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How to downgrade to iOS 6.1.x without losing data - the right way

Sirious

Sirious

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 2, 2013
1,698
2,984
United Kingdom, London
Hey,
I thought I'd share something that I found out myself which might help people who want to keep their current data when downgrading back to iOS 6.1.x (with x being 3 or 4 - depending on your device's current public release).

Despite what people think, you can definitely downgrade to iOS 6.1.x without entering DFU mode, restoring your device or losing data.
Here are the steps.

Before you begin, I recommend that you remove Newsstand from the folder you put it in and have your folders with no more than 12 apps in them, just to make the switch even more seamless.

  1. Locate and download the IPSW for iOS 6.1.x yourself
  2. Connect your device and in iTunes, press Shift (or alt on Mac) and choose 'Check for Update' - NOT restore.
  3. Select the IPSW for iOS 6.1.3.
  4. Your phone will 'update' to iOS 6.1.3.
This will change your software from iOS 7 to 6.1.x without affecting any current data. If you tried to restore instead, you would not be able to use the iOS 7 backup because a new backup will not work with old software.

This works because iOS 7 is not signed as a public release. You are effectively updating to the public release - with no need to go time travel to last week's backup.

Note: For the best downgrade, you should take the plunge and just hit Restore.
Good luck!
 
Last edited:
mine went into DFU at the end of the update... do i have to do the whole process again?
 
hey op, you weren't that clear do I have to be on DFU or not? thanks for the tip tho' if it works you are the master!
 
falkedup said:
mine went into DFU at the end of the update... do i have to do the whole process again?
Click to expand...

This is normal. This method didn't work and this was the case when iOS 6 was in beta and people tried to go back by "updating". I don't know how this can work. OP: Have you tried it yourself?
 
batting1000 said:
This is nothing new honestly and could be done with every iOS beta in the past, but it's good that someone brought it up.
Click to expand...
Why isn't this mentioned in pretty much any thread talking about going back to iOS 6 without losing data? All of those kinds of threads end up having a bunch of replies from different people simply saying it can't be done and you only can do it using an iOS 6 backup (or just starting it all anew). Seems like this "old" method should be brought up sooner or later in those threads, and yet it doesn't seem to be.
 
C DM said:
Why isn't this mentioned in pretty much any thread talking about going back to iOS 6 without losing data? All of those kinds of threads end up having a bunch of replies from different people simply saying it can't be done and you only can do it using an iOS 6 backup (or just starting it all anew). Seems like this "old" method should be brought up sooner or later in those threads, and yet it doesn't seem to be.
Click to expand...

I personally forgot about it until a couple days ago. I wasn't really sure I wanted to suggest it to anyone because I wasn't sure if it would apply to iOS 7 or not.
 
Last edited:
C DM said:
Why isn't this mentioned in pretty much any thread talking about going back to iOS 6 without losing data? All of those kinds of threads end up having a bunch of replies from different people simply saying it can't be done and you only can do it using an iOS 6 backup (or just starting it all anew). Seems like this "old" method should be brought up sooner or later in those threads, and yet it doesn't seem to be.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read that comment.
 
mine keeps ending up in dfu mode. I backed up ios7 to icloud then i clicked check for update while holding alt. i selected 6.1.3 and it still puts me in dfu mode after it finishes.

please help
 
falkedup said:
mine keeps ending up in dfu mode. I backed up ios7 to icloud then i clicked check for update while holding alt. i selected 6.1.3 and it still puts me in dfu mode after it finishes.

please help
Click to expand...

You might be better off restoring instead. This is why I wasn't sure if this method should be brought up or not.
 
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