How to Fix iTunes Error Code 3194

Are you greeted with an error code 3194 whenever you try to restore your iOS device backup on iTunes?

One of the best features of iTunes is its ability to backup your iOS device and restore that backup whenever you need it. While this is a great feature, there are times where backups from your device fail to get restored due to several reasons. 

The iTunes error code 3194 usually occurs when you try to restore a backup from an iOS device with an older or newer version compared to the backup that you have. In other cases, the error code 3194 may be due to a bad internet connection, jailbroken iOS device, and improper network configurations. 

Whatever the case may be, we are here to help. In this guide, we are going to show you a few troubleshooting tips that you can easily perform to try and fix the issue regarding the iTunes error code 3194. 

Let’s get started. 

• 1. Restart Your Computer and iOS Device. 
• 2. Allow iTunes on Your Firewall. 
• 3. Update iTunes. 
• 4. Disable Third-Party Antivirus Software. 
• 5. Reset Host File.

 

 

1. Restart Your Computer and iOS Device. 

The first thing that you should do if you are having problems restoring backups on iTunes is to restart your computer and iOS device. It is possible that one of your devices encountered a temporary error during the restoration process, thus causing the error. 

To fix this, you can try rebooting both your computer and iOS device to allow its operating system to reload all of its resources. The steps below will show you how to restart your devices.

 

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How to Restart Your Windows Computer. 

In restarting your Windows computer, follow the step-by-step guide below. 

1. On your computer, press the Windows key on your keyboard to open the Start menu. 
2. Next, click on the Power button to open the Power Options menu. 
3. Lastly, click on Restart to begin rebooting your operating system. 

 

Now, wait for your computer to reboot completely and open iTunes once again. 

 

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How to Restart Your macOS Computer.

For macOS users, you can follow the steps below on how to restart your computer. 

1. On your computer, press on the Apple button located at the upper left corner of your screen. 
2. Now, click on the Restart button.
3. Lastly, when the confirmation prompt appears, click on Restart.

 

After that, wait for your computer to reboot completely, then go back to iTunes.

 

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How to Restart Your iOS Device. 

Now, for your iOS device, you can restart it by doing the following steps. 

1. Find the Power button on your iOS device, press and hold it until the Slide to Power Off option appears.
2. Now, press on the Power Switch on the screen and slide it to the right until the screen turns off.

 

3. Finally, after turning off your iOS device, press on the Power button again to turn it on.

Now, after restarting your iOS device and computer, connect it once again to your computer and try to restore your iTunes backup to see if the error code 3194 would still occur on your computer. 

On the other hand, if restarting your device did not work to fix the issue, you can try doing the next method below to fix the issue with iTunes. 

 

 

2. Allow iTunes on Your Firewall. 

Another possibility is if your iTunes does not have the proper permissions on your firewall, which can hinder the program from connecting to its servers to retrieve your backup. 

In this case, you can check your firewall settings to verify if iTunes has the proper permissions to access the internet on your computer.

Check out the steps below to guide you on how to do it:

1. On your keyboard, press on the Windows key + S and search for Windows Defender Firewall. 
2. Next, click on Open to launch the Firewall Settings. 

 

3. Inside the Firewall Settings, click on ‘Allow an App or Feature Through Windows Defender Firewall’.
4. Lastly, find iTunes from the list of programs and make sure that you marked it checked. Now, click on Ok to save the changes and restart your computer.

 

After restarting your computer, go back to iTunes and try to restore your iOS device’ backup once again. 

 

 

3. Update iTunes. 

If you are using an outdated version of iTunes, it is possible that your iTunes software is no longer compatible with the current iOS version of your device which triggers the error code when you try to restore your backup. 

To fix this, you can try updating your iTunes program. 

1. On your computer, go to the Desktop and launch the iTunes app. 
2. After that, click on the Help tab from the menu bar located at the top of your screen. 
3. Lastly, click on Check for Updates and it will automatically scan for any updates available on the current version of iTunes installed on your computer. 

 

After downloading the update, follow the on-screen prompts on how to install the update on your computer. Next, restart your computer and try to restore your iOS device once again to see if the error code 3194 would still occur on your computer. 

 

 

4. Disable Third-Party Antivirus Software. 

Now, if you are using any third-party antivirus software on your computer, it’s best to disable it when using iTunes. 

This is because third-party antivirus software can tend to be overprotective, especially when it detects a huge spike with programs that excessively uses your internet bandwidth and other system resources. 

For iTunes’ case, whenever you are restoring a backup from iTunes, it uses a lot of internet bandwidth to gather the backup that you previously performed. This excessive usage can be mistakenly marked as a suspicious activity by your antivirus software. 

Hence, as aforementioned, we suggest that you, at the very least, temporarily disable your antivirus before using iTunes. On the other hand, you can also permanently uninstall the antivirus software and just use the built-in Windows Defender which effectively keeps your system free from any malware or virus. 

 

 

 

5. Reset Host File. 

The host file on your computer helps Windows to map out and identify hostnames and IP addresses from different websites. It is possible that the host file on your computer encountered an error which makes it difficult for iTunes to work properly. 

To fix this, you can try resetting your host file by following the step-by-step guide below. 

1. On your computer, open the Notepad. 
2. Next, copy the following text:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.

#

# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.

#

# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each

# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should

# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.

# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one

# space.

#

# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual

# lines or following the machine name denoted by a ‘#’ symbol.

#

# For example:

#

# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server

# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handle within DNS itself.

# 127.0.0.1 localhost

# ::1 localhost

 

3. After that, save the file on your Desktop and name it Hosts.
4. Now, press on Windows key + R to open the Run Command Box. 
5. On the Run Command Box, type %WinDir%\System32\Drivers\Etc and hit Enter to open the folder. 

 

6. Lastly, replace the Host file on the folder with the one that you saved on your Desktop.

Once done, restart your computer and try to restore your iOS device back up once again to see if the error code 3194 would still occur on your computer. 

This wraps up our guide on how to fix the iTunes error code 3194 on your computer. If you know of any other methods that can potentially help fix this specific issue with iTunes, then feel free to share it below. We will credit you with the solution when this post gets updated. 😀

 

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂