How to Downgrade iOS 10 Beta to iOS 9.3.3

Jun 16, 2016 - 76 Comments

How to Downgrade iOS 10 Beta to iOS 9

Are you running iOS 10 beta but have decided you’d like to downgrade and revert back to a stable iOS 9.3.3 release? That’s understandable since iOS 10 beta is sort of buggy, and it’s not intended for a prime time audience yet. We will show you exactly how to revert from iOS 10 beta back to iOS 9. The downgrading process is relatively simple, so if you have had finished testing iOS 10 beta or are just done with the bugs, you can quickly return back to iOS 9 on any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.


To get started, you’ll need a USB cable for the iPhone or iPad to connect to the computer, and the latest version of iTunes installed in Mac OS X or Windows. Aside from that, reverting back to iOS 9 is simply a matter of using the proper firmware ipsw file to downgrade from iOS 10 beta with.

Downgrade iOS 10 Beta Back to iOS 9.3.3

The downgrade from iOS 10 works by restoring a device to iOS 9.3.x. This will effectively erase the iPhone or iPad so you’ll want to be sure you have a backup made, otherwise you’ll lose your stuff.

  1. Before doing anything else, back up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch (if you already have a pre-iOS 10 beta backup, you can restore from that too, either way be sure you have a backup)
  2. Download the iOS 9.3.3 IPSW file from here for your iPhone or iPad and place it somewhere obvious, like the Desktop – the model must match the IPSW for the downgrade to work otherwise you will get an error in iTunes
  3. Launch iTunes and then connect the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to the computer with a USB cable
  4. Choose the device within iTunes and go to the Summary page, then do the following:
    • For Mac OS X: OPTION + click the “Restore iPhone” button
    • For Windows: SHIFT + click the “Restore” button

    Downgrade iOS 10 beta

  5. Navigate to and choose the iOS 9.3.3 firmware .ipsw file that was downloaded earlier, and choose to Update

To be perfectly clear, this will erase the device and downgrades from iOS 10 beta to iOS 9.3.x, it works like any other IPSW restore in that sense.

Once the downgrade has completed, you can restore from a backup made previously.

If you did not make a backup prior to downgrading (or updating to iOS 10 in the first place), you will lose all of your data on the iPhone or iPad. This is why it’s important to backup, and why it’s important to only run beta system software on a non-primary device that does not have important information or media on it.

Downgrading iOS 10 Unsuccessful? Try Downgrading in Recovery Mode

Some users report the typical downgrade process to uninstall iOS 10 and remove the beta is unsuccessful. This is likely due to a procedural issue, but regardless of causes, another option is to downgrade the iPhone or iPad in Recovery Mode, which removes iOS 10 with a Recovery Update and Restore process instead.

Back up before beginning, as always.

  1. Connect the iOS device to downgrade to a computer and open iTunes
  2. Force restart the device into Recovery Mode by pressing the Home and Sleep / Power button for about 15 seconds until you see the Apple logo – continue holding the buttons until you see iTunes notify of a device in recovery mode
  3. Choose to “Update and Restore” from the Recovery Mode screen – this will erase the device and place a clean install of iOS 9.x onto the device, thereby uninstalling iOS 10 completely
  4. When the Recovery Update and Restore is complete, choose to restore from a backup, or setup the device as new

Any questions or comments? Let us know your experience downgrading iOS 10 beta in the comments below.

.

Related articles:

Posted by: Paul Horowitz in iPad, iPhone, Tips & Tricks

76 Comments

» Comments RSS Feed

  1. tanzil says:

    Who to update ios 10 to ios 11.
    I have no computer

  2. Linda says:

    Hello all i hope you can help me :)
    I put my iphone 6s under the restore mode (with the home button pressed and stuff) and i clicked on the backup that was made before i installed ios10. It s successfully backed up but then, it didnt go on ios 9! It is still ios10 but the messages/pictures i had after that backup are not there anymore (which is normal). So why did it go again on ios10? The backup i used was on ios9.. i hope you understand what i am talking about. Thanks in advance :)

  3. Milly says:

    I do not have a computer. How else can I downgrade so I can update to the real iOS 10?

  4. DJDarkEverCore says:

    Do you have to use iTunes for this or no?

  5. Aldrin says:

    do u think its ok to do the recovery mode? even though my itunes on pc is not updated???

  6. Aldrin says:

    guys i cant update my itunes. mine is 12.1.3

  7. Alexandra says:

    Will I eventually have to go through downgrading from iOS 10 beta to iOS 9 when the real iOS 10 update is released to the public? Or will I just be able to update right from iOS 10 beta to iOS 10?

  8. Britney says:

    While using 10 beta has anyone experienced any problems receiving calls? People say they call but my phone doesn’t ring and there isn’t any missed calls.

  9. Dino says:

    I made a icloud backup before trying ios 10 beta. Yesterday i restored as i thought my backup file was all good. But when is i try to restore the backup file, it says that it is not competible with this firmware…. Any file i try says so, and yes it was backed up on 9.3.x ios … SOLUTION? :-(

  10. Jose says:

    Can I just factory reset my phone? In stead of hooking it up to an computer. Or will it not work like that

  11. Aaron Horst says:

    i have windows XP and i cant connect to iTunes, is there another way to downgrade? because i dont like te iOS 10 beta and really want to go back on iOS 9.3.3

  12. Jaden says:

    I did this, just downgrading back down to ios 9 without the backup because i didn’t want to lose the pictures i had taken since downloading the beta. I did it exactly as instructed but now whenever I try to click on the playlist button, my music app totally crashes. I can’t get to ANY of my playlists now, is there any way to fix this or something? I don’t care about losing what I had on them because I can easily re do them but I’m irritated I can’t make one and just listen to specific songs.
    Thanks

  13. fawaz says:

    i have downgraded my iphone 6s but i cant restore my backup.it shows message like “the backup iphone cannot be restored to this iphone because the software on this iphone is too old”

  14. Paritosh says:

    Pls help me if someone help me i can give him money money money help me

  15. Nisa chairun says:

    If i stay with ios 10 beta can i update back to ios 10 if the apple officially release the ios 10?

  16. Lola says:

    My music app doesn’t work please help

  17. Aldrin says:

    If i downgrade my iphone into ios 9.2.3 or something. Can i update back to ios 10 if the apple officially release the ios 10?

  18. Ethan says:

    If I wipe my iPhone will i have any issues with my mobile carrier?

    I need an answer ASAP

    thx

  19. Gege says:

    Hi. I already downloaded my os to 9.3.2 but when i check the settings, it shows software update with number ‘1’. I already deleted the ios10 profile so how can I remove that? It is an eye sore for me. Thanks

  20. Roshin says:

    Downgraded to 9.3.2 successfully and deleted the Beta management profile. However, still Software update page is showing “IOS 10 beta version”. How can I get rid of this? Appreciate your help

  21. Rony says:

    After downgrade ios 10 to 9.3.2 , my music is not working not added or delet any songs. Give me a solution

  22. MARI says:

    SPOKE TOO SOON!! MUSIC APP CRASHES AND WONT WORK! ANY FIXES?

  23. Mari says:

    Thanks!! Had the iOS 10 for a week and although I love the new features it’s buggy and don’t like the problems I’m getting with Facebook app, Google photos app and my Fitbit app. So I downloaded the Ipsw and connected phone to iTunes on my laptop. I’m on Windows so I pressed shift and then the “check for update” option. Picked the Ipsw and went from there. Took 5 minutes. The only thing gone are the messages which I can live without. Pics are still there!!! Apps are still there!! 😀

    • LucasCSP says:

      I do the same and have success!
      No Backup on 9.3.2
      Upgrade to IOS10 Beta – (like, but a lot of bugs on APPS)
      Download 9.3.2 image
      On itunes – Shift+Update
      Take no more than 10 minutes and my apps are here, my photos, my background and passwords.
      I´ve lost only my SMS (all of then)

  24. Billy says:

    This is the deal!! If you backed up your iPhone on iOS 9.3.2 recently you will be able to restore it as instructed here from that back up. If you didn’t back it up prior to updating to iOS 10 when you get to step four of these instructions you need to click update instead of restore as Barren stated above!

  25. Grayson says:

    I have an iPod Touch 5G, and I downloaded the iOS 10 beta. This beta affects my apps a LOT, as in being crashing frequently, and not working. So, I had followed the steps to downgrade back to 9.3.2, but whenever I try, it says “firmware not compatible” Am I doing something wrong?

    • jack dan says:

      iOS 10 is not supported on iPod Touch 5th generation, you need to use iOS 9.3.2 IPSW file which matches the iPod touch to restore the device. You may want to try Recovery Mode too, then click on the “restore” button, it will format the iPod.

  26. Zamree says:

    I have an issue with the music app. After downgrading, everytime i click to play the music it crash. Then i double click home button, it display the interface of music app in ios 10 beta. i cannot sync any music from itune. I delete every music form itune. But there is still music file in my device. (Found when i load songs form imovie). Please help me to solve music app crash issue.

  27. Jack hart says:

    Will I lose all of my music if I haven’t backed it up

    • Leica says:

      Jack hart, unfortunately with a downgrade there is data loss. The article answers your question about downgrading and losing data a grand total of three times:

      answer #1 “This will effectively erase the iPhone or iPad so you’ll want to be sure you have a backup made, otherwise you’ll lose your stuff.”

      answer #2 “To be perfectly clear, this will erase the device and downgrades from iOS 10 beta to iOS 9.3.2”

      answer #3 “If you did not make a backup prior to downgrading (or updating to iOS 10 in the first place), you will lose all of your data on the iPhone or iPad. ”

      – Leica

      • Barren says:

        Yes you can downgrade iOS 10 WITHOUT LOSING ANY DATA except messages and maybe contacts. You have to choose “Update” instead of the “Restore” button. Everything else is the same, photos and music are preserved if you choose the “Update” button instead.

        If you want to uninstall iOS 10 without losing data, connect the iPhone to iTunes then OPTION/ALT+clicking on the “Update” button instead of the “Restore” button and choose the IPSW file for iOS 9.3.x

        Back up first just in case!

  28. Jack hart says:

    Will i lose all of my music is If downgrade

    • Barren says:

      Everyone, you can downgrade iOS 10 and uninstall iOS 10 and go back to iOS 9 without loss of data! You can uninstall iOS 10 without losing data! Yes really!

      Everything is the same except for which button you click!

      Choose the “UPDATE” button instead of the “restore” button, and use the same IPSW!

      Everything else is the same, just choose UPDATE button in iTunes to downgrade without losing any data!!

  29. Hem hems says:

    I do have a backup from before I update but if I use it will my phone go back to how it looked before aswell ?

  30. Hem hems says:

    Which one do I have a better chance in keeping everything ? This downgrade or the restore and update downgrade ?

    • PH says:

      The only way to keep your stuff and downgrade is with a backup made from the prior iOS release, as mentioned in the article.

      Thus, if you have a backup from iOS 9, you would restore that iOS 9 backup after you downgrade back to iOS 9 from iOS 10.

      Without a backup from iOS 9.x, you can not keep everything if you downgrade from iOS 10, this is because iOS 10 backups do not restore to iOS 9.x.

      • Lisa says:

        I didn’t backup to iTunes prior to installing 10. But my iCloud was backed up. Will using that after wiping the iPad clean still bring back the 10?

  31. Mark says:

    I recently downgraded back to IOS 9.32 due to app crashes with the IOS 10 Beta. Unfortunately now when I look at updates the Beta IOS 10 is showing for install. I dont want to install it how do I remove that. This is just a concern if IOS 9 has updates i will not be able to do so. Any Help would be appreciated

  32. fat girlfriend says:

    I put my iPhone into Recovery Mode to downgrade iOS 10 back to iOS 9

    To put iPhone in recovery mode, restart then press and hold both the Sleep/Wake and Home button 13 seconds and keep holding until you see the Recovery Mode screen

    Then downgrade works fine

    • Barren says:

      Downgrade from iOS 10 works fine as is, you don’t need recovery mode. Use the “Update” button and select your IPSW firmware! That’s it! Photos and Music is saved, only iOS 10 uninstalls, but you might lose your contacts and messages, so save those separately if you want them.

      Also back up first, otherwise you may lose your stuff in the downgrade.

  33. Dave Stefan says:

    So, I didn’t make an iOS 9 backup before getting the beta (very stupid) therefore now the only way for me to downgrade is to loose everything. But, is it possible for me to at least backup my photos (and maybe messages)? I don’t really mind loosing my apps, but I just want my photos (and maybe messages).

  34. Stefan David says:

    So, I didn’t make an iOS 9 backup before getting the beta (very stupid) therefore now the only way for me to downgrade is to loose everything. But, is it possible for me to at least backup my photos (and maybe messages)? I don’t really mind loosing my apps.

    • it says:

      I recently downgraded from ios 10 to 9.3.2 and what happened was I restored from the backup before the upgrade and only my apps, messages, phone log etc; was from the day I backed up. all my photos were up to date. I think this has something to do with if you have the sliders in your icloud settings like photos, keychain, and mail, not sure though. I hope this helps!

  35. xparxy says:

    I reverted because too many apps were broken — in truth, I should have expected this; and shouldn’t have installed the beta since I am not a developer. At this point wired backups via iTunes made with iOs 10.0.0 will not re-install even after you restore your phone; you’ll need to revert to a 9.3.2 iCloud backup, or a 9.3.2 iTunes backup.

  36. mo says:

    ok i dont have a pre-ios10 backup. can i make a backup now while i have ios10 beta or will that not work. cuz if i restore to ios9whatever what if the backup doesnt go to the phone cuz the ios has chnaged? someone pleese explain i dont wanna change if my phone wont work. cant tthis website reply ples osxdaily???

  37. Kassandra says:

    I’ve just recently downloaded the iOS 10 beta onto my iPhone, and I have been experiencing some major crashes in my apps. I really wanna downgrade back to 9.3.2, but I already backed up my iPhone on iOS 10, so my question is, if it’s possible to recover data after downgrading to 9.3.2?

  38. Andre says:

    Do you know if that download works in another countries?

    • Payton says:

      Hey Andre,

      I’m not sure if you found an IPSW yet.
      If you haven’t, please check out http://ipsw.me and download a signed firmware from there, then install it using the steps above.

      If you need more help, please don’t hesitate to ask.

      Payton

      • Arsila says:

        Tried doing it recovery mode way. it still shows the ios10 after saying its downloading. post which i get check your network settings. Have tried this number of times but doesnt work at all. Please suggest if any way i can do this. IPSW file is taking ages to download.

  39. Hamza Sheikh says:

    Unfortunately, I had to downgrade my device as well from iOS 10 Beta to iOS 9.3.2. Lots of apps started crashing and it really made my experience bitter.

    • Jane says:

      Hi i downloaded the iOs 10 beta and have crashing prob as well. I tried downloading the iOs 9.3.2 and tried restore iphone but unable to as I get the error message ” This iphone cannot be restored as the firmware is not compatible”. Please help !!!!

  40. Ben Diamond says:

    I ran iOS 10 for a few days and just went back to iOS 9.3.2 using basically the same instructions. I put my device in Recovery Mode but it’s good to know you can do it without.

    Had to erase/reset the device of course, since iOS 10 backups can’t go back to iOS 9.

    • Same exact situation here with my 6S Plus

      • Sam says:

        Yeah I have a similar problem, should’ve backed up the device before downloading the beta unfortunately, and i had to resort to using a semi-old version of my phone

    • Jane says:

      Hi i downloaded the iOs 10 beta to my Iph 6+ and have crashing prob as well. I tried downloading the iOs 9.3.2 and tried restore iphone but unable to as I get the error message ” This iphone cannot be restored as the firmware is not compatible”. Please help !!!!

      • same says:

        Im having the same exact problem someone please help! I hate ios 10 it has too many bugs please help

      • Zaw Htay says:

        I think you had downloaded ipsw to your computer and tried to restore. I also tried many times and got the same messages like you. I would like you to try with itune and let it download ipsw itself. I have successfully downgraded my iphone 5s without losing any data by entering recovery mode. (Before downgrade, you need to delete ios 10 beta profile)

    • Arsila says:

      Tried doing it recovery mode way. it still shows the ios10 after saying its downloading. post which i get check your network settings. Have tried this number of times but doesnt work at all. Please suggest if any way i can do this. IPSW file is taking ages to download.

Leave a Reply

 

Shop on Amazon.com and help support OSXDaily!

Subscribe to OSXDaily

Subscribe to RSS Subscribe to Twitter Feed Follow on Facebook Subscribe to eMail Updates

Tips & Tricks

News

iPhone / iPad

Mac

Troubleshooting

Shop on Amazon to help support this site