Windows 10 and iTunes There was an error connecting to the Apple ID server

Recently after a fresh install of Windows 10, I tired to reinstall iTunes.

While trying to authorize my computer for my iPhone Apps I got the following error:

“There was an error connecting to the Apple ID server”

Several reboots later, still no joy. I also noticed that I couldn’t connect to the iTunes store.

I found the following helps?

  1. Right click on the Windows Start Menu Icon and select ‘Command Prompt (Admin)’
  2. Type the following into the command prompt box followed by enter:
    netsh winsock reset
  3. Reboot the computer

How this works: I’m not overly sure why it effects iTunes, but it’s similar to clearing the cache in your browser, just at a network level.

Hopefully this helps someone else.

Reference: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7192420?start=0&tstart=0

12 thoughts on “Windows 10 and iTunes There was an error connecting to the Apple ID server”

  1. Ugh! That sounds really annoying. I have not had to reinstall iTunes in a very long time, but I did upgrade to the iOS 10 when it became available, and it took me a few tries to get it to pair with my Apple Watch.
    I’m glad you got it sorted out, and thanks for the advice.

  2. I already did like what you said. But it still didn’t work for me. So sad.. Any other option? Please, thanks.

    Best regards.

    1. i had this same problem but on my PC running windows 10.

      couldn’t get iCloud for windows to work either, same ID error.

      Spent 90 minutes on the phone with Apple support, tried a bunch of stuff, nothing worked.

      Told me to contact Microsoft, that it was their problem not Apple’s.

      Then I tried one last thing…I turned off 2 step verification on my Apple account,

      I was immediately able to connect to iTunes but still couldn’t connect to iCloud.

      Then I uninstalled iCloud, rebooted, reinstalled iCloud and viola’, I was able to get into iCloud.

      So the issue would appear to be that Apple’s 2 step verification process in Windows doesn’t work; not sure who’s to blame, Apple or Microsoft but this “process” doesn’t work right.

  3. Same problem here, but sadly your fix didn’t work for me! If you have any other ideas of things to try, I’d love to hear them.

  4. The steps suggested do not work command prompt states you have to run as administrator. How do you do that? We are not tech geeks here!!!

  5. *To start a command prompt as an administrator (alternative method)
    *Click Start.
    *In the Start Search box, type cmd, and then press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER.
    *If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
    If you see a User Account Control prompt, accept it.

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