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You are here: Home / iPhone / Unable to Sync iPhone or iPad with macOS Catalina? Check these tips

Unable to Sync iPhone or iPad with macOS Catalina? Check these tips

By SK 69 comments Last updated February 5, 2020

Now that iTunes has been removed from macOS Catalina, syncing your iPhone or iPad to your MacBook requires the use of the enhanced Finder app. Some users have reported that they are unable to sync their iPhone / iPad with their Mac after updating to macOS Catalina.

The Finder app doesn’t seem to recognize the connected iPhone or iPad.

If you are experiencing this issue, here are some tips that can use to fix this sync issue on your MacBook running macOS Catalina.

Related:

  • How to sync music and videos in macOS Catalina
  • How to update iOS and iPadOS using Finder and macOS Catalina
  • No More iTunes. How to use Finder in macOS Catalina to Sync and Restore iPhone
  • How to transfer Custom RingTones from macOS Catalina to iPhone

Use an Apple-branded cable!

First, connect your iPhone or iPad with its original cable to your Mac. If the original is not available, try using an Apple-branded cable instead of a third-party cable. Many people discover that simply swapping the cable to its original or an Apple one makes the difference!

Connect iPhone to macOS Catalina

Once you have connected your iPhone to your Mac, Click on ‘Trust’  and enter your passcode on the iPhone to proceed and then check the steps below.

We also suggest trying out different Apple cables to connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac in order to rule out any cable-related issues.

macOS Catalina not connecting to iPhone or iPad

Please try each of these simple steps and check if the Finder App on macOS Catalina is able to detect and connect to your iPhone or iPad.

  1. Check Finder app preferences. Click on Finder > Preferences… at the top menu

    Unable to sync iPhone or iPad with macOS Catalina
    Start by checking Finder preferences in macOS Catalina
  2. Go to the SideBar tab on Finder’s preferences
  3. Under ‘Show these items in the sidebar:’, make sure you have enabled iOS Devices.

    macOS Catalina not detecting iPhone or iPad
    Enable the sidebar option to show connected iOS devices.
  4. You will not be able to locate your iPhone /iPad on Finder’s sidebar if this is not enabled
  5. Using the ‘General’ tab on Finder app’s preferences, disable ‘Open folders in tabs instead of windows’
  6. When you click on the connected iPhone, it should open a new Finder window
  7. Locate and delete the preference list file for the Finder app. 
    1. Open Finder app
    2. Click on Go > Go To Folder from the top menu
    3. Type in ‘~/Library/Preferences/‘ without the quotes and press entermacOS Catalina Finder plist file
    4. Locate the file ‘com.apple.finder.plist’ and drag it out to the trashiPad or iPhone won't sync with Catalina
    5. Restart Finder App
    6. Check if you are able to connect your iPhone / iPad to Finder
  8. If all the settings above are fine and you still cannot access your iPhone,
    1. Disconnect your iPhone / iPad from your MacBook
    2. Restart your Finder App. Press the ‘Option’ key and right-click on the Finder icon on the dock and choose ‘Relaunch’

      Unable to sync iPhone with macOS Catalina
      Use Relaunch to fire up the Finder app
    3. Connect your iPhone or iPad again using the cable
    4. Check if Finder app is now able to detect your iPhone or iPad
  9. Shutdown your Mac and iPhone completely (not restart) 
  10. Restart your Mac followed by your iPhone and then launch Finder App and see if it detects your device

Check the Permissions in your Home Folder on your Mac

We have seen this issue before with other macOS apps that require read/write permissions. In the past iTunes would report that your device cannot be synced. When facing these issues in the past, we have been successful in resolving them via resetting permissions on the Home Folder. Here’s how you do it.

  1. Using the Finder menu bar, click on Go > Home
  2. Choose File > Get Info macOS Catalina won't sync - reset permissions
  3. Go to the Sharing and Permissions at the bottom of the window and open it
  4. Click on the action menu at the top and choose ‘Apply to enclosed items’ Reset Home Folder permissions
  5. Please remember to click on the ‘lock’ button at the bottom right and enter your credentials before applying the action.
  6. Click OK to confirm the action
  7. Log out of your MacBook and log back in and try again

The Home folder reset permission is an important troubleshooting Mac tool that users should know about. This is helpful when applications such as Preview, textedit or Photos quit unexpectedly on your Mac.

Still Not working?

If you are still having issues with your macOS Catalina detecting your iPhone or iPad, you may want to reach out to Apple Support and have them help you out. You can directly chat with Apple Support and they will be able to access your issue and provide support.

In our experience, we have found that many users had this issue because their Finder preferences were not enabled by default to show the connected iPhone or iPad. The other common sync related issue requires multiple attempts at Unplugging and plugging the device with the Mac and then trying to sync.

Sync and Transfer Home Videos over to iPad or iPhone using macOS Catalina

Several readers have asked how they can use the Sync process in Catalina to transfer over their home videos that are in old iTunes Movie libraries. Dragging and dropping does not seem to work with the Sync.

In the older macOS, when iTunes was supported, the user could easily sync their home movies by dragging and dropping them from the original iTunes folder which houses the movies.

With macOS Catalina, it appears that syncing content such as Home movies has moved to the TV App now. All Home movies are now synced using the TV App on macOS Catalina.

In order to sync your home movies 

  1. Open TV app on your Mac
  2. You will find only the folders ‘Recently added’, ‘Movies’ and ‘TV Shows’ by default.
  3. Drag your Home movie out of the iTunes Folders to TV app OR
  4. Right-click on the file and choose ‘Edit With’ > Select TV app

    Sync Home Videos from macOS Catalina
    You can also try dragging the movie file into the tv app
  5. This operation automatically creates a new ‘Home Videos’ library on the TV appTransfer Home Videos from macOS Catalina to iOS 13
  6. The imported home video gets moved to this new folder
  7. Connect your iPhone or iPad to your MacBook using the cable
  8. Launch Finder app and head to ‘Movies’ tab 
  9. Choose the Home Video from the folder and apply SyncHow to Sync Home Videos in macOS Catalina
  10. Now When you open up the TV App on your iPhone, you should find the home video in its own library.Sync Home videos in macOS Catalina

Two key observations for this process: Sometimes when you transfer the video file over to the TV app on your Mac, it doesn’t show up immediately and takes time. What we found is that force-quitting the TV app, and then using the ‘Edit with TV app’ function on the movie file brings up the movie content immediately in the TV app.

Please let us know if you have any questions or if you would like to share a tip that helped you fix this issue on your MacBook.

sudz - apple
SK

Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the original editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.

Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.

In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.

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Reader Interactions

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Show 69 Comments

  1. Phil says

    June 6, 2022 at 7:28 AM

    Thanks for this step-by-step explanation. It worked perfectly.

    Reply
  2. Tuli Kupferberg says

    April 8, 2021 at 1:04 AM

    Each time I come across this site and many others like it with similar info, I try to fix my problem with USB ports on my 2020 MacBook Pro running Catalina. Each time sadly, none work. Apple phone support couldn’t help over a 2 hour call and never rang me back as promised. I guess I don’t blame them.

    Out of the blue after updating to Catalina both this MacBook and a similar slightly older machine fail to recognise my GoPro, iPad , iPhone and several other devices while working with some eg most USB drives work and I can do a time machine backup, and all devices are charged

    I have tried PRAM resets a million different cables,restarts up the wazoo, and don’t even start on sidebar—first thing I did. I am resisting taking the 2 machines to the Genius Bar but guess I have to if only to find out which of the Mac gods is tormenting me.

    Reply
  3. woof k says

    January 4, 2021 at 11:57 AM

    I bought an USB Hub with an external power supply, that did the trick for me. No need for an extra cable or change some strange software settings.

    Reply
  4. Chuck Deerinck says

    October 18, 2020 at 2:09 PM

    All the way to step 7, until it finally worked. Phew! Thansk!

    Reply
  5. Ali Ariya says

    September 17, 2020 at 4:05 PM

    I tried everything on the internet. only your solutions solved my problem. Thank you so much

    Reply
  6. Ken Piaggio says

    August 8, 2020 at 12:25 AM

    Very pleased to have come across your site. Have had the iPhone/iPad syncing problem for awhile and was getting desperate with not major help from the Apple Community site etc.
    The steps outlined where clear and easy to follow and resolved the problem by number 6. However, for good measure I continued through the list including the ‘home folder permissions’ tip just in case some of the ‘funny stuff’ that has been coming up from time to time might be fixed. I will have to see what happens.
    (I did the same on my wife’s iMac as well since I originally set it up in the same way I set up mine and she has had more issues that me.)
    Here’s hoping for the best.
    Ken

    Reply
  7. Adam Ming says

    August 2, 2020 at 7:10 PM

    It’s very helpfully! Thanks a lot!! I solve my problem by the way which change the preferences of siderbar ~

    Reply
  8. Lynn C says

    June 6, 2020 at 7:44 AM

    This fixed my issue by the time I got to Step 6! Super helpful!

    Reply
  9. Joan Sands says

    May 29, 2020 at 7:43 PM

    For a long time, and even before I got Catalina on my Mac, I have been unable to sync my iPhone X for the calendar. I really live by my calendar and when I am away from home it is very convenient to have the calendar update on the phone. I was ready to give up when I found your website. I could give you a big hug – because I went to “permissions” as you suggested and did what you said. The Mac then spent some time updating it and then I shut down the Mac. When I opened it again and synced – low and behold the calendar is now updated on the phone. I found your help no place else! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!

    Reply
  10. Spence says

    May 18, 2020 at 10:31 AM

    I was having the problem of my iPhone slashing in the Finder Sidebar constantly. I had done all the other troubleshooting tips, but switching from my really high quality Anker USB cable (which has *always* worked for *everything* else) to the stock iPhone OEM USB cable made the problem change from quick, short flashes to slower intermittent flashing, but still unusable. Then I tried the other USB port on my MBP mid 2015 and the problem went away completely.

    Reply
  11. Meglanon99 says

    May 11, 2020 at 10:54 PM

    Thanks!! Finder, Sidebar worked!

    Reply
  12. Garrett Omoto says

    May 6, 2020 at 4:51 PM

    Hi,

    Thanks so much for the help! I went through the steps up until number 8, shut down the computer, restarted, held my breath (with little optimism) and lo and behold, there was the access for my wife’s old iPad!

    Thanks a million! You made my day!
    Garrett

    Reply
  13. Amy Vo says

    April 8, 2020 at 10:53 PM

    This post really saves me lots of nights (I spent some already) just to find out why my iPhone doesn’t appear in my computer. Thank you very so much!

    Reply
  14. J says

    April 5, 2020 at 12:24 AM

    I could kiss you, thank you!!

    Deleting the “finder.plist” helped!!

    Was trying to restore from a back-up I did to my new Xs.

    Hopefully will help with my iPod nano troubles as well.

    Thanks a bunch.

    Reply
  15. clau says

    April 4, 2020 at 4:31 PM

    THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS POST!
    I kept googling why it wouldn’t recognize my photo library when I clearly had photos in there and could see it when I’m checking albums to sync. I came across another (old) post that mentioned that I should check the permissions on the photo library file as well as pictures folder, but that did not work. So glad I found this one because it’s more relevant to the iOS system I have.
    Have a terrific day!!

    Reply
  16. Madhab says

    April 4, 2020 at 5:28 AM

    I was having the problem of my iMac Finder not recognizing my two iPads and three iPhones. The solution that worked for me was, dumping the com.apple.finder.plist file in Thrash and restarting the Finder. Thank you

    Reply
  17. MK P says

    March 30, 2020 at 2:54 PM

    THANK YOU! deleting that file apple.finder. plist + relaunching finder app fixed the problem of my iphone X not showing up in iTunes on my MAC w/ the new Catalina OS.

    Reply
  18. Elaine says

    March 26, 2020 at 1:45 PM

    I followed the easy steps, one by one and was able to have my Mac pro detect my pad and my pod and was now able to sync all my music!
    thank you.

    Reply
  19. Chris says

    March 14, 2020 at 7:35 AM

    You might add to your list: If you are a Virtual Machine user, make sure it didn’t connect to a client OS. That recently bit me.

    Reply
  20. whfu says

    March 10, 2020 at 3:16 AM

    I had a problem syncing music and Home video from Mac – Catalina to iPhone 11max too.

    The icon keeps turning non-stop.

    I had tried all that I could find from the internet but still fail.

    I call helpline this morning but it did not solve my problems. They will call back and wanted me to try out in another older phone to determine if it is my phone or computer problem … just funny…

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      March 12, 2020 at 2:41 AM

      Dude, I’ve had the exact same issue.

      I have two iPads, one old mini and the 10.5″ and this issue occurs on both of them.

      I have tried restarting my computer, my iPads, and tried syncing different things but the same issue occurs.

      It just spins to death then nothing gets synced. So frustrating.

      Reply
  21. Danny says

    March 9, 2020 at 6:09 PM

    When I want to sync my MBP music with my iPhone 7, it says “The iPhone cannot be synced. An unknown error occurred (-42032)”. So I can’t put music on my phone. It’s been like that since I installed Catalina and I am very frustrated.

    Reply
  22. Cheryl says

    March 1, 2020 at 11:21 PM

    HI hi! I need help with connecting iTunes to my iPad2 (old version).

    Currently, my iPad states that it can’t act as the server is unavailable, etc.

    So i am trying to connect it to my mac iTunes. My mac is updated and all but it does not detect my iPad when I connect it.

    Please help!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Jones says

      March 2, 2020 at 4:29 PM

      Hi Cheryl,

      What iOS version does that older iPad2 run? To check go to Settings > General > About. It might help to reset the trust settings on the iPad: Settings > General > Reset > Reset Location & Privacy.

      Then try connecting the iPad to the Mac using the cable.

      Are you signed in with the same Apple ID on the iPad as the Mac? Try that too.

      Reply
  23. Trine says

    February 28, 2020 at 2:03 PM

    It seems like my iPhone (11 Pro) can take a security backup in my finder, but I can’t synchronize the photos or anything else that I want to change.

    Have the newest update on my mac, Catalina 10.15.3, but regret updating now. Is there any solution to this?

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Jones says

      February 29, 2020 at 9:10 AM

      HI Trine,

      If you have iCloud photos enabled on your iPhone, then Photos do not sync via Finder, even if you do not have iCloud Photos enabled on your Mac.

      The same holds true for Apple Music. With iCloud enabled on your iPhone, your photos and music are set up to sync via iCloud.

      That may be the reason that when you use Finder, you don’t see syncing options for Photos and Music (and other services that iCloud handles.)

      Reply
  24. Marty Dobson says

    February 9, 2020 at 7:14 PM

    Problem I’m having is that in finder I am able to see the device, but every time I plug it in it seems to be doing some other sync first and won’t let me cancel that to do what i want it to. I uncheck all “sync tvshows/movies/music/etc.” to my iPhone and the second any of them uncheck the clickable “Sync” button down below turns in to a Greyed Out ‘Restore’ and a Greyed out ‘Apply’. I can’t change the sync settings at all. Any ideas?

    Reply
  25. Stephan says

    February 5, 2020 at 8:47 AM

    so, my problem is when i plug the phone in, it connects and charges. (this is using the original apple cable that came with the device, an iphone 7+), the computer recognises the device, but seems to believe it is a new device, and only gives me the option to set up as a new device, or restore from a back up. however the device is not new, and has been running for just a bit over a month now, both computer and iphone are up to date

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Jones says

      February 5, 2020 at 10:23 AM

      Hi Stephan,

      Sorry, you’re having problems with your iPhone 7 Plus.

      Have you backed up your iPhone to this Mac before? Are you backing up via iCloud? Did you see a message on your Mac and your iPhone to trust the device?

      First, let’s try resetting those trust settings and see if that makes a difference: go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Location & Privacy. Once done, connect your iPhone to your Mac again and launch Finder.

      If it’s the first time you’ve connected your iPhone 7 Plus to your Mac, this might be normal behavior–we used to see this a lot in iTunes but have not heard this same issue with Finder. In the case with iTunes, choosing set up as new did not delete any data since it’s was the first time it was syncing that device with the Mac.

      But since you are the first reader to report this same issue with macOS Catalina and Finder, we suggest being more cautious.

      First, backup up your iPhone with iCloud BEFORE proceeding–think of it as extra insurance just in case something does happen in the process of macOS Catalina recognizing and registering your iPhone 7 Plus.

      Then, if you are comfortable, move forward with setting it up as new. That could work the same way as it did in iTunes or it could indeed set your device up again–we just don’t know. That’s why that backup is so important.

      If you are at all uncertain or uncomfortable, we suggest you give Apple Support a call or chat
      and have them walk you through the steps.

      Keep us posted on this one, if time allows. We’re curious about this issue and it’s likely impacting others out there.

      Liz

      Reply
      • Christina says

        June 24, 2020 at 12:25 PM

        I am having this same issue with my iPhone 7 – it is over a year old and seems to have other glitches, but when I plug in to my Mac and go to finder, it wants to set up up as a new device or restore from an old backup. i’d be interested if you were able to get anywhere with your issue!

        Thanks!

        Reply
  26. nick says

    February 1, 2020 at 2:35 AM

    In Music, click on Sync Settings. Find your device on the sidebar and click on it. Click on Trust this Computer on both the device and the settings window. It should now work.

    Reply
  27. john says

    January 26, 2020 at 11:33 AM

    Although I was able to sync my iPhone X to Catalina, I still cannot transfer iBooks from my iPhone X to Catalina on my MacBook Pro. I can move iBooks from Catalina to the iPhone X, but cannot move books to Catalina from my iPhone.

    Thanks Again

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Jones says

      January 26, 2020 at 3:16 PM

      Hi John,

      First, in the Books app on your Mac, choose Books > Preferences, click Store, then select “Download new purchases automatically.”

      Then, if the books still aren’t showing on your Mac, try automatic syncing.

      To turn on auto sync, select General then select Automatically sync when this [device] is connected. See if that works.

      If not, make sure Books is enabled on both device’s iCloud account and that both use the same Apple ID

      On your Mac: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then click iCloud. Next to iCloud Drive (make sure it’s selected), click Options, then select Books.

      On your iDevice: Go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud (or Settings > iCloud), turn on iCloud Drive, then turn on Books. Next, go to Settings > Books, then turn on iCloud Drive.

      Reply
  28. Alison says

    January 11, 2020 at 7:52 PM

    Thank you for posting this help article.

    I have been trying to sync my iPhone for a long time with no luck. I’ve tried everything I can think of.

    I never thought to try using an Apple-branded cable! I’m so happy to finally have my music synced!

    Reply
  29. Cary says

    January 6, 2020 at 12:18 AM

    THANK YOU! Finder Pref iOS Device was unchecked.

    Reply
  30. John Biondo says

    January 4, 2020 at 3:48 PM

    Great… Apple writes crappy software.. i.e. Music and then publish fix it articles with multiple steps to correct it. Why doesn’t Apple just WRITE GOOD WORKING SOFTWARE?

    I absolutely HATE iTunes and Music APP!!!!!! THEY HAVE NEVER WORKED PROPERLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
    • John Biondo says

      January 4, 2020 at 3:52 PM

      This comment was aimed towards Apple. Not you guys. Sorry, I’ve been searching a lot for a fix. Thank you because yours worked!

      Reply
  31. Nicolette F says

    January 1, 2020 at 11:25 PM

    After several hours reading through various fixes and an iphone system upgrade – none of which worked – I simply switched to a proprietary apple cable to connect the phone to my apple laptop – and EVERYTHING WORKED AS IT SHOULD IMMEDIATELY. It’s as if Catalina now won’t let Finder ‘see’ the iphone unless it is connected with an apple cable.

    Reply
  32. Seb says

    January 1, 2020 at 8:09 AM

    That worked! Thank you!

    Reply
  33. Ruben says

    December 28, 2019 at 5:01 AM

    Thanks this actually worked for me. I started to have the problem after changing setting ins Finder to “Show this iPhone when on Wi-Fi”. What solved it was steps 9 through 10 (shutdown and restart iPhone and Mac).

    Reply
  34. hey says

    December 23, 2019 at 8:43 PM

    nice worked for me. thanks. apple support was not able to help me

    Reply
  35. Lyn Reynolds says

    December 18, 2019 at 12:09 PM

    Hi, I can’t get my MacBook to see my old iPod Classic.

    I tried to sync it last night before I upgraded to Catalina from High Sierra, the sync failed and my iPod reset and wiped out all my music.

    I disconnected and rebooted everything, and it did not show in the sidebar, yet I could see it in the system information under USB tree.

    I upgraded to Catalina this morning and it is the same, my iPod shows in the USB Device Tree, but not in Finder nor on iTunes.

    Any advice/help appreciated, in gentle terms please, I had a stroke and need easy info.
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Jones says

      December 18, 2019 at 1:05 PM

      Hi Lyn,

      when you connect your iPod on your Mac with macOS Catalina, open the Finder app and look for your device under “Locations” to sync–if you don’t see it, make sure you go to the View menu and choose Show Sidebar

      Reply
  36. Jaime Rivas says

    December 17, 2019 at 12:47 PM

    Thank you!!. so simple and NO ONE had been able to answer, not even Apple!

    Reply
  37. Jamison says

    December 11, 2019 at 12:53 AM

    I resolved syncing an iPod Nano 3rd Generation with a click wheel on Catalina which means that Catalina does support the device and most likely everything released afterwards.

    Before I say what I did, try the following: Boot with the iPod plugged in and then immediately open any folder and see if the iPod appears in the sidebar. If so, click on it (the iPod icon that looks like the iPod, not the second icon that looks like a disc or SD Drive) and see if it loads/syncs in the window. After doing what I did, (to be explained below) it would not sync / load for me if I plugged it in after I had booted in Catalina (it would just say loading with a spinning wheel forever) but if I booted in Catalina with the iPod plugged in, and immediately opened a finder folder and clicked on the iPod icon, it would sync and load and allow me to add and remove songs in the finder widows in Catalina. Interestingly enough, if I then ejected it and plugged it right back in again, it would not sync/load, I would just get “Loading” and an infinite spinning wheel. Only rebooting with the iPod connected and going immediately to a folder and clicking on the iPod icon allowed the iPod to sync and then be worked with. So try simply booting in Catalina with the iPod connected at the time of booting and then immediately accessing the iPod thru the Finder as explained above. if it doesn’t work, do the following and then try booting in Catalina with it connected:

    What I did before simply booting with it connected to Catalina:

    I booted under Mojave. I reset the iPod to factory settings. I put my library back on it using iTunes. Then I booted under Catalina with the iPod connected and it worked. If I then ejected the iPod and then pulled the cable out and then plugged the cable back, Finder would show the iPod but it would not sync and load. But if I rebooted with the cable in connected to the iPod, and then immediately opened a window and clicked on the iPod icon, it would sync and load in Catalina. All of this begs the questions, did I ever need to reset and resync under iTunes in Mojave or is getting it to work under Catalina simply a matter of having it connected when it boots and immediately using finder to access the iPod and sync.

    Reply
  38. Cash says

    December 9, 2019 at 8:36 PM

    My MBP detects my iPad in Finder, but when I hit the “Trust” CTA, I get the loading circle and nothing happens on either device. My iPad always has the message “iPad is disabled, connect to iTunes” – Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Jones says

      December 13, 2019 at 7:37 AM

      Hi Cash,

      Try resetting your trust settings and your network settings on your iPad.

      1) Settings > General > Reset > Reset Location & Privacy

      2) Settings > General > Reset and tap Reset Network Settings–this does reset all your stored WiFi networks and passwords, cellular settings, and VPN and APN settings

      Reply
  39. Juliana says

    December 6, 2019 at 7:44 PM

    Thanks for this tutorial! I have read through some articles which did not help but this did!
    Hope you have a good holiday season!

    Reply
  40. Emil says

    December 6, 2019 at 5:18 AM

    Brilliant fix, thank you – your advice has sorted my problem (macOS Catalina not connecting to iPhone) – on the first attempt.

    Reply
  41. Tas says

    December 2, 2019 at 6:10 PM

    I shutdown my Iphone 7 – Then turned it back on.
    Recognised and syncing in finder now.

    Reply
  42. Chris Fox says

    November 27, 2019 at 12:44 PM

    I note that at step 7 point 3, it says to enter ‘/~Library/Preferences/’ but the example image shows ‘~/Library/Preferences/’. The tilde (~) is the second character in the former but the second character in the latter. I think it should be the latter.

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Jones says

      November 27, 2019 at 1:43 PM

      Hi Chris,

      Correct! Good catch. We made that change. Thank you for letting us know. We appreciate it.

      Liz

      Reply
  43. Jan says

    November 14, 2019 at 1:00 PM

    My wife and I syncronize and back-up both of our iPhone SE’s on the same Mac Power Book.
    After installing Catalina, the Powerbook could not syncronize my wife’s iPhone (the iPhone was detected, but the associated Finder window would not accept any inputs and turned blank after some seconds).
    Your trouble shooting guide solved the problem.
    Thank you very much 🙂

    Reply
  44. HB_Dad says

    November 10, 2019 at 9:53 PM

    It seems that the Apple Music app on OS Catalina re-syncs the entire music library EVERY time and it can take hours for this of us with large libraries.

    To make it worse, if you quit the sync, all of the songs it hasn’t finished resending will be greyed out and on the phone will read as “Unable to play in this region” on the phone.

    This was never an issue in iTunes and needs a fix NOW!

    Reply
  45. Fred Zanbaka says

    November 1, 2019 at 11:28 PM

    After doing the Catalina update on my MacBook Pro I’ve had nothing but problems, everything I own is Apple except for a Seagate central and a Seagate Personal Cloud (NAS devices) which were the first things I lost connection with, the Seagate Central is my primary time machine backup device.

    I also have a Mac mini with 3 HDD’s which I could normally access in finder along with the Seagate drives but now the only way to connect to the Mac mini was through screen sharing, I notified Apple tech support and was told they were aware of these problems and were working on them.

    The next thing I noticed (which is a huge deal to me) was my iPhone, iPad 11”, iPad 10.5” had only 1 password stored in my accounts and passwords, I had an iPhone 5s, 8 and 8 plus in my drawer that hadn’t been used since I got the XS and the 8 had 160 passwords stored, the 8 plus had 168.

    I was on the phone to a call center technician for 1.5 hours and waited 2 hours for him to look into a solution, when he called back he got me to do a cloud backup on the 8 and my 160 passwords went down to 4 (I added 3 through the week) and that was it.

    I only have my 8 plus with the 168 passwords that I wasn’t willing to lose by trying unknown practices, I called my local Apple store today and told to call the call center for technical support….. NO WAY, let me speak to the store manager I asked, they’re busy with customers but I can take your name and number and email them and one of them will get back to you within the next 3 days.

    I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I’ve taken screenshots and will restore my passwords and accounts that Some I’ve had for several years and some have the Apple generated passwords.

    I’m so pissed off with all the ordeals I’ve had since updating to Catalina (I haven’t added my Apple watch asking me to input my Apple ID about 4 times).

    I’d like to hear if anyone else has had similar problems or know how I can retrieve my passwords.

    Regards,

    Fred.

    Reply
  46. Charlene Lockner says

    October 28, 2019 at 2:50 PM

    Before Catalina, all my Macs (IMac home and work, MacBook pro) received messages or phone calls from my iPhone when I was in the vicinity.

    Since then, they are not connected. I went through all the steps listed under “macOS Catalina not connecting to iPhone or iPad” but to no avail. A pain because my texting abilities are very poor.

    I would much rather use a keyboard for sending messages.

    As far as I can tell (not being a techy) this is beyond my control…

    Reply
  47. Utku says

    October 26, 2019 at 7:36 AM

    Helpful. Thanks!

    Reply
  48. Hans says

    October 22, 2019 at 11:59 PM

    After getting Catalina I imported a photo from my Ipadair to the IMac.

    Then I discovered that all my synchronized photo albums had disappeared from the iPad.

    I could not put them back on.

    I bought a new iPad ( not only, therefore!)

    Also on the new Ipad, I cannot synchronize any photo albums . The wheel starts and then it stops.

    After trying 30 times or so, using a brand new and also an old cable having the latest driving system on the iPad, it only synchronized two small photo albums. That was at the beginning of the process. Since then, it synchronized nothing.

    Reply
  49. Matthew says

    October 21, 2019 at 11:55 PM

    https://youtu.be/ElIQGHMaEck

    Forgive my amateur video. However, it does work. Get your photos back on your iOS device now. Super easy. Time consuming for those of us with thousands of pics… But easy. No non-apple software required. Give my video a look. It’s 4 minutes well spent.

    Matthew

    Reply
    • Nando says

      December 6, 2019 at 3:09 AM

      A good solution Matthew, but not efficient. I don’t want my photos on Camera Roll and then create albums for them. Before Catalina, all my photos got syncronized on my iphone/ipad without putting them on camera roll, just with iTunes syncro…

      Reply
  50. Ian says

    October 20, 2019 at 2:45 AM

    I can connect my iphone7 to a iMac2015 running Catalina; it can be seen, it backs up and updates: but then the Finder crashes leaving the phone connected (by cable). Connecting an iphone7-Plus is worse – it connects, but then the iMac Finder immediately crashes. I’ve had to force-quit the computer and shut down the phones to disconnect them. This isn’t good!

    Reply
  51. Joe says

    October 18, 2019 at 9:18 AM

    Finder recognizes my iOS devices but won’t properly sync my playlists between Mac and phone.

    It works properly on iPad running latest OS but not iPhone X following the latest OS updates. It appears to sync.

    I see the progress wheel but a quick check after it completes and I see I’m missing songs.

    Reply
  52. Phil says

    October 15, 2019 at 5:28 PM

    I can’t find any direct help with this problem.

    I had to wipe my computer to install 10.15.

    I restored almost everything with Time Machine but, with only a couple of minutes to go, I suddenly got an error message.

    I restarted and all of my files seem to be restored.

    I include this because it may be germane to my problem.

    I can see my devices in the list of locations in any finder window.

    The problem comes when I choose to sync the first time.

    I get a dialog box that asks if I want to wipe music, etc. from my iPhone, which I most certainly do not wish.

    How can I get the finder to just update what I want without wiping out what I have?

    Is there a third-party app that will solve the problem?

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Jones says

      October 16, 2019 at 9:27 AM

      Hi Phil,

      Uncheck the box for Sync onto your device under each tab (Music, Movies, TV Shows, and so forth,) chick Apply, and then update.

      We’d like to investigate your problem more–do you see any error message in that dialog box? Can you provide us with the exact wording?

      Reply
      • Phil says

        October 16, 2019 at 3:12 PM

        None of the tabs in the finder window had the sync box checked.

        But, when I choose the “sync music onto iPhone” box, I get a drop-down window that says “Are you sure you want to remove existing music, movies, TV shows, and books from this iPhone and sync with this library?”

        It seems to be a problem with the “library”.

        I am the same person, with the same music, but the fact that installing Catalina wiped my hard drive seems to have screwed me.

        Maybe Time Machine was supposed to prevent this but it failed me also (see original post). Not good.

        Am I being sacrificed to Apple’s desire to inhibit copyright violations?

        If the security surrounding publisher’s interests is the root of this problem, Apple should have some sort of verification process by which I can force the Music app to sync with the previous library (a simple match between items in each would reveal that the iPhone library is a subset of the new library).

        Just not good on Apple’s part.

        A little thought for its actual paying customers could eliminate this problem and still maintain the current level of security, which, I might add, stops only causal copyright thieves.

        If I can’t get a solution, I will invest in a third-party app to manage my media on my devices and say screw you to Music.app and its relatives.

        At least then, I can drag and drop individual items between the two, which seems not to be the case with Music.app as it has only groups (albums, playlists, etc.) available for syncing.

        Reply
        • Elizabeth Jones says

          October 17, 2019 at 9:54 AM

          Hi Phil.

          Sorry, this didn’t help. I need to look more into this issue, which I will do over the coming days.

          Reply
  53. Khashayar says

    October 13, 2019 at 5:05 AM

    HELPED! Thanks man!

    Reply
  54. David says

    October 10, 2019 at 9:35 AM

    What a rigmarole!

    Reply
  55. Rolus says

    October 9, 2019 at 12:44 PM

    Following all steps resulted on problem fixed (10 steps)
    Thank you

    Reply

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