I have a frustrating iTunes situation. My wife's iPad has been setup for some time without using iTunes on her computer. NOW she needs to connect to iTunes but the only options we have is to set up as a new device or restore from an old backup of her iPhone.
iPad, iOS 5.1
Go into settings in iTunes and stop devices from automatically syncing. You'll find this option in Edit > Preferences > Devices.
Then authorize iTunes with the right Apple ID and Password.
Connect the iPad and once it is recognized in iTunes, right click it and choose transfer purchases. From there, you can sync it normally.
The following was copied from this thread. This is essentially what you want to accomplish.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2431472
1) Without connecting your iPad to your Mac, start iTunes. Click on iTunes. Click on Preferences. Click on Devices. Check the box next to "Prevent your iPod etc. from automatically syncing." Click OK.
2) Now connect your iPad to your Mac and start iTunes.
3) When iTunes starts, right click on your iPad under Devices in the left column. Select Transfer purchases etc.
4) After it finishes transferring all your apps to your Mac, right click on your iPad and select Backup your iPad.
5) After it finishes backing up your iPad, right click on your iPad and select Restore etc.
6) After it finishes restoring, left click on your iPad , then click on the Apps tab on top, and check the box next to Sync Apps, then click on Apply below.
If everything on your iPad looks good after the sync, go back and click on iTunes / Preferences / Devices and UN-check the box next to Prevent your iPod etc. The only other thing you may want to check is if your contacts, bookmarks, etc. are syncing correctly now. If not, go to the Info tab after connecting and make sure you indicate which features you want to sync with what sources.
Thanks for your help but when I right click, the only choices I get are "eject" or " restore from backup".
Demo provided much more detailed directions than I did. Did you follow those directions completely?
Do this first.
Reset the iPad by holding down on the sleep and home buttons at the same time for about 10-15 seconds until the Apple Logo appears - ignore the red slider - let go of the buttons.
Then quit iTunes, reboot the Mac and try again.
If that doesn't help ....Does the iPad have a name? What does it say on the left side of iTunes under the devices heading?
If the iPad has a generic name - like iPad - try giving it a name. You can name the iPad directly on the device as well in Settings>General>About>Name.
Then try again.
Tried all of these and still the same result. I do not want to have to set it up all over again. iTunes is a horrible mess of a program but I would think that at least there would be some way to do this.
There should be a way to transfer the purchases and it should be a no brainer.
I have seen this issue before but I just can't remember how to resolve it. That thing about only having the restore from backup or eject options has been bugging me. There is something that we are missing here.
Did you try from the iTunes menu at the top ..... File>transfer Purchases?
Your wife is signed into the same account in iTunes on the Mac as she is on the iPad?
Thanks for putting some thought into this. ... File>transfer Purchases... Is not available (greyed out) and yes, she is signed into our joint iTunes account on both the iPad and the Mac. She does have her own iCloud account. She has an iPhone and that is the backup that iTunes wants to install.
I agree that there must be a simple way to resolve this but I can't figure it out.
No restrictions enabled on the iPad? Settings>General>Restrictions?
Restrictions are off.
That's a good suggestion to check Demo......
I am absolutely stumped on this one. This article that I am going to post here talks about a sort of similar situation to yours ... meaning an iTunes option that is missing but should be there for you to choose. See if this is something that you would want to try. I know it's not identical to your situation, but I am totally out of ideas at this point.
Maybe you can "trick iTunes" into resetting the transfer purchases option by doing this.
That did it! Thanks again!!!
Finally! That's great. I'm glad that it worked.
Thanks Demo, worked like a charm!
Can I sync an existing iPad to a Mac without loosing everything.
