There’s no more hopeless feeling when trying to connect and sync your iPhone to a Windows 11 PC. That being said, once you know the process it really becomes a breeze. And that’s just not it, while you can definitely connect and sync your iPhone using the cable it came with; you can also sync your iPhone over Wi-Fi to break from the shackles of cables.
Furthermore, if you have been struggling with some related questions along with finding a way to sync and connect your iPhone with a PC, you have just landed at the right place.
How do I Connect or Sync my iPhone to my PC?
As of now, there are two types of cables capable of connecting your iPhone to a Windows computer. With newer phones, Apple ships a USB-C to a lightning cable which you can connect to your Windows 11 computer via a USB-C port. In case you do not have a USB-C port on your machine, you will need to buy a USB-C to USB-A adapter or borrow an older iPhone cable from a friend or family member as they were all USB-A to lightning which is supported by almost every computer on the planet.
iPhones don’t allow you access to their apps and internal storage natively when it comes to sync, except taking backup of photos to your Windows machine. Fortunately, Apple has iTunes, a piece of software capable of syncing and transferring your iPhone to a Windows PC. You can even set up and restore your iPhone using iTunes. It can serve the purpose of a media player on your computer for playing songs and other audio files.
How do I Connect my iPhone to my Computer Without Cable?
Using Apple iTunes, you can connect your iPhone wirelessly to your Windows computer and even sync it without connecting physically. However, for this to work, both of your devices should be on the same Wi-Fi network, your Wi-Fi sync should be turned on from iTunes, and you should have at least once synced your iPhone to the computer you wish to connect wirelessly.
Download iTunes on your Windows 11 PC
There are two ways you can download iTunes on your Windows machine. First, you can either download a Windows-compatible iTunes from the official iTunes website or head to the Microsoft Store and download the iTunes app. For your ease of convenience, we are going to show both ways.
Download and Install iTunes From the Microsoft Store
You can directly download iTunes from the Microsoft Store and is a relatively more straightforward process. However, you do lose the flexibility of choosing your own installation directory. That being said, it is much faster, simple if you do not wish to customize the installation.
To do so, click on the ‘Start Menu’ present on the taskbar and then click on the ‘Microsoft Store’ icon to launch it.
Next, click on the ‘Search’ bar present on the top of your screen and search for iTunes.
Now from the search results, click on the ‘iTunes’ tile present on the Microsoft Store window.
Alternatively, you can also head to apple.com/itunes and click on the ‘Get it from Microsoft’ button present on the website. This will redirect you to another webpage.
Next, click on the ‘Get’ button present on the ‘iTunes’ tile on the webpage.
Then, click on the ‘Open Microsoft Store’ button from the alert prompt to open a Microsoft Store window on your machine.
After that, click on the ‘Install’ button present in the left section of the window to install the app. It might take Windows a few seconds to download depending on your internet speed, wait for the download to be completed.
After the download has been completed, click on the ‘Open’ button from the Microsoft Store window. This will open a separate window on your computer.
Download and Install iTunes Installer (EXE) from Apple’s Website
In case you wish to have more freedom over the installation directory, and some more aspects during the installation, you can also download and install iTunes from its official website.
To download iTunes installer file from its official website, go to apple.com/itunes/ using your preferred browser. Next, scroll down and click on the little ‘Windows’ button present under the ‘Windows System Requirements’ section. This will redirect you to another webpage.
Now, click on the ‘Download iTunes for Windows now’ button that is present on the website and your download should start immediately.
Once downloaded, head to your default downloads directory and double-click to run the iTunesSetup.exe
file. This will open a separate ‘iTunes installation’ window on your screen.
After that, from the ‘iTunes installation’ window, click on the ‘Next’ button present at the bottom right corner of the window.
On the next screen, you can define the basic behavior of iTunes on your machine, such as adding an iTunes shortcut on your desktop, use iTunes as a default player for all your audio files, or automatically update iTunes and other Apple software by simply unchecking the individual checkbox preceding each option on the screen.
Now, to change your installation directory, click on the ‘Change’ button present under the ‘Destination Folder’ section on the window and browse the directory using the explorer. Once all your preferences have been set, click on the ‘Install’ button present on the button.
iTunes will now start installing on your machine, wait till it finishes the installation.
Once the installation has been completed you will receive a message on the ‘iTunes installation’ window. Click on the ‘Finish’ button to proceed further.
Next, you will receive an overlay alert window stating to restart your system to let the changes take effect. To restart your system immediately, click on the ‘Yes’ button, otherwise, click on the ‘No’ button to restart manually later.
After restarting, you will find the ‘iTunes’ logo present on your desktop.
In case you had opted out from adding an icon to your desktop, click on the ‘Search’ icon present on your taskbar and you will find the ‘iTunes’ icon under the ‘Recent’ section.
Setting up iTunes To Sync your iPhone
Before you start syncing your iPhone to your Windows computer using iTunes. It needs to be set up and logged in with your Apple ID to let you sync your phone.
To do so, launch the iTunes app from the desktop or the Start menu of your Windows 11 computer.
After that, click on the ‘Account’ option from the Menu bar present in the top left section of the iTunes window. Then, click on the ‘Sign in’ option from the overlay menu. This will open a separate ‘Sign In to the iTunes Store’ window on your screen.
Now, enter your Apple ID and password in their respective fields and click on the ‘Sign In’ button on the overlay window.
iTunes will now log you into your Apple account. And since you are all set with this last step, let’s now learn how to sync your iPhone to a Windows 11 PC.
Sync your iPhone to a Windows 11 PC Using a Cable
Syncing your iPhone to a Windows PC can only be achieved through iTunes software. Hence, before attempting to sync an iOS device, you must first download the latest iTunes version on your Windows machine.
First, launch the iTunes app from the desktop or the Start Menu on your Windows 11 computer.
Note: Please make sure that to connect your iPhone using a cable to your Windows 11 computer before proceeding ahead.
Next, click on the ‘Phone’ icon present in the top left section of the iTunes window.
Next, you will need to unlock your iPhone to let iTunes access it. After that, you will receive an alert on your iPhone screen, tap on the ‘Trust’ button from the alert to pair your iPhone to this specific iTunes.
Next, on the iTunes screen on your Windows machine, you will be able to see all the information regarding your iPhone.
From the iPhone information screen on iTunes, click on the ‘Sync’ button present on the bottom right section of the window to sync your iPhone.
And that’s it you have connected and synced your iPhone with a Windows computer.
Turn On Wireless Sync for your iPhone From iTunes
iTunes does allow you to sync your iPhone wirelessly to your Windows computer. However, first, you need to enable it from iTunes itself and your iPhone should be at least synced once with cable.
To do so, launch the iTunes app from the desktop or the Start Menu of your Windows computer.
Note: Make sure your iPhone is connected to your computer with a cable before proceeding ahead.
Next, click on the ‘Phone’ icon present in the upper right section of the window.
After that, scroll down to the ‘Options’ section and locate the ‘Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi’ option. Then, click to check the checkbox preceding the option to enable it. After that, click on the ‘Apply’ button from the bottom of the window to confirm the changes.
You will now be able to sync your iPhone wirelessly. However, make sure both of your devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network and if your iPhone’s battery is low, it is connected to a power source.
When all the conditions are met, you will be able to see the ‘Phone’ icon on the iTunes screen even without connecting your iPhone physically to your computer. The procedure to sync your iPhone remains the same as shown in the previous section.
Moreover, even if you are in the middle of syncing your iPhone with a cable, you can remove the cable and your sync and backup will continue running on iTunes.
Take a Backup of your iPhone Photo Gallery to any Windows Computer Without Using iTunes
Since iTunes creates a consolidated backup file that includes everything present on your iPhone, you cannot access selective files such as your iPhone gallery photos from it. However, you can take a backup of all the photos present on your iPhone in just a few clicks and you don’t even need to use iTunes for it.
To do so, double-click on the ‘This PC’ icon present on your desktop to open it using Explorer. Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+E shortcut on your keyboard to access it.
Note: Please ensure your iPhone is connected physically with your Windows computer before proceeding ahead.
Then, right-click on the ‘Apple iPhone’ drive and select the ‘Import pictures and videos’ option from the context menu.
After that, on your iPhone screen, you will receive an alert asking you to allow or disallow the computer to access the photos and videos on your iPhone. Click on the ‘Allow’ option to proceed further.
Now, Windows will look for the pictures and videos to import; wait till it gathers the required information.
Next, to import all the items from your gallery, click on the radio button preceding the ‘Import all items now’. You can also give this import a name to be able to recognize later using the ‘Enter a name’ textbox, if you do not provide a name, the import folder will have the import date as its name. Finally, click on the ‘Import’ button to start importing all the pictures and videos.
On the next screen, Windows will show you the progress of the import.
If you want to erase all the pictures and videos you are importing from your iPhone, click on the checkbox preceding the ‘Erase pictures and videos after import’ option on the ‘Import’ window.
Once imported, Windows will open the import directory and will start deleting the imported pictures and videos from your iPhone if opted for.
Member discussion