How to Fix iTunes Restore Errors, Can’t Connect and Syncing Problems

There are tons of people reporting iTunes error on their computer through the Apple support forum on a daily basis. If you look close enough, some of these errors that popup on your iTunes screen can be fixed just by getting the latest update.

For beginners, they do not know that. In this post, we will showcase some of the most common problems you will see in iTunes when trying to restore your iPhone or iPad using the utility.

Along with that are some of the general solutions that was reported to be working in many cases.

How to Fix iTunes Restore Errors (9, 4005, 4013, 4014)

A lot of you may have seen one of these “error code” before; these include

  • 9
  • 4005
  • 4013
  • 4014

Specifically, there will be a popup saying something like this:

The iPhone could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (9)

The iPhone [device name] could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (4005).

If it happens to you before, I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about.

For people who are new to iTunes, this tutorial could be a great resource for you just in case later on you make a mistake or have trouble while restoring or updating your iPhone via iTunes and one of these error shows up.

Based on my own experience and research, there is no particular solution to each of these iTunes restore errors; they can be resolved by following one of the methods below.

Get the latest version of iTunes

Usually, Apple will notify you when a new update for iTunes comes out. But if they don’t, here is a quick way to check for it.

On your computer, open iTunes and click on iTunes from the menu bar then choose Check for Updates (for Mac OS X only).

Windows users can do the same thing, but the option is slightly different. From the menu bar, click on Help > Check for Updates.

Check for Connection between iPhone and iTunes

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Earlier this week, we wrote a quick fix for people who couldn’t connect their iPhone with iTunes or have trouble with syncing. Take a look at it and then come back here if that method is useless. Look below.

What you can do now is disconnect the USB cable from your iOS device and then plug it back in or try with a newer/different USB cable.

Restart Your Computer and iPhone

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If both given solutions don’t help, try restarting your computer and also your iPhone or iPad. On your iOS device, press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until you see the slide to power off option. Drag and carry it toward the right to turn off your device.

To turn it back on, press and hold the same button again until you see the Apple logo. (Also: try the Recovery Mode)

Hopefully, after following what we provided, you can update or restore the iPhone or iPad again, this time with no trouble.

Can’t Connect or Sync iPhone to iTunes on Mac / Windows

Let’s just say on a beautiful day when you decided to do something with your iPhone or iPad, and it requires you to connect the device to a computer.

In most cases, it has to do with iTunes since this software contain everything you need from importing music to transferring files, backup data, and view your App Store purchases.

But the only problem now is that iTunes won’t detect or sync with your iPhone or iPad. A lot of people have reported about this issue, and it’s an ongoing thing since there is no particular reason why iTunes doesn’t recognize your iOS device.

Luckily, we’ve found a reliable fix for this, and you can do it right now.

How to Fix iPhone Cannot Connect to iTunes on Mac OS X

  1. Disconnect your iPhone or iPad from the computer
  2. From your Mac’s Menu Bar, click iTunes > Quit iTunes
  3. Restart your iOS device by pressing the power button and choose Power Off
  4. Turn it back on and now connect the iPhone to the computer
  5. Back to your Mac, go to Go > Go to Folder… and type in /var/db/lockdown
  6. You’re now inside the Lockdown folder. Grab everything in there and throw them in the Trash bin (Move to Trash option)
  7. Empty Trash and re-open iTunes

quit-itunes-mac-os-x-menu-bar

The software should now be able to recognize your iPhone and provide standard usage again. In additional to the instructions above, we also recommend you trying to restart the computer, get the latest iTunes update, and use different USB cable.

empty-trash-on-mac

What about Windows users?

How do you come about to resolve the same issue on this operating system? Using the same concept, force close iTunes and then click Start > &ProgramData% > Apple > and dump the Lockdown folder to the recycle bin. Don’t forget to choose Empty Recycle Bin and try connecting your iPhone to iTunes again.

Lastly, additional tips for Windows users including:

  1. Update the iPhone driver
  2. Download iTunes newest version
  3. Check out these alternatives

I hope this work.

A Reliable Source to Download Older iTunes Versions

At the beginning of the post, we mentioned that updating to the newest version of iTunes can easily fix your problem. And this statement can be backfired as well.

Some users have reported that the latest version of iTunes causes issues for them. If that’s the case, we will show you how to download an older version instead.

Go ahead and bookmark Callum Jones’ IPSW iTunes page to your toolbar or menu because this will come in handy whenever you need to look for an older version of iTunes.

When landing on the page, you should see the Latest Release column which allows you to download the newest iTunes to your Mac or Windows.

Screen Shot 2016-04-28 at 15.20.21

Next to it is the Release History section, this part indicates all the previous iTunes releases, their date, and download links. Furthermore, the IPSW.Me site also provides iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch users with the latest iOS versions along with the older firmware that is still being signed by Apple.

Again, extremely useful if you want to downgrade your firmware.

Leave a Comment

  1. It’s true, as you said in the post. many people are suffering from this type of error problem like error code 9, error code 4014 and nowadays people are facing iTunes Error 9006. They said the phone automatically stuck on the apple logo while updating.

    Reply

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