
Pexels/Mateusz

If your iPhone still isn’t showing in iTunes, the next thing you can try is restarting your iPhone and then your computer. This is an obvious step, but it often works in such cases because restarts flush out your device’s RAM, which handles short-term data and tasks. For whatever reason, such data may be interfering with how your iPhone or computer is working. It’s always worth a try.

Turn on and unlock your iPhone

It may go without saying, but you need to have your iPhone turned on and unlocked before it will show in iTunes.

Trust your computer

iPhone trust this computer
Apple

One other simple thing to make sure you do is tap Trust when the “Trust This Computer?” notification pops up on your iPhone. Without doing this, iTunes won’t be able to detect your iPhone, since the latter will refuse to connect to your computer.

Also, you may have inadvertently tapped Don’t Trust at one point in time. Doing this means your iPhone never sends data to your computer, and it might be the reason why your iPhone isn’t showing in iTunes. If you suspect this to be the case, you can change your settings for trusted computers. To do this, go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Location & Privacy.

Update your software

If your iPhone still isn’t showing in iTunes, you should begin making sure everything is completely updated. If possible, update your iPhone, update iTunes, and update your computer’s OS (whether MacOS or Windows).

To update your Mac, you need to open System Preferences and then click Software Update. To update your Windows PC, you need to click the Start button, and then you go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update.

To update iTunes on a Mac, you need to open the App Store and then click Updates. If an iTunes update is available, click on it.

To update iTunes on a Windows PC, you need to open iTunes and then go to Help > Check for Updates.

Update the iPhone driver in Windows PC

Windows iPhone driver update
Apple

If you’re a Windows user, one thing you can try is updating your iPhone’s driver software. If you do this frequently, your iPhone will start showing in iTunes. We’ve outlined how to do this below if you used the Microsoft Store to download iTunes.

Step 1: Disconnect your iPhone from your PC. Then, unlock your iPhone and reconnect it to the PC using your USB cable.

Step 2: Right-click the Start button, then select Device Manager. Next, click Portable Devices so that it expands.

Step 3: Right-click on Apple iPhone (or whatever your PC may call your iPhone). Click Update Driver. Lastly, choose Search Automatically for Updated Driver Software.

Doing this will install new driver software for your iPhone. After it has installed, open iTunes. It should be able to detect your iPhone now.

Alternatively, if you downloaded iTunes from Apple’s website rather than from the Microsoft Store, you should do the following to update your iPhone driver:

Step 1: Connect your iPhone via USB cable to your PC. Unlock it.

Step 2: Press the Windows + R keys simultaneously, which opens the Run command. In the Run window, enter the following:

%ProgramFiles%Common FilesAppleMobile DeviceSupportDrivers

Step 3: Click OK. Right-click on either Usbaapl64.inf or Usbaapl.inf. Next, click Install. Lastly, disconnect your iPhone, restart your PC, and reconnect your iPhone before opening iTunes.

Update the Apple Mobile Device USB Driver in Windows PC

If none of these steps work, try updating the Apple Mobile Device USB Driver on Windows. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Press the Windows + R keys simultaneously, which opens the Run command. In the Run window, enter the following: devmgmt.msc

Step 2: Click OK. Next, click on Universal Serial Bus controllers to expand its sub-menu, as shown in the screenshot below. Right-click on Apple Mobile Device USB Driver and then click Update driver to check for a newer version.

If you see an option for a more recent version, click to download it. Once the download is complete, connect your iPhone again and check to see if it’s showing up.

Go to Apple Support

Let’s say you’ve tried all these troubleshooting options and tried connecting to a different computer, and you’re still coming up with nothing. Unfortunately, that probably means you’re facing a hardware problem. In this case, the only thing left to do is contacting Apple Support to see what they can do.

You might need to schedule an appointment at the nearest Apple Store so they can take a closer look.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Simon Chandler
Simon Chandler
Mobile Writer
Simon Chandler is a journalist based in London, UK. He covers technology and finance, contributing to such titles as Digital…
Green and orange dots on your iPhone? Here’s what they really mean
Green dot on an iPhone 14 Pro.

The information at the top of an iPhone screen is generally pretty self-explanatory. The symbols that live there show information regarding things like your battery level, your service provider, and the strength of your Wi-Fi connectivity. But there are two small icons that are a bit of a mystery: the green and orange dots that occasionally appear as you use your phone. Because there's nothing that explicitly says what they're for, and tapping on them doesn't do anything either, many iPhone users are left scratching their heads about what these green and orange dots mean.

The dots have been around since the introduction of iOS 14, which launched in 2020, and are actually pretty straightforward and simple to understand once they've been explained. Here's what you need to know about the green and orange dots that appear on the top of your iPhone's screen.
What the green dot on your iPhone means

Read more
iOS 16.3.1 fixes major bugs for your iPhone — and introduces a new one
Lock screen widget for iOS 16.

Apple just released a new iOS update for your iPhone: iOS 16.3.1. There are also updates for iPadOS 16.3.1 and macOS 13.2.1. All of these are relatively minor updates, but they do patch up an actively exploited code execution vulnerability that was found in WebKit/Safari. A second vulnerability was also patched up, though this second one was not known to be actively exploited.

But that’s not all that iOS 16.3.1 brings. This update also fixes an issue with iCloud settings, where it became unresponsive. Another bug fix corrects an issue with using Siri with the Find My feature, where the request would end up failing. If you have a HomePod, there is a HomePod 16.3.2 OS update that will also resolve some Siri issues, where smart home requests would end up failing.

Read more
Apple may do the unthinkable — allow third-party iPhone app stores
App Store displayed on an iPhone 14 Pro against a pink background

Ever since 2008, Apple has only allowed its own App Store on the iPhone. In the past, if you wanted alternative digital storefronts, you’d have to jailbreak your device. But in response to impending regulations from the European Union, Apple may be allowing alternative app stores on the iPhone and iPad in the near future — potentially as soon as iOS 17 in 2023.

According to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, this will be the very first time that Apple will allow third-party app stores on the iPhone. It seems that Apple is already dedicating a “significant amount of resources to the companywide endeavor.”

Read more