Top way to fix “iTunes could not connect to iPhone. An error occurred while reading from your iTunes device Additional solutions

If, when synchronizing your Apple gadget with iTunes, an error occurs indicating that an invalid iPhone response was received, we advise you to familiarize yourself with the proposed solutions to the problem. Namely, let’s look at: how to get rid of the cause of this error - a folder called Lockdown, which causes problems such as “iTunes could not connect to the iPhone” and an invalid response from the iPhone; we should uninstall it.

Ways to resume synchronization

The first steps in the event that an invalid iPhone response is received are suitable for all operating systems: you will need to disconnect Apple gadgets, as well as close iTunes. Next, follow the instructions appropriate for your operating system.

Users of Mac OS and its variants

  1. Use Finder. Use the menu on the panel at the top, click “Go”, and then “Go to folder”;
  2. In the window that appears, you must enter /var/db/lockdown;
  3. In the “View” item, set the display of objects to icons, this will make it more convenient to search. It is necessary to erase objects whose names contain a random set of Latin characters and numbers. Important: It is better not to erase the Lockdown directory, it is advisable to clean it inside;
  4. Reboot.

After this, the error “an invalid response was received from the device” iPhone should disappear.

Owners of Windows Vista and Windows 7

  1. Through Start, open the “Computer” window;
  2. In Folder Options, select “Show hidden files and folders”;
  3. In the Win7/Vista section, go to ProgramData, then find the Apple directory;
  4. Remove the Lockdown directory from this folder, or delete all files in it;
  5. Restart the system.

After the suggested actions, the error in the form “iTunes could not connect to iPhone” should be corrected.

Windows XP users

  1. Click "My Computer";
  2. Next “Tools” - “Folder Options” - “View”;
  3. Click on additional options, find “Hidden files and folders”, in the “Show hidden files and folders” checkbox and save these settings;
  4. By going to C: / Documents and Settings / All Users / Application Data / in any convenient way, we find the Lockdown directory, which needs to be cleaned or deleted completely.
  5. Reboot the system.

The “invalid response from iPhone” window will no longer appear.

An error window about receiving an incorrect response may appear while connecting your iPhone to the desktop version of iTunes. English-language software displays the following error text: “invalid response was received.” The method for resolving this system message depends on the operating system that is installed on your computer.

Checking the functionality of components

Due to the error “an invalid response was received from the device,” it becomes impossible to turn on iTunes, update the firmware, and set up phone backups. Before proceeding with specific actions in your OS, we recommend checking the following components:

  • Check the iTunes installed on your PC using an antivirus. If any errors or malicious utilities are detected, reinstall the software by downloading the installation file from the official Apple website;
  • Apple Mobile Device recognition may not work on your PC. Try installing iTunes on another computer and connecting again;
  • Problems with the USB connector may also cause the error. The phone connects to the PC, however, due to the lack of interface interaction, applications do not detect the device;
  • Cable. It may be faulty. Use another similar wire.

If the above methods do not resolve the connection problem, you should begin customizing your PC.

Connecting iPhone to PC for the first time

If you have not previously set up synchronization between your phone and your computer, you should add your PC to the list of “trusted” devices. The iPhone will make all subsequent connections automatically, and the “invalid response received from the device” error will no longer appear.

Immediately after connecting to USB, wait for the message shown in the figure to appear. Do not reject it, but click on “Continue”. Then wait until the synchronization completes. All settings will be configured automatically. It is the cancellation of this request that causes problems.


Instructions for MAC OS

The access permission window does not appear? You can open it yourself. For MAC OS users:

  • Open a command prompt;
  • Click on the directory navigation menu;

  • In the text field, enter "//var/db/lockdown" (without quotes). In the folder that opens, delete all saved certificates;
  • Reboot.

Instructions for Windows

Windows users need to repeat these steps:

  • Go to the control panel;
  • Open the “folder options” menu;
  • Click on the “View” tab and check the box next to “Show hidden files”;

  • On the system disk in the Application Data directory, find the Lockdown folder and delete its contents.

After the reset, be sure to restart the OS and connect the phone again. When opening iTunes, a “trust” message will appear that needs to be confirmed.

Setting up an antivirus

If you have an antivirus installed and enabled on your computer, it is advisable to disable it while connecting to your phone. A running scanning system may mistakenly identify iOS as a malicious utility.

Also, you should disable automatic verification of a secure connection. This can be done in the Defender network settings.


The problem of erroneous connection may be a consequence of bugs in the new firmware. You can roll back the installed OS version using iCloud backup.

You can find any instructions for self-repairing an iPhone on our website, or call a specialist for to any place convenient for you.

I absolutely welcome everyone! I have one computer, to which an iPhone or iPad is very rarely connected. Okay, stop. Just don’t think that the author is a wildly wealthy person. He owns a lot of hardware and is generally fattening with might and main... No. It’s just that this is my very first computer, it’s very old and it’s a shame to throw it away :)

So, a connection to this PC is required literally several times a year. And yesterday such a need arose - I needed to upload a couple of photos. With a practiced movement, I take the cable, insert one end into the USB port, the other into the iPhone, iTunes starts on the computer and... an error appears: “iTunes was unable to connect to the iPhone because an invalid response was received from the device.”

What nonsense? Just in case:

  1. I reboot the PC.
  2. I change the USB port.

Nothing changes - “iTunes could not connect” and even if you crack.

I went online to look for the reasons for the error and was horrified - some huge texts with a bunch of actions, you need to delete something, clean the registry, download additional programs... Damn, it’s easier to reinstall Windows! (Of course, I won’t do this © Sergey Glushko)

What to do then? Believe me, the error “iTunes could not connect to iPhone because an invalid response was received from the device” has a much simpler and faster solution. Here's what to do:

  • Update iTunes().

All. Nothing else is needed - the fact is that the cause of the error “an invalid response was received from the device” is a mismatch between the versions of iTunes, iOS, Mac OS (if you are using an Apple computer).

Actually, that’s what happened to me - I had an old version of iTunes installed and it simply didn’t know how to work with the new version of iOS on my iPhone, so it received an invalid response from the device. But! In some, especially advanced cases, a simple automatic update cannot be done (simply because it may not proceed correctly and some components will not be updated), which means everything will have to be done manually. Required:


Important note. Just in case, before connecting, you need to turn off antiviruses - some of their components can also interfere with the connection of the iOS device to the computer.

Now that's absolutely everything. As you can see, there is nothing complicated or supernatural – a couple of minutes and you’re done! After these manipulations, iTunes will finally be able to detect the iPhone, the response from the device will become valid, everyone is happy. Hooray! Victory!

« "iTunes was unable to connect to iPhone because it received an invalid response from the device" or “iTunes could not connect to the iPhone because an invalid response was received from the device”, suddenly this message appears when synchronizing with iTunes, and why did such an error happen?

In fact, when connecting an iPhone or iPad to a computer The certificate exchange procedure takes place. The user sees a dialog box on the computer and mobile device with the ability to “establish a trust relationship” between the devices. If you answer negatively at least on the device, this will lead to the inability to connect and similar errors. But what to do in this situation and we will tell you how to fix this problem?

Simple ways to fix the error

1. Check your iPhone shunt

5. Uninstall iTunes and reinstall it

These methods can simply solve minor errors in the system, if they do not help, then you should try the following methods.

For Windows/Mac operating system

For Mac OS X users

1. Disconnect all iOS devices from your computer and close iTunes. Open Finder, select Go -> Go to Folder. Type the following command in the box and press Enter: /var/db/lockdown

2. Open the View menu and select to display folder files as icons. In the Finder window, you will see one or more files with long alphanumeric file names.

3. Go to Finder via Edit -> Select All. Then select File -> Move to Trash. When prompted, enter your administrator password. Restart your computer.

For Windows XP users

1. Close iTunes and disconnect your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Go to “Start” - “My Computer”.

2. In the window that opens, click on the “Tools” – “Folder Options” – “View” button.

For Windows Vista or Windows 7 users

1. Close iTunes and disconnect your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Next, go to “Start” – “Computer”.

2. In the window that opens, in the top menu, click on the “Arrange” button. Next, select “Folder and Search Options” – “View”.

3. In the additional parameters, at the very end of the list, look for the “Hidden files and folders” option and switch to “Show hidden files and folders”. Save your changes.

4. Then on the local drive C we look for the ProgramData folder, and in it the Apple folder. And finally we find what we need - the Lockdown folder. Let's delete it. Restart your computer.

Fix the problem with Tenorshare ReiBoot in one click

If you have tried all the methods above, but the problem is not resolved, you can only resort to the last option. The problem is probably not in the PC, but in the iPhone. And this means you need to solve this error with help.

First, download and install Tenorshare ReiBoot on your computer. Then run it. Connect your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch to your computer using a USB cable. And then Tenorshare ReiBoot will recognize your device, click “Enter Recovery Mode”, then your device is already out of DFU mode.


After that, click “Exit Recovery Mode”, wait a little and the device will reboot safely. Do not disconnect the device during this process.


One click this program can solve the hang, in addition, if the iphone is stuck in recovery mode (recovery mode), in itunes mode, in update mode, in shutdown, in mode headphones, Tenorshare ReiBoot always allows the device to recover from a freeze.

iTunes failed to connect to iPhone or iPad, 6/7 because an incorrect response was received from the device? If you have the same problem, read our post on how to fix it easily in iTunes.

Situation 1: Updated iPhone 6 to iOS 10 and now iTunes says: “iTunes was unable to connect to the iPhone because an incorrect response was received from the device.” The connection works on the MacBook, but not on the iPhone! Help!

Situation 2: I encountered this problem on my home computer after purchasing my new iPhone 7. I previously synced the phone with my laptop, but when I connected it to my PC, I received an error message: “iTunes could not connect to the iPhone because the a response has been received from the device.”

We have seen many people having synchronization problem in iTunes, after updating to the new version of iOS 10 or when purchasing a new iPhone 7/7 Plus. Error: “iTunes was unable to connect to iPhone because an incorrect response was received from the device.” No matter who gets iTunes wrong answer iPhone or iPad, in this guide, we will show you some possible solutions to fix this problem – iTunes failed to connect to iPhone/iPad because the answer is wrong.

How to fix the error: iTunes was unable to connect to iPhone, iPad because the answer was incorrect?

1. Update your iTunes to the latest version (iTunes 12.5.3). Sometimes iTunes updates help, you can Download on this page.

2. Uninstall and reinstall iTunes. This method works for most users.

Note: You can take an iTunes backup. You can also back up your iTunes library by copying files to a folder. My Music\iTunes (iTunes music library.xml, iTunes Library.itl, etc.) before installing again.

The above solutions should fix this issue in iTunes, if the error persists you can try the following solutions:

  1. Try a different USB/Lightning cable or plug into a different USB port.
  2. Restart your iPhone and computer.
  3. Make sure your iPhone is not blocked when connected. Unlock it with a password or fingerprint.
  4. Try resetting your iPhone. Press and hold both buttons and the Home button at the same time until the Apple logo appears. Read more in the article: how to do a hard reset or hard reset of an iPhone?
  5. Try resetting your network settings. Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
  6. Try rebooting the lockdown folder.

An alternative way to sync data between iPhone and iTunes

If iTunes is still unable to connect to your iPhone because it gives an invalid response error, here is an iTunes alternative that helps. Transferring backup data and synchronizing iPhone - AnyTrans.

1. Manage iTunes Library in a Smart Way

With AnyTrans, you can sync files from iTunes to iPhone music, movies, ringtones and more without deleting existing content, and you can also export your entire iTunes library to an external drive for backup.

2. 1 Click to transfer data from iPhone/iPad to iTunes, PC/Mac or other CD.

With AnyTrans, you can transfer data from iPhone to iTunes to PC/Mac, to another CD, or import data to iPhone with one click.

3. Manage (add, delete or move) specific firmware files as you like

AnyTrans supports over 20 iOS data types and files, including photos, videos, contacts, messages, notes, calendar, Safari history and bookmarks, voice notes, voicemail, etc.

We have listed some possible solutions to fix iTunes failed to connect to iPhone, iPad because an incorrect response was received from that device and hope they are helpful. If you have solved this problem with other methods, kindly share it in the comment section as they may help other people who are still not finding a solution to this problem in iTunes.

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