iTunes is taking over 5 minutes to open. I have a high performance windows 11 computer with an SSD, 32 GB of RAM and an i9 Intel processor. Why does it take so long for iTunes to open?

Here is a longer laundry list of things that have helped some people, sometimes.

If iTunes is apparently installed correctly try the following in turn until iTunes opens/closes/reopens/connects to the store normally:

• Remove any SD card that might be in a card reader.
• Exit the BTTray.exe Bluetooth utility if installed.
• Locate the shortcut for iTunes, right-click on it, and select Run as administrator. Doing this once may fix certain launch issues. Some users were finding that with the 12.6.1.25 build, for example, they had to use this method every time and modified the shortcut accordingly.
• Try holding ctrl+shift as you launch iTunes so it opens in safe-mode. Again doing this once may sometimes help.
• Try disconnecting your computer from the Internet before running iTunes.
• Delete the iTunes shortcuts from the start menu, desktop, task bar, or similar, then repair iTunes from the programs and features control panel.
• Try Fix unexpected quits or launch issues in iTunes for Windows - Apple Support (archive version) and test the behaviour in a different user profile or with a different library. If the problem only exists in your profile it may be possible to delete some of the iTunes preference files which it would seem that iTunes may be choking on. We can go into details later if the issue is limited to your own profile.
• Temporarily disable any non-Microsoft anti-virus and see if that has any impact on the behaviour.
• See the second box in Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates for detailed tear down and rebuild advice. Disable any non-Microsoft anti-virus software when reinstalling and run the installer as the administrator.
• If you installed iTunes from the Microsoft Store you may find the traditional iTunesSetup.exe installer works better for you, or vice versa.
• Or see the iTunes installers section of the troubleshooting tip and reinstall the last version that worked correctly for you.

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Try holding down ctrl+shift as you launch iTunes to open it in safe mode. Doing this once can sometime help with odd issues. Do you have any third party antivirus software? If so exclude the iTunes folder from real time scanning. Check your iTunes folder for hidden .tmp files.

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Third from the bottom.

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