iTunes Version 12.13.0.9 keeps freezing on Windows 11

I recently bought a new computer and installed everything from scratch, then imported my music files into iTunes. At first everything seemed normal, then some software update came along, which I installed. Ever since then, iTunes keeps randomly freezing in place (music that plays keeps playing) and requires me to force-quit it via task manager if I want to regain control.

This is very annoying and has never happened in years of me running iTunes on Windows 10.

Another updated seemed to have briefly solved the issue, but with the newest version it has returned. iTunes is **** near unusable in this state.

The computer did come with some sort of Antivirus Software by Norton but I can't seem to find how to exclude iTunes folders from its scanning. I am running itunes as an administrator. It also appears as if the freezing happens particularly when I am trying to browse/search/play stuff from my personal library and less when browsing/using Apple Music content.

Any tips on how to stop this from happening?

Posted on Nov 13, 2023 7:16 AM

Top-ranking reply

TJK02

Level 1

14 points

Posted on Feb 7, 2024 10:26 PM

@BongooBetty may have the fix! I would not have noticed that because I turned off "Show: List view checkboxes" in Edit/Preferences/General (see picture below).

I turned them on, went to Songs under Library (see picture below), did the ctrl-click on the first checkbox, and waited awhile (I have close to the 100,000 song limit in my library).
When they were all unchecked, I turned the checkboxes back off, closed iTunes, and waited until the Windows Volume Mixer (right-click on the volume icon in the system tray, see picture below) no longer showed iTunes.
When I started iTunes again, the progress indicator at the top right spun for many minutes saying "Making your iCloud Music Library available..." but I could play downloaded songs meanwhile (see picture below). The spinner froze for awhile a few times, but it always came back (similar to File/Library/Update iCloud Music Library).
I turned on the checkboxes to make sure they were all still unchecked, and turned them off again. iTunes worked smoothly while I removed and added songs!
I turned the checkboxes on to double-check, and realized that all the songs I had just added were checked, so I decided to leave them visible so I will notice when any are checked.
However, next time I started iTunes I got a warning: "Unchecked items don't play in a playlist" etc. (see picture below). So I will keep the checkboxes turned off usually, and once a week turn them on to uncheck any that are checked (easy if I sort the Songs view by Date Added).
iTunes still stops responding occasionally, but the difference is that I can see in Windows Task Manager (ctrl-shift-Esc, see picture below) that it is working hard, whereas before its CPU% would be zero when it froze, and I would have to select it and click End Task, so I could restart it.

[Edited by Moderator]

View in context

iTunes Version 12.13.0.9 keeps freezing on Windows 11

Similar questions