Fix: iTunes Could Not Connect to iPhone iPad Because an Invalid Response

Mookie442 from Reddit: “Updated iPhone 7 to iOS 12 and now iTunes is saying ‘iTunes could not connect to the iPhone because an invalid response was received from the device’. HELP!”

Peter from Blogspot: “I encountered this issue on my home PC after getting my new iPhone 7. I had previously synced the phone with my laptop, but upon connecting it to my PC, I got the error message: ‘iTunes could not connect to the iPhone because an invalid response was received from the device’.”

We’ve seen many people reported the iTunes sync issue after updating to new iOS 10 or even the newest iOS 12. The error says: “iTunes could not connect to the iPhone because an invalid response was received from the device.” No matter you receive the iTunes invalid response from iPhone or iPad, in this guide, we will show you some potential solutions to fix the iTunes could not connect to this iPhone problem easily.

How to Fix: iTunes Could Not Connect to the iPhone Because Invalid Response

1. Update your iTunes to the latest version. Sometimes iTunes update doesn’t work; you can visit this page to download the current.
2. Uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes. This method works for most users. To completely uninstalling iTunes, you can refer to this tutorial. You can also make a backup copy of your iTunes library by taking a copy of the files in your My Music\iTunes folder (iTunes Music Library.xml, iTunes Library.itl, etc.) before re-installing.
3. Try some iTunes alternatives like AnyTrans to transfer files or backup your iPhone. For more detailed steps, just refer to Part 2.
4. Try a different USB/lightning cable or a different USB port.
5. Ensure your iPhone wasn’t locked when connecting. Unlock it with passcode.
6. Reboot your iPhone and your computer.
7. Try an iTunes error fixer like AnyFix to fix iTunes could not connect to the iPhone issue.  And AnyFix is a professional iOS/PadOS/tvOS/iTunes issues fixer, provides you an efficient and fast repair experience. Get started with AnyFix and enjoy an easy way to solve various iTunes problems now.

The solutions above should fix this iTunes invalid response problem, if the error still persists you can try below possible solutions:

• Try a reset on the iPhone. Press and hold both the sleep and home button at the same time until the Apple logo appears.
• Try resetting your network settings. Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.
• Try resetting your lockdown folder. Follow the steps to “Reset the Lockdown Folder“.

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Part 2. How to Backup iPhone/iPad Wholly or Selectively

If iTunes still could not connect to your iPhone because of an invalid response error after trying all the tips above, here we are going to share the best iTunes alternatives to help you with the job. AnyTrans, a 100% safe and professional iOS files management tool, it works smoothly to back up iPhone, iPad, iPod touch to PC/Mac, just as same as iTunes.

3 highlights make AnyTrans to be more popular than iTunes: No data loss or replacement risks, available to view the backup files, back up selectively. iTunes will backup all data on iPhone iPad acquiescently. But now with AnyTrans, you can backup contacts, messages, or other data types you prefer only, saving lots of your time and effort. Now, let’s check how to backup iPhone wholly or selectively.

Option 1. How to Backup iPhone iPad Wholly

Step 1. Free Download AnyTrans on your PC/Mac > Connect your iPhone to it via a USB cable > Choose Backup Manager tab.

Step 2. Click on the “Full Backup” button to make a full backup of your iPhone.

Step 3. After backing up, you can click the “Click to explore backup content” to view the backup files in category.

Option 2. How to Backup iPhone iPad Selectively

If you just want to back up photos, or other data types, you can follow these steps to make it (here we take Camera Roll as an example).

Step 1. Free Download AnyTrans on your computer > Run it and connect your iPhone iPad to it > Choose Device Manager and go to category page.

Step 2. Here we take photos for an example. Click on “Photos” > Choose “Camera Roll” (the album contains the photos you want to backup).

Step 3. Select the photos you want to backup > Click on “To Computer” button at the top-right corner to back up your photos.

Part 3. An Alternative Tool to Restore iPhone iPad

If you encounter iTunes could not connect to the iPhone because an invalid response issue while asking iTunes for restoring, you can give another iTunes alternative tool – PhoneRescue for iOS a try.

PhoneRescue for iOS can bring back any single items in iTunes backup files to iPhone iPad, just as same as iTunes itself. But what PhoneRescue for iOS is different from iTunes restoring, is PhoneRescue for iOS supports previewing before restoring. You can view each iTunes backup file, just like AnyTrans for iOS.

Another great feature that PhoneRescue for iOS bests iTunes is that you can also selectively choose some exact data types, or items to restore, but also without erasing. We know iTunes restore the whole backup file to replace your device, and the existed data on the device will be erased and gone forever.

So to bring back iTunes backup data selectively and without erasing, why not give PhoneRescue for iOS a try right now?

Step 1. Run PhoneRescue for iOS on your PC/Mac > Connect your iPhone iPad to it > Choose Recover from iTunes option > Click right arrow to continue.

Step 2. Choose the iTunes backup which contains the data you would like to recover > Click on the right arrow to continue > Then it would show a page for you to choose what kind of data type you would like to recover. For example, if you just want to recover photos, just select Photos box; if you would like to restore all, just select all boxes. Here we take photos only as a PhoneRescue for iOS selectively recovering example > Then click on OK button to scan your backup.

Step 3 After scanning, PhoneRescue for iOS will display all photos in the iTunes backup > Choose the photos you would like to recover > Click on To Device or To Computer button to restore them directly to your iPhone iPad or computer.

Step 4. Under the setting option, you can choose each data type output formats, and export path.

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The Bottom Line

We have listed some potential solutions to fix iTunes could not connect to iPhone iPad because an invalid response was received from this device, and hope they are useful. But obviously, choosing another great iTunes alternative tool is the best choice for getting rid of this issue forever. So we sincerely recommend you trying AnyTrans for iOS for iPhone iPad backing up, and transferring, and trying PhoneRescue for iOS for iPhone iPad iTunes backup restoring.