iTunes is frequently unable to sign in with my apple id

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Level 1

78 points

iTunes is frequently unable to sign in with my apple id

I have been trying to sign in for the past few days. I am giving the error message the benefit of doubt and willing to "try again later". But now I am all out of laters and this is becoming tiresome. This seems to happen to me every year. Last year it happened when I had a bunch of friends come over to watch a movie. I couldn't even play my own movies!

This time I even tried to reset my password. No luck. I know I am typing in the right password, because if I type in the wrong one, it says 'incorrect password'.

I am signed in on my phone and iPads and can play my purchases from those devices without a problem.

Please don't tell me to reinstall iTunes. I've done that twice already this year trying to solve other problems. I would really love to be able to watch the movies and listen to the music I've purchased.

Windows, Windows 6

Posted on Sep 11, 2022 4:13 AM

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Answer 1

hc1111

Community Specialist

Sep 12, 2022 9:22 AM in response to augratin

Hey there augratin,

To clarify, are you noticing any issues regarding signing in or connecting to the internet on your PC? Also, have you checked to make sure you're using the latest Windows and iTunes versions? If not, this will be the next step we recommend, just in case you need to update. Use the guidance below to help check over a few software settings and setup:

• Make sure that the date, time, and time zone are set correctly on your computer. Learn how to update these settings on a Mac or on a PC.

• Log in to an administrative user account, not a guest account. Learn how to do this on a PC.

• Update to the latest version of iCloud for Windows or update to the latest version of iTunes.

• Make sure that you have the latest software on your Mac or on your PC.

• Make sure that you set up Windows Hello. Learn how to set it up.

• Make sure that you only have one type of security software installed. If you have more than one type of security software installed, you might experience performance issues.

Resolve issues between iCloud for Windows or iTunes and third-party security software - Apple Support

Feel free to reply with more info if this persists.

Take care!

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Answer 2

augratin Author

Level 1

78 points

Sep 14, 2022 2:37 AM in response to hc1111

Actually, I found some notes that I made last year when I had this problem for several weeks. From that I remembered what I did last time this happened. I went to another person's computer (coworker) and signed in on his iTunes. Then signed out. That's all. I don't even have any music libraries on his PC.

Then when I got home today, I was able to sign in without a problem. This time I got a pop-up asking for a PIN that was sent to my phone. I don't think I have ever seen that before, and I didn't get that when I signed in my coworker's PC earlier today.

My connection at home (where I'm having the problem) is excellent, at 300Mbps. However the connection at my office (where I had no problem logging in) is dirt-slow. So I don't see how it could be related to connection speed. Logging-in to a service is a very low-bandwidth task. Just a few hundred KB of data and it's not delay-sensitive.

I hope I can find this post again next year when it eventually happens again (and it will).

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Answer 3

SnickZ.

Community Specialist

Sep 14, 2022 6:37 AM in response to augratin

Thanks for getting back to us, augratin. It’s appreciated.

One thing we did notice is you tried resetting your Apple ID password. Whenever you change your Apple ID or its password, you’ll need to sign out of these Apple Services you may be using, then sign in with your new credentials: What to do after you change your Apple ID or password - Apple Support. You’ll need to do this on each Apple device you’re using as well. It struck us that you were able to log into iTunes for Window without an issue on your friends PC. This could be the reason you’re having a problem with your own.

Two-factor authentication for Apple ID - Apple Support -- Regarding the PIN code you received on your iPhone. It sounds like you’re using two-factor authentication for your Apple ID. This article explains what it is, and how it works.

Feel free to get back to us with any questions or problems you may have.

All the best.

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Answer 4

augratin Author

Level 1

78 points

Sep 14, 2022 5:53 PM in response to SnickZ.

One thing we did notice is you tried resetting your Apple ID password. Whenever you change your Apple ID or its password, you’ll need to sign out of these Apple Services you may be using, then sign in with your new credentials

Yes of course, all my devices prompted me to do this anyway. I've changed my apple ID password before many times for other reasons, so I'm aware of this. Besides, it didn't help with this problem. I was able to sign in to my mobile devices using the new password, but still getting "unable to sign you in..." with iTunes.

Regarding the PIN code you received on your iPhone. It sounds like you’re using two-factor authentication for your Apple ID. This article explains what it is, and how it works.

Again, having been an apple user since the first iPhone came out, I am aware of this. However the PIN prompt happened after I had successfully logged in to iTunes on another PC and then came home to try mine again. I've never gotten a request for PIN verification from iTunes. I get it for other apple services, but never from iTunes. In the past I have always been able to log into iTunes with just my password; no PIN was ever required. And don't you think it's strange that I wasn't prompted for a PIN when I tried logging in on a totally new PC that I had never used before?

I just have to remember these steps if it happens again:

Can't sign in to iTunes for many days; getting "try again later" message.
Go to another PC and sign in.
go back to my PC, I'm suddenly able to sign in.

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Answer 5

karina184

Community Specialist

Sep 15, 2022 9:07 AM in response to augratin

Hey augratin,

Glad to hear you got it figured out. Thanks for posting the solution to the thread!

Have a great week.

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iTunes is frequently unable to sign in with my apple id

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