How to Downgrade Your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch

Important Note: This process won’t work if you haven’t saved your SHSH blobs.

This page is our ultimate guide to downgrading your iPhone, iPad or iPod. Whether you upgraded to a version of iOS that is giving you problems or you’re a developer and you just want to see how your app works with older versions, you’re in the right place.
Here you’ll find the definition of downgrading, answers to some frequently asked questions, and of course tutorials on how to do it.

What is Downgrading?

Downgrading is the process of installing a previous version of iOS, the software on your iDevice. In order to fight fragmentation (and other things), Apple does not allow users to downgrade their iDevice software. So the jailbreak community had to come up with their own solution.
If you’ve ever updated your iPhone’s software through iTunes before, you’ve probably noticed the “verifying restore with Apple” message before. That’s iTunes, talking with Apple’s servers, to make sure you are installing the newest version of iOS.

Then How is Downgrading Possible?
With a little bit of text editing and the use of applications like TinyUmbrella, we can actually trick iTunes into thinking it’s talking to Apple’s servers. When in actuality, the sync-software is redirected to Saurik’s servers which gives the thumbs up to proceed with the restore of the older firmware.
Why Would I Need to Downgrade?
As mentioned earlier, app developers who want to make sure their applications are compatible with earlier versions of firmware would want to downgrade. The most common reason you’ll see on this site however, is to save a jailbreak.
Although it only takes us a click of a button for us, the work behind jailbreaking can sometimes take months. If you update to a version of iOS that hasn’t been jailbroken yet, downgrading will allow you to revert to a version that has.

What Are SHSH Blobs and How Important are They?
We won’t get too much into what SHSH blobs are, but they are important. Like you typically-can’t-downgrade without-previously-saving-your-SHSH-blobs important.
The blobs contain your iDevice’s ECID (digital fingerprint) and play an important role in the communication between iTunes and “Apple.” This is why before you upgrade your iOS firmware, we ALWAYS recommend you save your SHSH blobs from the current version.
This can be done with programs like TinyUmbrella or iFaith. Both are free to download and fairly simple to use. We recommend saving your SHSH blobs on every jailbroken firmware you land on, so even if your iDevice gets accidentally updated in the future, you can always go back.

What if I Didn’t Save Them, is There any Hope?
As we mentioned before, SHSH blobs contain your iDevice’s digital fingerprint, so it’s not something that can be replicated or downloaded. Typically, there isn’t anything you can do if you’ve upgraded and your blobs from the previous firmware weren’t saved.
However, Apple doesn’t always stop signing the previous version of iOS the moment it releases a new one. For instance, if you upgrade to a beta version of iOS and want to downgrade, chances are Apple is still signing the old software.
Step 1. Download the version of iOS you wish to downgrade to . I recommend saving it to your desktop to keep things simple.

Step 2. Windows users navigate to C:/Windows/System32/drivers/etc.
Mac users open your Terminal app and enter:
sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts
A text pad should open if you did it correctly. If you’re having troubles, make sure you have inserted a space after sudo and before /etc/.

Step 3. Add 74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com to the bottom of the notepad, under the last line that reads #127.0.0.1 gs.apple.com, and save it.

Step 4. Connect your iDevice to your computer and put it into DFU mode: hold home button + power button for 10 seconds, then let go of the power button and continue holding the home button for another 10 seconds). iTunes should auto-launch and give you the option to restore the device.

Step 5. Hold down the SHIFT key (OPTION key for Mac users) and click restore. A browser window should pop open allowing you to choose a firmware to restore to. Locate the the iOS file you downloaded earlier and select it.

Step 6: During the restore process, iTunes may give you error message 1004, 1015 ,or 1013 (etc), don’t panic! This is normal. Simply click OK. Your iPhone should be stuck in Recovery Mode. Download Fix Recovery or Windows and run the .exe file. Some code will go through your iPhone or iPad, then your device will reboot.

And that’s it. Let iTunes take it from here, and within minutes you should be fully restored.

Important Note: This process won’t work if you haven’t saved your SHSH blobs.