Level 1

26 points

iTunes won't copy pictures from Windows PC to iPhone - stuck on "Reading Photos from Pictures"

I have been syncing selected folders of pictures from my Windows PC via iTunes for years. By properly selecting Picture folders (along with Music, Books, and other items), it has made restoring a new phone with all my original content a breeze. I have been backing up my phone (and my iPad) to iTunes regularly (i.e. multiple times weekly) for years.

After the iTunes update to 12.7.4 and updating my iPhone to iOS 11.3, I did my normal Backup. At this point, I noticed that the backup got stuck on "Reading Photos from Pictures". After about 30 minutes, I pulled the cord and tried again. No luck.

I read online that deleting the "iPod Photo Cache" folder would fix everything. So I moved that to a safe place and had to reselect my picture folders to sync in iTunes. On that screen, I would see the number of pictures in each folder, so I knew I was in the right place.

At one point, I had turned on iCloud Photos, but I found that the syncing was intermittent. During my troubleshooting yesterday, I turned off iCloud photos on my iPhone.

Subsequent syncs have done nothing. It just hangs on the "Reading Photos from Pictures" for an hour or more, and then completes without an error message. At one point, the named folders came over to my iPhone, but showed up empty (i.e. with zero pictures). A subsequent delete of the "iPod Photo Cache" and sync erased those empty folders.

Pictures taken with my phone and texts/imessage (thankfully) remain intact.

Looking for some help in getting the pics back on my phone. Please...

Posted on Apr 1, 2018 5:27 AM

Top-ranking reply

philipp273

Level 1

9 points

Posted on Apr 4, 2018 3:42 PM

So until Apple fixes this, here is a workaround: Downgrade to iTunes 12.7.3! It definitely is an iTunes 12.7.4-issue. After downgrading to 12.7.3, everything is working again.

So you have to manually uninstall 12.7.4 and download 12.7.3 from Apple (just google for the version number, you'll find it).

Problem is that you have to go back to an auto-saved iTunes Library file from when you had 12.7.3 installed. So after installing but before starting 12.7.3 you have to first rename the current "iTunes Library.itl" file to something like "iTunes Library 12-7.4.itl" and then go to the "Previous iTunes Libraries" folder and take the presumably latest autosaved itl-file and move it one folder up and rename it to "iTunes Library.itl".

(Of course this means that you'll lose all changes you made to your iTunes library since updating to 12.7.4)

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30 replies

Apr 3, 2018 8:15 AM in response to LarryS in NJ

I am having the same problem but also noticed that after updating to iTunes 12.7.4.76 and updating my iPhone to iOS 11.3 that new music added to iTunes no longer syncs to my iPhone either.

scrjs

Level 1

18 points

Apr 4, 2018 12:58 AM in response to SergioProdi

Hi - perfectly describes my experience as I tried all the same things and ended up in the same place.

Apple -Get this fixed!

Apr 5, 2018 8:38 AM in response to philipp273

Worked like a charm, thanks. Maybe I won't be so fast to update next time 😉

m4gpx

Level 1

4 points

Apr 7, 2018 3:41 AM in response to LarryS in NJ

Exactly the same here, will try back-tracking iTunes. Thanks

Apr 27, 2018 1:24 PM in response to mitchandmarcy

I totally agree with you mitch and i will do the same and go for a Samsung S9

Apr 27, 2018 1:49 PM in response to yiannakisfromsheffield

EXACTLY the one I had in mind too (Galaxy S9)

KevJ9

Level 1

9 points

Apr 28, 2018 10:09 AM in response to LarryS in NJ

Sorry to see there is no reply by Apple on this, it is obviously an Itunes issue. Would nice to know when the fix will be completed.

thaleb

Level 1

4 points

May 2, 2018 11:19 AM in response to KarimMerchant87

Which "someone" would you expect that to be apart from the dreaded Rotten Apple?

Itunes Virusware release 12.8 will surely fix it

yeh, right!

KevJ9

Level 1

9 points

May 10, 2018 3:01 PM in response to turingtest2

I worked for a Software firm and the managers of the different departments kept up to date on bug reports and when appropriate we did respond!

turingtest2

Level 10

278,263 points

May 11, 2018 3:09 AM in response to KevJ9

I'm sure internally they do the same, but Apple rarely comment on bugs to the outside world.

tt2

KevJ9

Level 1

9 points

May 11, 2018 5:40 AM in response to turingtest2

On a major issue where the synch will not complete successfully they should!

johnw14a

Level 1

4 points

May 29, 2018 8:58 PM in response to mitchandmarcy

Just updated to 7.5.9. Did sit for a while on "reading photos . . . . ", but appears to be fixed. Good news.

Apr 4, 2018 12:11 AM in response to LarryS in NJ

Same here updated yesterday to new Ios 11.3 and now it won't sync. And its only in photos. When i disable sync photos it goes smooth on music. But music is the last step. So if I enable photos then it gets stuck again at reading photos, and keeps reading.

I tried also to delete the "iphone cache" then the sync goes very well first copied all photos. So now they are on the iphone, but again i cannot sync anymore since again after second time it keeps reading.

What I tried now is to sync full music first, then add photos (for first time). that worked so I have everything on iphone till apple comes with solution. Second time sync it got stuck at "reading photos" again, but at least now i got everything on phone

Greetz

Apr 8, 2018 2:12 PM in response to LarryS in NJ

Exactly the same,Reading Photos from Pictures for hours and hours and hours.It is crystal clear iTunes(12.7.4) problem

and I hope apple get these messages and fix it soon,very soon because it is a disaster situation

Apr 28, 2018 7:19 PM in response to LarryS in NJ

There seems to be a bug in IOS 11.3.1 which causes this. I have found that if I delete iPod photo cache from my photos directory, it will then sync properly once. If I try and sync it again, it will erase my albums (the photos are still there) and hang on "reading photos ..." I need to delete the iPod photo cache file again in order to get it to sync again. I've synced and have all my photos (around 7,000) and albums on my device and will not connect it to iTunes again until there's an update (or, if I do, I'll delete the file again ...)

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iTunes won't copy pictures from Windows PC to iPhone - stuck on "Reading Photos from Pictures"