How to Downgrade Your iPhone (Without Losing Data)

How to Downgrade iOS 16 to iOS 15! (Without Losing Data) | Remove & Uninstall iOS 16 Beta to iOS 15.5
Update: This still works the same in 2024 with iOS 18.

Apple just recently released the iOS 16 Public Beta and now a lot of users will begin installing it on their main device without thinking twice about the potential downsides.

So, if you did install the iOS 16 Beta and you're having issues now, luckily there is a way to go back to a stable iOS 15 build and uninstall the iOS 16 Beta. And thankfully you can do it without losing any of your data, like photos, text messages, etc. This video will show you exactly how!

For Windows users:
1. Press win + R
2. Type in %appdata%
3. Go to Apple Computer/MobileSync/Backup
4. Sort by Last Modified to find most recent backup(s)

For Mac, backup files are located in:
~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:24 Why Downgrade?
0:50 Step 1
1:19 Step 2
2:02 Step 3
2:22 Step 4
3:19 Step 5 (Important!)
5:13 Step 6
7:14 Step 7
7:45 Successful Downgrade to iOS 15!
8:49 Conclusion

Did you install iOS 16 yet? If you plan to downgrade, what was the reasoning for it?

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Have a fantastic day & I'll see you in the next video!

[BrandonButch]

Edit: Make sure you turn on "Messages" in your iCloud settings before doing a backup. That way your Messages will be recovered after downgrading.

What made you want to downgrade back to iOS 15? 🤔

[boymeetsvanity]

I had an amazing hands-on experience with the new features on iOS 16 but the amount of times I had to charge my phone in a single day... It's better if I downgrade. Great video!

[dexteer]

Thank for this I updated to iOS 16 and my screen became problematic unresponsive at times so definitely needed this. Great walkthrough. Thanks :)

[owebcompany]

Still using this method to downgrade from ios 18 to 17! Thank you Brandon

[bremaster]

This was incredibly helpful man. I’m finally back at iOS 15.6.1 on my iPhone 11 Pro Max. I didn’t like iOS 16.0 at all. Even them adding the battery percentage back wasn’t that big of a deal enough for me to upgrade. I’m grateful that you showed us this. :) :) :)

[Ryan.Mon]

Favorite New Feature: Haptic feedback on the Apple Keyboard was a game changer. But they should have the setting on automatically.

Life saver, man. I couldn't get the file that moves over data from iOS 16. But I was able to restore from iCloud backup right before I downloaded the beta. Everything is back except an app or two I didn't have a week ago. Great video!

[sophiajanetellidua]

I followed the steps and I successfully downgraded to iOs 15.6.1! My phone had ghost touch after iOs 16 update! You have been a great help! The iStore staff I should get it serviced and it would have taken a week before they can return my phone after doing so. But I thought 1 week is too long so I looked up ways to fix the issue and stumbled upon this tutorial. It has saved me money and time! Thank you so much! Keep doing what you are doing!

[kennydouglas]

Thank you so much for this! I was having a genuine nightmare trying to restore from the official iOS 16.0 back to iOS 15.7, as my screen experienced a lot of touch issues on iOS 16. So until a fix is ready (as I understand I'm far from the only one), I will stay on 15.7. Thanks again

[kristinaveirum]

This is SO helpful for so many people so I think it’s awesome you’re making a video about it 👏🏼

I wish I had your desktop background as a wallpaper on my iPhone. It’s sooo beautiful!! 🤩

[MelissaMcKoy]

I installed the iOS 16 update last night with my phone battery at 100%. No apps were open and I didn’t touch my phone for the next 8 or 9 hours, after which I turned off my alarm and immediately put the phone back down. Two hours later, the as yet unused phone had a charge of 60%. After 2 hours of minimal use (productivity app and Messages), the battery was down to 40%. That’s insane! The only explanation was iOS 16. I tried other methods to go back to the previous iOS, but this is the one that worked! Thank you!

[hasanal-haidari]

I have updated yesterday when it released.
I’m so satisfied, battery performance is very good, the mobile temperature is normal, no heat, in general the performance is great with no bugs until now after 24 hours of usage.

[stphngrnr]

This video has saved me. For the first time in betas, some of my core banking apps crash on load under iOS 16 beta. Followed this and it has been great <3

[Tyler_ThaTruth]

ive done this process over a million times but I cant trust my memory lol thanks again for a updated video on a easy to follow process to downgrade, I promise myself I wont download ios 16 beta 4 (maybe)

[mortimer]

Good video, and thank you so much. iOS16 did caused some of my 3rd party apps not working, but I didn't notice until two weeks after iOS 16 upgrade. One thing I'd like to add is for Windows 11, the path for the backups is: - insert proper username in the username section.

[SouravSivadasan]

FYI for people with windows, u need may not find "manage backup" in iTunes. You can run either "%appdata%" or "%USERPROFILE%" in cmd and in either of the folders, u may find the apple folder.

[punchwater]

Took four hours, but using this method, I got through it. Thank you - I was getting nervous about ios 16's low battery life on my iPhone 13 Pro Max, so I switched back. Downloaded Atom to view the code and change the 16 to 15, didn't really experience any issues. Thanks so much!

[noblepadawan]

I was on the beta for a couple hours before I got annoyed and downgraded back. Lock screen customization, I'd say, was the killer feature of this update. Yet, it got rid of my custom live wallpaper. There are basically only 4 fonts for the time. The widget complications all have to be the same color as the time and can't be like the colorful default on the apple watch. The battery complication widget is only for the apple watch and can't even display the battery percentage of the device its on. The weather text widget is left aligned when its the widget activated and all the other text is centered. The controls for the live music icon are no longer even and balanced because the airplay icon is now aligned next to it on the bottom right making the bottom left empty and feeling lopsided. Also the lock screen customization screen kept asking me if I want to have the same wallpaper on my home screen as on my lock screen every time I changed a widget and wouldn't let me save unless I had to press some extra buttons and say no.

[laurahadorn]

I have an iphoneX. Once I upgraded to 16 could not use my phone. Screen did not respond, ghost typing, uncontrolled movements of screen. Went to Apple store for help and was told it was the hardware and needed a new phone. Watched your video and with some help was able to go back to 15 and phone works like it did. Thank you so much.

[radovansurlak]

Thanks a lot Brandon. Installed the iOS 16 beta to try the features out. I have encountered several bugs and major slowdown, so downgrading now.

[JasonLawrenceNoel]

Awesome video!!! Thank you :)
Does this work for Apple Watch?