Follow our step-by-step guide to figure out why iTunes is so slow on Windows and iPhone and learn how to get iTunes to run fast again.
iTunes on Windows is extremely slow
When I start opening the iTunes app on a laptop running Windows 11, it takes about 5 minutes to wait for maybe 2 or 3 album covers to pop up. Why is iTunes so slow to open? Is it just me or does anyone else here have the same problem?
- Question from Apple Community
iTunes is a free application to manage your music library and a backup tool that can easily backup iPhone contacts, photos, and other data on the device. But many people complain that iTunes is very slow to open. Why is iTunes running slow? The following are the top reasons.
Why does iTunes take so long to open on Windows 10 or other operating systems? Usually, the causes of slow-running iTunes are:
If you want to fix iTunes running slow, please try the following solutions one by one. Let's start with the first solution.
Updating iTunes to the latest version should be the first option you consider that can fix the slow running of iTunes because wrong or old iTunes version can result in iTunes running improperly.
Simply tap Help on the top menu bar and click on Check for Updates.
Mass of useless temporary files such as videos, music, thumbnails, etc. can interfere with your computer opening iTunes normally. If your iTunes takes a long time to run, resetting the cached data is a good try.
Step 1. You can launch the iTunes app, click Edit and select Preferences, and go to the Advanced tab.
Step 2. Click on Reset Cache next to Reset iTunes Store Cache.
Generally, the automatic functions of a program consume a certain amount of RAM on your system, which affects the startup and running of programs. Thus, you can turn off the auto-sync of iTunes to improve its performance and fix the “why is iTunes so slow to load” problem.
Step 1. Run iTunes, open the Edit menu on the top, and select Preferences.
Step 2. Select the Devices tab on the Devices Preferences screen and tick the box next to Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically. Then, click OK to confirm it.
Turning off the automatic download of iTunes can help to resolve iTunes takes 10 minutes to open as well.
Step 1. Navigate to Store in the iTunes Preference panel.
Step 2. Uncheck items you don't want to download automatically, such as Apps.
Step 3. Deselect Automatically download album artwork and Share details about your library with Apple. And then, click OK.
The Genius feature, which is on by default, can provide you with more music that suits your taste based on your playlist. But it takes up a certain amount of system resources. You can disable this feature to make iTunes run faster.
Step 1. Launch iTunes on your computer and click File on the top to open the dropdown menu.
Step 2. Click Library and hit Turn off Genius to turn it off.
With Smart Playlists, iTunes can automatically add song genres based on your needs. But it would occupy a lot of storage on your PC, which causes slow iTunes. To work out why iTunes is so slow here, you could remove your Smart Playlist.
Step 1. Run iTunes and locate the smart playlists you created.
Step 2. Right-click on a smart playlist and click on the Delete Playlist option.
Step 3. Repeat step 2 to remove unnecessary and fix iTunes slow on Windows.
If none of the above methods solve the "why is iTunes so slow on iPhone and PC" problem, you can try to solve it by organizing the iTunes Library.
Step 1. Tap on the Edit tab > Preferences > Advanced.
Step 2. Select Keep iTunes Media Folder Organized and press OK.
Actually, there are quite a few duplicates on iTunes, mainly copies of the original files. They will take up storage and cause iTunes to run slowly. Clearing up these files can help to speed up iTunes.
Step 1. Open iTunes and select Songs under the Library heading on the left side.
Step 2. Click on File, choose Library, then select Show Duplicate Items and then delete duplicates.
The Cover Flow feature of iTunes software displays music album covers. But it also makes the application consume more resources on your device to run, especially on old systems. To disable Cover Flow:
Step 1. Choose View on the toolbar after opening iTunes.
Step 2. Select As List or another video mode instead of Cover Flow.
In addition to the above solutions, we take that the ultimate way to get rid of "why is iTunes so slow on Windows 10" is to use an alternative to iTunes. AOMEI FoneBackup, a professional iPhone backup tool, has always been our stand-out pick when it comes to free and easy alternatives to iTunes.
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Next, follow the steps below to create backups for your valuable files with AOMEI FoneBackup:
Step 1. Free download AOMEI FoneBackup and connect iPhone to your computer.
Step 2. Select Selective Backup on the Phone Backup screen.
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Step 3. Select the icons you want to back up, specify the storage path, and click Start Backup to initiate the task.
On this page, we explain why iTunes is so slow to run and 10 solutions to help you make slow iTunes run faster. If you don't want that to happen again, just get the free alternative to iTunes - AOMEI FoneBackup, which helps you backup and transfer iPhone data without a hitch.
