iTunes stuck on "Syncing iPhone (Step 3 of 5) Preparing to Sync" when trying to sync iPhone to new Win 11 laptop

Wow, thanks! Worked perfectly with the task manager tip. I've had a similar issue in the past and wasted over an hour for Apple's tech support to resolve. Hopefully this workaround continues to work until iTunes is patched.

I was hoping and EXPECTING with all the users with this issue the "stuck on preparing to sync" would be fixed in 17.3. It is not. Both disappointing and showing a lack of responisibility for their customers.

Now, in the process of trying to fix this i have made it worse.

My phonwe and outlook always synced esily and as expected. Trying to fix this I ** two things: Unchecked sync contacts and tried reset sync. Both several times. When I rechecked sync contacts I get several possible erros. Tonight's : this will change more than 25% of you contacts on this phone. Add 22, delete 191 and something else for 6. I cancelled that.

Is it possible to get back into sync? I am reluctant to try one toime replace contacts on computer from this phone. Can I trust that?

Appreciate any insight. There are several similar threads on this hear so forgive me for posting more than one, but woul dlike visibility to fix this problem.

Thanks.

Thanks for the tip, that worked for me too. My iWatch1 hasn't worked since the battery died but I never unpaired it. Just unpaired and now my phone and Mac since fine. I'm running iPhone 12 Pro Max and MacBook Pro with Sonoma OS.

I'm having the same exact problem with my iPhone 11 and Windows 11. We need a fix please.

I am having the same problem with iPhone 13 stuck at "Preparing to sync", but no issues syncing and backing up with New iPad Pro 11 on a "trusted" Windows 10 install.

I am having the same, but with iMac to iPhone 14Pro syncing - stuck on step 3

Worked for me. Now I'll just rename the tool for a more permanent temporary fix.

this is happening to me. can barely use my phone or laptop rn. they just won’t speak to each other at all.

Thank you! I was having the same issue after having to rebuild my computer & reinstalling all software. This allowed the sync to complete!

Rats! The problem came back again.

even using dos to try to rename the file i get access denied. Apple, how can I fix this? when is the bug fix coming?

even using dos to try to rename the file MDCrashReportTool.exe i get access denied. Apple, how can I fix this? when is the bug fix coming? itunes is such a crappy product we have to put up with.

thanks. that worked

This solution perfectly works. thank you

I am having the same problem syncing my iphone 12 with iTunes on my PC. None of the suggested fixes have worked. This is a major inconvenience. How about a fix for this, Apple?