Bonjour service on Windows 11

Bonjour service errors are quite common, and can be seen in the application log of events viewer in Windows 11. Generally, you get the Bonjour service errors at the time of startup of Windows 11 computer. Generally, we treat Bonjour service as an interface point for Apple devices and iTunes on the computer.

What is the Bonjour service error on Windows 11?

Bonjour service provides seamless interface between Apple devices and Windows 11 computer. If you have an Apple TV, it will work with Windows 11 through the Bonjour Service. On a similar service, if you have a working copy of Apple iTunes on a Windows 11 computer, Bonjour service will act as a gateway between Apple and Windows 11 operating system.

Bonjour service may generate different type of errors. These could be on account of failure of the name resolution services to provide a unique name to the Bonjour service. Or, the errors could be on account of inability of the Bonjour services to start properly. The error resolution would largely depend on the type of error you see in the application log of the event viewer.

In some cases you may not be making use of any Apple device through your Windows 11 computer. In such cases it is better to disable the Bonjour service. If you are not using the service, it is better to stop it and disable it.

Bonjour service works on the basis of TCP/IP networking. So, a working state of Bonjour service needs a working TCP/IP networking stack on your Windows 11 computer. If there is any problem in the TCP/IP stack, Bonjour service will generate an error. On a similar basis, the Bonjour service needs to work with the name resolution scheme on the computer. The Bonjour service assumes a name for rendering the service. It, therefore, needs a proper name to be identified on the network. The name sequence is generally configured to work on SYSTEM-02. If it is unable to get that name, it tries to assume names in the sequence such as SYSTEM-03 and so on.

If we were to state a summary of requirements of proper working of the Bonjour service on Windows 11:

we need a working TCP/IP networking stack on Windows 11 computer
we need the name resolution services to provide a unique name to the Bonjour service.

Most Bonjour service errors will correspond to either of these 2 reasons. So, an error in the application logs of the events viewer implies that either there is an issue with the TCP/IP dependency services or the name resolution has failed for the Bonjour service.

For example, the error below suggests that the Bonjour service was unable to assume a unique name on the network for rendering the service:

Error – mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Resetting to Probing: 4 SYSTEM-02.local. Addr 192.168.39.239

Error details –

mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Resetting to Probing: 4 SYSTEM-02.local. Addr 192.168.39.239

Upon digging the details of this error, it became clear that the Bonjour service failed in securing a unique name from the computer’s name resolution service. ‘Resetting to probing’ means that the Bonjour service is trying to probe or search for a name for itself. The cause of the error is the removal of QTTask and iTunesHelper from the computer’s startup through msconfig command. To resolve the error, you will need to reinstall the iTunesHelper on your computer and let it run at startup.

Disable Bonjour service on Windows 11

Alternatively, if you do not wish to use the Bonjour services, you may disable it altogether. To disable the Bonjour service on a Windows 11 computer, please follow the instructions below:

From the search box on the Windows 11 taskbar, type ‘cmd’ to open the command prompt.
Type in the command services.msc. This will load the management console for Windows 11 services. You could also access services management console through Control Panel —> System —> Apps.
Scroll through the list of services to find the Bonjour service.
Right click on the Bonjour service and press the Stop option to stop the service from running. The image below shows you the Bonjour service and the context menu option to stop this service.

Once the service is stopped, right click on the Bonjour service once again. Choose the option of properties from the right click context menu.
In the properties dialog box, look for the option of Startup type. From the dropdown options, set the startup type to Disabled. This will disable the Bonjour service from starting up on your computer. The image below shows you the Bonjour service and the context menu to disable the Bonjour service.

At any point of time, if you need to enable the service, you can follow the same set of process guidelines. You will need to set the startup type to ‘Automatic’ to enable the Bonjour service.

Conclusion

Bonjour service is an Apple service that is needed to enable connectivity between Apple devices and Windows 11 computer. If you wish to run the service, please ensure that the name resolution services and TCP/IP networking space are working fine. Also, you will need to ensure that the iTunesHelper is setup to start automatically when your system starts.

If you do not need Bonjour service, please disable it and prevent the Bonjour service errors being generated in the application logs.

You may also like to read the following related content for Windows 11:

Rajesh Dhawan

Rajesh Dhawan is a technology professional who loves to blog about smart wearables, Cloud computing and Microsoft technologies. He loves to break complex problems into manageable chunks of meaningful information.