iPhone 5 stuck at "waiting for items to copy"

Stopping iCloud backup fix this issue for me as well.

So which worked better for everyone the restoring from a day prior back up, or going to the settings and canceling the restore?

Also, if you cancel the restore, are you able to re-plug it in and back it up? Does it get stuck again? I restored the backup, not to a different one, and it keeps getting stuck!

I would cancel the restore first. It is a less invasive option and it will allow you to backup again afterwords. It seems that a backup and sync can't be happening at the same time, so, just do one at a time.

This worked perfectly for me. Thanks! This was frustrating me beyond comprehension and the next stop was the Genius Bar.

Excellent - this worked like a charm here.

Now have my old ipad1 restored to my new iPad4 64GB=LTE AT&T 🙂

Thanks pbjj11. I had this problem with 10.7 and a new 4s. This fixed it for me.

This seemed to help. It also resolved the issue of having apps crash on opening. Key lesson for me was don't let the people at the store get your started on your backup. I can see they would have to activate your phone for cell service but after that, resist the temptation to do what they/you think you need to do to transfer your stuff from one iphone to another.

Tx.

I canceled the back up on the phone. It worked. Then I went to back up again and it did NOT get stuck. Thanks so much!

Also agree to resist the temptation to let them "get you started" at the Apple Store. It had been a while since I'd gotten a new phone and I totally forgot the wisdom in telling them "no thanks. I'll do it at home."

I was struggling with this too, and after doing quite a bit of searching I found an old discussion in this same forum, which referenced this article:

http://leimobile.com/faq-how-to-fix-ios-5-photo-sync-issues/

After reading the article, I simply solved my problem by entering this command (which is a streamlined way of doing thwat the article describes in many words) into a Terminal window:

rm -fR /Users/davidson/Pictures/iPhoto\ Library/iPod\ Photo\ Cache

Once I did that, the problem was instantly solved; yncs happen just the way they should.

I hope it works for you too.

Found the Easiest Fix. Open Itunes on your device; go to downloads; tap on items trying to download. Once these items have downloaded your itunes should complete it's sync.

Hope this helps you.

this worked for me 🙂

this worked for me as well. Thanks!

Where is downloads on iTunes?

Cancel above. I see you said on the device. I went on my iPhone and it says if I "Stop Restoring iPhone" "Any data that has not been downloaded will not be restored or backed up in the future." It seems to be done - music seems to all be there, apps seem ok but I'm not sure there is other stuff going on that I'm not aware of. Is it bad to leave it running hooked up to my computer and run all night?

It's late and I need to go to bed. Leaving it on....should be interesting to finally get this over with.