Well, there’s some good news if you do use iTunes and can’t stand the latest version. It is possible to uninstall iTunes 12 and downgrade to an older version on Windows. Here’s how to do it!
Uninstall iTunes 12
Uninstalling the monstrosity is a simple task, but there are multiple parts you must uninstall. Go to PC Settings > Apps > Apps & features and find and select iTunes in the list on the right. Click Uninstall once and then again on the small popup that displays. If the User Account Control dialog box displays, click Yes to continue. You must also uninstall the following items in the order listed to completely uninstall iTunes. It’s important to uninstall these items in the order listed.
Apple Software UpdateApple Mobile Device SupportBonjourApple Application Support 32-bitApple Application Support 64-bit
After uninstalling those items, there may be some clean up to do to be sure all the remnants of iTunes left behind by the uninstallation process are gone. Apple details what to check for and delete to make sure iTunes is completely removed from your computer. Follow the steps in the Make sure that iTunes and its related components are completely uninstalled section on this page. Reboot your computer after carefully following all the steps to uninstall iTunes.
Reinstall iTunes 11 or 10.7
Now, how do you get an earlier version of iTunes? To its credit, Apple does offer the ability to download older versions of iTunes for Windows and Mac. I wasn’t able to find iTunes 11 for my 64-bit system, so I went ahead and got iTunes 10.7 – anything is better than version 12 right?
Now just go through the steps to install the new (I mean old) version of iTunes, including giving iTunes permission to install on the User Account Control dialog box, and you should be good to go!
Make sure you uncheck the Automatically update iTunes and other Apple software box during installation.
When you’re asked if you want to download iTunes 12, click Don’t Download. If you don’t want to be asked again, uncheck the Do not ask me again box before clicking Don’t Download.
If you do get an earlier version like I had to do on my 64-bit Windows system, don’t bother trying to update it because it’s going to want you to get iTunes 12. In fact, to stop annoying reminders about updating, go to Edit > Preferences > General and uncheck the Check for new software updates automatically box and click OK.
A lot of you will get the error message shown below saying that Library.itl can’t be read because it was created with a newer version — Click OK on that and make sure iTunes is closed.
Now head to the local music folder on your computer. For example on my system it’s located in C:\Users\Brian\Music\iTunes. From there delete the Library.itl file and then launch iTunes again, and it should work, as it will create its own version of the Library.itl file.
This method worked successfully for me on both Windows 8.1 update 1 and the Windows 10 Technical Preview. But when I tried the same steps on a Windows 7 32-bit system with version 11.1.5, I received a different error that I will need to deal with – but that’s a separate issue. The point is, your experience may vary so make sure you’ve backed up the important stuff or create a Restore Point before starting this.
Of course, if you want to ditch it for good, you can use a free alternative program like Foobar2000 or SharePod. But apple made a guide to recreating your library. Can be found here http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201561 Thanks for this Worked perfect on Windows 7 – 64 bit too. Thanks again Then go to Edit > Preferences and under the Schedule tab check Never. Worked fine on ny windows 64bit system. Reconstructing my library a bit challenging. Two problems. 1. iTunes 10.7 won’t Recognize my iPad ios 8.1 – does recognize iPod touch. 2. Can’t access iTunes store (& haven’t figured problem yet – might be configuration). I did one more trick than this article mentions though – when I looked in C:\user\mike\music\itunes I found iTunes had backed up my old .itl files each time I’d upgraded so I opened the last one before I’d updated to v12 (eg: “iTunes Library 2014-10-19.itl”) in Notepad and saw that it was v11.2.2 (the file is in binary but the version is right at the top) so I just downloaded that exact version from filehippo, renamed the old .itl file back to “iTunes Library.itl”, installed v11.2.2 and when it restarted everything was just like it was before I ugpraded to the disaster that is v12. Hope this is clear – it just avoids having to re-set up your library when you do this, which for me, with 120GB of music, is a complete nightmare! Thnx again! -S The 2nd part of your directions helped me. Thank you! Thank you! My iTunes library is there and the shows play on the v11 of iTunes. I haven’t tried the iTunes store, but I have enough unwatched shows in my library it doesn’t matter much. I also went in and unchecked for updates. Thanks again! I’ve turned of the check for updates inside iTunes and removed the check during the install of iTunes 10 to not auto-update. This morning – again the horrid red icon appeared and I found a program ApplePush in the Startup tab in MSConfig. Tonight I’m going to uninstall all the Apple software from my machine and reinstall iTunes 10 64 bit. Uninstall the Apple Software update service and disable the ApplePush to see if that cures the problem. Then I’m junking my iPhone for a Samsung. As for my new phone, it is on it’s way from Samsung. Can’t wait to say bye bye to my iPhone. Now I am not able to access the ITunes store. Keeps telling me that ITunes has stopped working and it will let me know when there is a solution. Is this related to the new (old)version. Also Keeps asking me for my password, and I have to enter it twice, cause it says I entered it wrong the first time. Any help with these two issues would be greatly appreciated Im stuck iTunes version 11.4 is available at http://filehippo.com/download_itunes_64/58615/ – some articles say this version is hard to find. BTW – this worked for me, but I did lose all of my playlists because iTunes 11.4 couldn’t read the database files created by V12.* and it just imported all 10,000 of my mp3 files as if it was seeing them for the first time, so be prepared…! iTunes 11.4 on a 64-bit Windows 7 box had a problem a few days ago. Because at that time I couldn’t find a current 64-bit version 11.4 Windows installation file, I tried iTunes 12.x. As is lately the case with most of Apple’s software on either Windows or iOS, it had problems with bugs and disappearing features, simply so Apple can sell new stuff for more money. Downgraded today to 11.4, thanks to y’all. Thanks for saving my light fluffy biscuits of sound and video from certain disaster :-) My iPhone has been replaced and now has all the funtionality of a iPod Touch. I’m delighted and very impressed with my Samsung Note 4. Thanks so much for the recommendation on the older version and how to stop it from ever updating again! Apple has really lost it’s quality control lately – Safari’s a mess too! (Mercury browser is MUCH better) good luck. I was able to find the previous version I had and download it (11.3.1 for Win 64 -Thank you Ziggy) and use that library (Thank you Mike). Yet the thing would not finish the new install. Ugh. So thanks to Dusty’s post I removed everything Apple not just iTunes (I hate Bonjour anyway!) in the Add/Remove Programs Wizard. Still wouldn’t work. Looked in Task Manager and there were still Apple things running behind the scenes. I couldn’t stop them or delete the folders in Program(x86). Agh! At this point I was really getting fried. iTunes has been so frustrating over time. It’s one reason I will never switch to a Mac … Anyway, did a Google search on the error message “Errors occurred during installation before iTunes could be configured. Your system has not been modified. Run the installer again.” and came across this: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6562#qtmoviewin It mentions reasons why you might be having trouble and lead me to: http://support.microsoft.com/mats/Program_Install_and_Uninstall Where I downloaded MS Fixit and proceed to really uninstall everything Apple. Copied the old library I wanted to use and changed the name per Mike. Tried to install again and Yay! It worked! Got my library back. Also in the 11.3.1 version to disable the automatic updates go to Preferences > Advanced (Not General). I am sure they move it around ’cause they don’t want you to uncheck it! There was also an option to Uncheck when installing about updates and I unchecked that also. I will never upgrade again without doing a search to see if the newer version have issues. The other thing that started happening with iTunes 12 is that my device would not be recognized. Turns out that is an easy fix. Turn the device of and on again and then reconnect to the computer. Feeling happy!! Thanks everyone. behold a version of itunes x64 11.1 but i still cannot install it on windows 8.1 I had trouble reinstalling an earlier version, because not all of the Apple related software uninstalled when I used Add/Remove Programs. Check out my comment a few up to read more. That might be what is happening for you. Best wishes! Andrea So thankful my ipod stays expanded now. The extra clicking on everything has driven me over the edge and back to an old version. I am going to look into this more and see if there is a more effective solution. Remember you can also use an iTunes alternative, and you can bring all of your purchased iTunes movies, music, and other media with you. Foobar2000 is my favorite: https://www.groovypost.com/howto/sick-of-itunes-intall-foobar2000/ Worst yet is that when I got my 4th Gen the 5th came out within weeks of when I bought mine and the 8gb one was the same exact price as what I got. $200 for something that’s already a paper weight that plays music. And even the apps that are SUPPOSED to work with IOS 6 and before crash frequently now. Apple needs to stop trying to produce new product after new product and work on the sh*t they already have. After issues with Windows 10 I did an ill-considered reinstall and lost iTunes 11.4 and of course when I re-downloaded it was the dreaded 12. Which puts my podcast playlists in the wrong order with no way to reorder them except by manually dragging everything around. Before I found this discussion I had spent about three hours trying to make 12 work or find answers find answers to problems with it. And I’ve spent about 2 more hours going through this process, so basically my whole Saturday night… Thanks to everybody. As I said I did it about 6 times, each time it went wrong I went back through the posts and found another useful comment addressing an issue… I wish I had tracked the whole process but Heidi and Mike’s points on the uninstall order and renaming the archved library were particularly helpful. I doubt anyone else will make this mistake, but the second to last time when it opened completely blank I realised I had renamed my old 11.4 library but left it in the old libraries folder instead of moving it to the location of the deleted v12 itl file. Thanks again… Not sure if I’ll be able to get up in time for church tomorrow but if I do make it there will be blessings asked for all of you… Having read through a lot of the comments and noted someone saying about an iTunes automatic program updater I went into the Computer’s Control Panel and looked in the Programs and Features, found the iTunes Updater and deleted it. iTunes is still working perfectly so hopefully it will continue to do so and won’t be able to update at all! I’ve never liked Apple software and don’t know why software writers think it’s so great to tinker with stuff that already works and everyone is happy with. Microsoft are almost as bad. Darn annoying when everything was working with iTunes 12.3.0.44 64-bit on Windows10 Running Office Professional Plus 2013……….. Same symptom when bypassing contacts, it then gets stuck on Syncing calendars. Same symptom when bypassing calendars, it then gets stuck on Syncing bookmarks. When bypassing contacts, calendars and bookmarks it goes through. At least my Photos, Apps and Music syncs. all the music is listed completely under windows 8.1 music folder, artist, album, songs with all information listed correctly. windows media player recognizes every file why wont iTunes? “For” Comment Name * Email *
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