How to Fix iTunes Error 14? 4 Ways You Must Try
Are you having a hard time with your iPhone after an update? You may have stumbled upon the dreaded iTunes error 14, which means you can’t probably use your phone or boot iOS. Fortunately, you haven’t bricked your phone, and you can quickly fix this problem once you identify its cause.
You can solve this issue right from home, so there’s no need to run to the Apple store. You only need a little patience.
What is iTunes Error 14?
It’s easy to cause an iTunes error 14 when updating your iPhone: users usually trigger this error when they decide to update their iOS with little to no space left in their phone. Sometimes, you may try to restore your phone with little space left and the same error will pop up.
At the same time, this error may occur because of a faulty USB cable or file, so it can happen because of things inside or outside your phone! There’s no need to worry: you can fix this error in a couple of steps. Find out how below.
How to Fix iTunes error 14
1. Use Recovery Mode
You can fix iTunes error 14 via entering Recovery Mode using your iPhone. Doing so is somewhat difficult and may take a while if you haven’t done it before.
Nevertheless, if you want to play around with your phone and see what Recovery Mode is all about, here’s the fastest way to do so:
- Plug your iPhone into your computer.
- Press the volume up button.
- Press the volume down button.
- Hold the side button until you enter Recovery Mode.
Two things: first, don’t release the side button when you see the Apple logo because you’re not finished yet; second, this method will only work for iPhone 8 or newer versions.
Once you enter Recovery Mode, you can either update your iOS (without losing your data) or reset your phone (and lose your data). Choose carefully!
2. Change your USB cable
A faulty USB cable can wreak havoc on your iPhone: it can break your battery, corrupt your data, and trigger iTunes error 14.
It’s difficult to tell if a cable is damaged or not unless there are clear-cut issues you can see; nevertheless, there are times when you’ll have a faulty cable that looks brand-new.
If you’re having doubts about your USB cable, the best way to troubleshoot it is to use another one. Make sure you pick a Made-for-iPhone cable to check things out – otherwise, you may end up switching one faulty cable for another.
When in doubt, buy two different iPhone cables so you can use one as a backup.
3. Update iTunes
An unusual and troubling way to trigger the iTunes error 14 is to have an outdated iTunes. In certain cases, updating it can fix your issue altogether.
Unfortunately, doing so is not as straightforward as it seems: Mac users need to use Finder to find and interact with their iPhone. After that, they can update their iTunes.
If you don’t have Finder downloaded to your Mac, you have to update your computer to do everything listed before.
That seems like a confusing process – but don’t worry. We’ll explain how to deal with it below.
If you need to update your Mac, turn your computer on, open the Apple menu, click About This Mac, and look for the Software Update option.
Once that’s out of the way, open Finder. After that, update iTunes. You won’t be able to do this if you have a faulty USB cable, so remember to check that before.
4. Delete certain files
When you decide to update your iOS, your iPhone will create an IPSW (or iPhone Software Updates) folder to store everything needed to make the update happen. Unfortunately, sometimes updates go wrong – and your phone forgets to delete that folder.
When that happens, your phone will enter a boot loop that it cannot get out of because it constantly accesses a corrupted IPSW file (and it won’t delete it until the update is over, which will never happen in this scenario until you step in).
At that point, the way to fix your issue is crystal-clear: access that folder via Finder and delete it.
Conclusion
The iTunes error 14 is commonly caused by having little to no space left in your phone when you decide to update it. Nevertheless, that’s not the only reason: connecting your phone to a defective USB cable may trigger this error too. At the same time, faulty files can make it happen too. Once you find the root cause, you can quickly fix this issue, so there’s no cause for alarm.
