Unable to sync iPhone with iTunes over WiFi

Question

Unable to sync iPhone with iTunes over WiFi

I'm following the directions to use Wi-Fi to sync my iPhone 13 Pro (iOS 15.5) with my iTunes for Windows app (v. 12.12.4.1.), but it's not not working.

With my iPhone connected to my PC via a USB-C cable, I checked the box in iTunes to "Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi". Then I hit "Apply" and eject. According to Apple's official instructions, I should now have the following ways to sync wirelessly:

Sync your device over Wi-Fi

Here are ways to sync wirelessly when your device is on the same Wi-Fi network as your computer (the computer must be turned on):

- Connect your device to a charger and plug it into an electrical outlet. Syncing begins automatically.
- In the iTunes app on your PC, click the icon for your device, then click the Sync button.

(See: Sync iTunes content on PC with devices on Wi-Fi – Apple Support (AU)).

With respect to the first bullet, my phone does not sync when it's charging.

With respect to the second bullet, the icon for my device isn't available in the iTunes app unless my phone is hardwired to my PC, so it's impossible for me to click the icon to get to the sync button. (Perhaps the device icon should now be available without a hardwired connection, but it's not.)

The iPhone and the PC are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, so that's not the problem.

I've found numerous articles on other websites that say you should also be able to manually trigger a Wi-Fi sync from you iPhone's Settings app. According to them, if you go to "General" and scroll down you'll see an option for "iTunes Wi-Fi Sync". But no such option exists within the General settings on my iPhone. (To be clear, it's not simply greyed out; it doesn't appear at all.)

Posted on Jun 25, 2022 12:07 PM

Reply

Answer 1

UTBadger

Community Specialist

Jun 26, 2022 9:37 AM in response to Atomic_Monkey

Hey Atomic_Monkey,

We'd be happy to help if you're having issues with Wi-Fi sync. If you've set things up properly and your iPhone isn't showing in iTunes, check out: If your computer doesn't recognize your iPhone, iPad, iPod

If you continue to have issues afterward, try setting up Wi-Fi syncing while connected directly with a USB cable a second time to ensure it's set up properly.

If that doesn't help out, it'd be best to contact Apple Support from here: Get Support

We hope this information helps out.

Take care!

Reply

Answer 2

Jun 26, 2022 12:15 PM in response to UTBadger

@UTBadger,

I genuinely appreciate your taking the time to respond. Thank you. However, I believe you may have misunderstood my problem. You provided trouble-shooting tips for when a PC doesn't recognize a iPhone. That's not my issue. My computer has no difficulty recognizing my iPhone.

In my original post, I described the steps I took with my iPhone successfully connected to my computer. I wrote: "With my iPhone connected to my PC via a USB-C cable, I checked the box in iTunes to 'Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi'. " That checkbox will appear only when your phone is successfully connected to iTunes -- the fact that I was able to check it means my PC recognized my phone.

Nevertheless, I looked at the 8 suggestions in the article you suggested. All of them with either non-applicable or things I already tried.

With that in mind, I'll reach out to Apple Support. They'll probably suggest I set up the phone as new (that's their generic solution for most issues).

Reply

Unable to sync iPhone with iTunes over WiFi

Similar questions