iPhone 5s

How to downgrade your iPhone or iPad from iOS Beta releases

How to remove the iOS beta and bring back to the official version

Installing a beta software on your smartphone has many advantages, like the early access to all new features and improvements in iOS. However, sometimes the experience with iOS beta software could not be as painless as expected. That’s why some users may decide to roll back to the official release and just wait the official upgrade once it becomes available to the general public. In this tutorial we explain how you could downgrade an iPhone or iPad from iOS beta release.

First of all, it’s very important to have an archived iTunes backup, otherwise your device will be wiped off and returned to the factory state. To create an archived backup using iTunes:

  • Connect the device to the Mac with latest iTunes version
  • Go to Backups → This Computer → and select Encrypt iPhone backup, set a password
  • tap Back up Now
  • From the iTunes menu select Preferences, Devices tab and right click on the most recent backup to archive it

After you’ve created an archived backup of your iPhone or iPad you can proceed with the downgrade. Here are the steps:

  1. Open Settings – iCloud, and turn off ‘Find my Phone’

  2. Turn off the phone

  3. Plug the device into a PC or Mac while holding down the Home button

  4. Hold down the Home button until you see the iTunes logo on the screen. That means you’ve successfully entered the recovery mode

  5. Tap ‘Restore’ on the Mac or the PC to erase and restore the device

  6. Tap ‘Restore and Update’ to start the restoration process

After downloading and installing the official iOS version, your device will be erased after the recovery process. If you have a backup you should choose ‘Restore Backup’ in iTunes, and then Select the backup and confirm.