iTunes: The required file cannot be found

Lately, I always get an error message when I try to sync my iPhone in iTunes. The message simply says “The iPhone cannot by synced. The required file cannot be found.”

Unfortunately, iTunes doesn’t say exactly what file is missing. While playing with the sync options in iTunes I found out, that the problem is related to Apple Aperture 3 in my case. If you’re using iPhoto instead of Apple Aperture, you may find a solution in this Apple support note. If you’re getting this error message in iTunes and you’re syncing your Aperture 3 library (or parts of it) to your iPhone, I may have a solution for you.

  1. Make sure Aperture, iTunes and iPhoto are closed. Use cmd-Q to terminate them if they’re still open.
  2. Open Finder
  3. Navigate to your Home -> Pictures folder
  4. Right-click the “Aperture Library.aplibrary” folder and select “Show Package Contents”
  5. You should see a folder named “iPod Photo Cache”
  6. Delete this folder
  7. Start iTunes
  8. Re-enable photo synchronisation in the photo sync tab
  9. Click “Sync Photos” in the dialog that pops up
  10. Choose Aperture to sync sync photos from
  11. iTunes will say that your iPhone is synced to another photo library. Click yes to overwrite the old settings in iPhone.
  12. That’s it! Your iPhone should be syncing without errors now!

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57 Responses to “iTunes: The required file cannot be found”

  • Karin Nelson says:

    Thank you so much! This worked perfectly!

  • Cid Gerardo says:

    I was also having that same problem. I thought when I went to an iPhone 4 the problem would be fix. Well it was still their. I did some looking on the web and I found your instructions. Well it worked!! Thanks you so very much.

  • Christophe Ravier says:

    I encountered exactly the same problem since yesterday and have tried many solutions (from Apple Support for most of them) unsuccessfully.
    Thank you very much for this ‘simple’ fix. Everything works great now.
    I will keep your site in my bookmarks ;-)

  • iMaddin says:

    This seems to work. Thanks a lot for the help! You saved me a lot of trouble

  • Christophr says:

    Much appreciated. Thanks for sharing the tip!

  • Ralph says:

    Wow….looked everywhere to resolve this issue and found your site. Your instructions did the trick. Thanks so much!

  • peter m calloway says:

    Thanks a lot !
    I’ve been crawling the Apple support forum without any success.

  • Stuart says:

    Thank you so much for this advice!

  • Charles says:

    Thanks a lot. It worked perfectly!!! Aperture 3 was the issue. I followed the instructions and this is now fixed.

  • Andrew says:

    Thanks for the fix ! It worked !
    Great job !

  • Spencer says:

    Thank you for your post on this issue, just to let anyone else know that it works for the iPad also.

  • Barry says:

    Great directions. I am now a hero for an 82-year-old family friend who could not get his iPad to sync. I finally sent him a link to this page and he eventually called me and said that the directions had worked and his problem was solved.

  • I solved my picture syncing issue

    I removed the “iPod Photo Cache” folder from “My Pictures” folder and everything synced fine

  • niklas says:

    Thank you very much! Solved the weird issue instantly :)

  • DrNooky says:

    Jan 2 2011
    Thank you sooo much, I almost had to restore everything and purchase bits again but thanks to you guys I am at one with my iphone

  • DonLeonardo says:

    Thanks a lot! Worked perfectly!

  • karar says:

    i was always have this problem time by time
    and when it’s happens i format my mac and reinstall it
    but now everything goes right !!
    thank you very very very very very much and i wish that i can serve you in anything you want

  • the_j_button says:

    thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!

  • ke7en says:

    Thanks! Just like everyone else above it worked and saved me a big headache.

  • Cubsfan7667 says:

    my iphone was broke so i went and got a new iphone 4 at apple which they gave me for free!! So im very happy with their customer service… But anyways i deleted ipod cache and still getting the error message any other advice?

  • cassandra says:

    I don’t have Apple Aperture 3, but deleting iph photo cache fixed this error msg for me & allowed my to complete the sync process, finally. I’ve been dealing with this issue for some time. How you figured it out is a mystery, but thanks!

  • Richard says:

    Thank you very much alll the frustration is gone

  • RICHARD HORNBY says:

    Re MMItunes. I don’t have the MMI 3G with SD card, but I do have the 2G with Ipod connector. Any chance of using MMItunes to convert tracks from Itunes on my IMac into playlist(s) on the Ipod (perhaps in disk mode) so that the Ipod can be accessed via the Audi MMI?

    I have downloaded and tried MMItunes but it does not recognise my Mac as a Volume. So I guess it’s not designed to.

    BTW (i) does the Ipod have to be formatted as FAT32? (ii) can you build playlists from AAC or only MP3 (or MP3 / M4A)?

    Tks

    R

  • Tina says:

    Just wanted to say a huge thanks for helping me solve this problem with me phone! :o)

    Tina

  • Joel says:

    Thank you so much! I was getting so pissed off! Especially since you have to pay apple for support, what bull shit! Nice to know someone out there is just willing to help.

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