iTunes: About the "A secure network connection could not be established" alert

Products Affected

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, iTunes, iTunes Store, Windows, Internet Explorer

Symptoms

If you are unable to sign in or purchase content from the iTunes Store, you may see the following alert:

"iTunes could not connect to the iTunes Store. A secure network connection could not be established.
Make sure SSL 3.0 or TLS 1.0 is enabled in the Internet Options control panel, then try again."

Resolution

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In an effort to protect your privacy, iTunes uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol when you sign in to the iTunes Store. The SSL protocol uses port 443, the date and time, and other information from your computer to function as expected. The troubleshooting steps below will address the most commonly incorrect information that SSL and the iTunes Store require; this should resolve the issue and the alert should no longer appear.

Set your date and time

Check your computer's date, time, and time zone. If they are not correct, set the correct date, time, and time zone.

On Windows

Click Start and then click Control Panel.
Click "Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options" (Windows XP) or "Clock, Language, and Region" (Windows Vista & Windows 7).
Click Date and Time.
Click the Date & Time tab.
Make sure that the date and time settings are configured to use the current date and time and then click OK.

On Mac OS X

From the Apple () menu, choose System Preferences.
In System Preferences, click Date & Time.
Enable the option to "Set date and time automatically" if it is not.
Click the Time Zone tab and adjust the time zone to match your current location.

Further troubleshooting steps (for Windows only)

Correctly configure Internet Options

Open Internet Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
Select the Advanced tab.
Under the Security section, look for Use SSL 3.0 and Use TLS 1.0. Make sure at least one of those two checkboxes is selected and click OK. (You can select both checkboxes).

Update, configure, disable, or remove security software

If you are able to sign in to secure websites in your web browser but iTunes is unable to do so, security software may be interfering with the normal operation of iTunes. If this is the case, follow the steps in iTunes for Windows: Troubleshooting security software issues.
If you are also unable to sign in to secure websites in your web browser, follow the steps in Microsoft's article You cannot log in to or connect to secured Web sites in Internet Explorer.

Additional Information

If the issue is still unresolved, or you found this article looking for assistance with another alert, please see the following articles:

Important: Information about products not manufactured by Apple is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute Apple’s recommendation or endorsement. Please contact the vendor for additional information.

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