How to roll back Android to a previous version

The developers of the Android operating system periodically release updates, fixing bugs and adding new features. To download a new version of the firmware, the user goes to the desired section of the phone settings, where he only has to press one button. After these simple steps the device will reboot and after turning on it will give joy to its owner with the updated OS. However, not always the new firmware is better than the old one, so people wonder how to roll back Android to a previous version. Let's take a detailed look at the possible options, as well as deal with some of the features.

Why rollback

To roll back the previous version of the firmware, that is to make a rollback, you may need for a variety of reasons. More often users decide to do this, if after the next update the phone starts to lag. In general on older smartphones is not recommended install the latest version of the operating system. This can lead not only to slow operation of the device, but also to the termination of some applications on it.

By the way, after installing the new firmware, some not very popular programs simply refuse to start. This is explained by the fact that the developers have not yet had time to optimize the software for the "fresh" Android, or do not intend to do so at all. If a person regularly used such an application, and there is no desire and opportunity to change the smartphone, then a reasonable solution would be to roll back the system to a previous version.

When it can be done

To save money, many manufacturers of technological devices, such as laptops, optimize them only for specific versions of operating systems. And if the device was originally running Windows 10, it will be almost impossible to install Windows 7 on it in most cases. A similar situation occurs with smartphones - it is rarely possible to download firmware of an earlier version than the pre-installed one.

The whole reason often lies in the components, namely the installed processors. Manufacturers do not consider it necessary to incur additional costs, optimizing their "hardware" for all existing versions of Android. Therefore it turns out that the modern Snapdragon 845 simply will not run on Android 5.0.

However, we are talking about a rollback, which means that a previous version of the operating system was once installed on the smartphone. Yes, this is true, but the file with the old firmware after another update is simply deleted without the possibility of recovery. That's why you have to resort to complex ways of reflashing, not always understandable to the average user.

Returning to an older version of Android

You can roll back your smartphone to a previous version using different methods. Each user chooses the appropriate option for himself based on the smartphone model, firmware version and computer availability. Read each method carefully, and only then start the procedure.

Via computer

As you can understand from the name, for this method you need a computer and a USB cable. The first thing you need to do is to find and download the necessary firmware, i.e. the Android image, to your PC. We recommend for this purpose to use the site 4pda.ruwhere a huge catalog with different versions of the operating system for different devices can be found. You can also try searching for the firmware on the official website manufacturerif there is one.

The next step is to download the program archive to your computer ADB Tools. There is nothing complicated here - just click on the name of the utility in the text and download the file.

Now unpack the downloaded archive to a convenient location on your PC. It is better to use the C drive for this purpose, but you can use any other folder. It is important that the path to the file did not contain Russian letters and numbers. Move the archive to the desired directory, then right-click on it and select "Extract to current folder". Finally, in the file manager you should see a folder named "ADB Tools".

Finally, we go to the smartphone and turn it on USB debugging. Here are step-by-step instructions for clarity:

1. Go to settings.
2. Go to "About phone" or "About device". Press the "Build number" or "Firmware version" line several times. As a result a message should appear on the screen with the text: "You became a developer".
3. Go back to the main settings page and open the "Advanced Settings" tab.
4. Find "For Developers" and click on it.
5. On the page that opens, move the slider to the right next to the "USB debugging" line.
6. Click the "OK" button in the window that appears.

And now, when the desired mode is activated, turn off the phone completely. Make sure that the device unlocked bootloaderand save all important files, photos, videos, and other information somewhere. If everything is okay, then simultaneously press the power button and the volume key down. As an example, Xiaomi smartphone is used, so a picture with the caption "Fastboot" should appear on the screen. As for other devices, the display is likely to show the menu "Recovery". In it, you need to go to the items "wipe cache partition" and "wipe date/factory reset", confirming the choice.

The next step is to connect the device to the computer via USB cable. This is an ordinary cord used to charge the phone. Next, the necessary drivers should be automatically loaded on the PC. Of course, if the version of the operating system is Windows 7 and above. By the way, don't forget to open the phone's notification curtain and change the "USB charging" option to "File transfer".

Go back to the folder "ADB Tools" and move the archive with the firmware to it. Then unzip it by right-clicking on the file and select "Extract to current folder".

In the current folder, find a file named "flash-all.bat" and double-click to open it.

Performing the previous step will result in automatic reflashing, at the end of which the device will reboot. If you carefully follow the instructions, the procedure will be completed successfully. However, there is still a chance that the smartphone will turn into a "brick".

Via TWRP

TWRP - custom recovers are installed on some smartphones by default. It is with its help that the rollback of Android to a previous version will be performed. Since such Recovery is found only on a small number of devices, you need to download it yourself. The easiest way without root rights is to use ADB and Fastboot.

So, the first thing to install TWRP is to start your computer or laptop running the Windows operating system. Now download the package to it Minimal ADB and Fastbootcontaining the ADB and Fastboot utilities required for operation. Run the downloaded file and follow the simple instructions of the installer.

After installation, go to the selected directory and check for two applications: ADB and Fastboot.

Go back to the phone and put it in "USB debugging".. How to do this is described in detail in the previous method. After that connect the device to your computer with a USB cable.

On the PC run the command line as administrator (menu "Start" - "cmd.exe"). In it enter the command cd Path_to_folder_with_ADB. For example, the folder with programs is located in the root of drive C, then enter cd C:\Minimal ADB and Fastboot and press "Enter". Next, check the visibility of the smartphone utility by entering the command adb devices.

The next step is to download the TWRP Recovery image file for your phone to your computer. To do this go to official developer site, search for the desired device model and complete the download.

The downloaded file is moved to the folder where the ADB and Fastboot applications are located. For clarity, it is recommended to change its name to "twrp.img".

Open a command prompt and enter the query adb reboot bootloader. After pressing the "Enter" key, the phone should switch to Fastboot mode, which will be indicated by the corresponding picture on the screen.

Now you can proceed directly to the installation of the custom recovers. At the command line, enter the command fastboot flash recovery twrp.imgwhere twrp.img is the TWRP image file that was renamed earlier. When the procedure has been successfully completed, the corresponding message will appear on the PC screen.

Next, reboot the phone in normal mode by entering the command fastboot reboot. After that you can proceed to reflashing the device. The first thing we do is to download the archive with the firmware to your computer, you don't need to unpack it. Then we transfer the necessary files to the memory card and insert it into the phone. It is important to choose a folder with a simple and clear name in English.

Now enter the "Recovery" menu by simultaneously clicking on one of the pairs the following buttons:

• Volume down + Power;
• Volume up + Power;
• Home button + one of the volume keys + power button;

Next, in the "Recovery" menu, execute following acts:

1. Click on "Wipe".
2. Move the "Swipe to Factory Reset" slider to the right. This action starts file system cleaning phones.
3. After completing the procedure, press the "Back" button.
4. Click the "Install" button.
5. Select the storage where the necessary files for reflashing are located and click "OK".
6. Find the required archive with the firmware, and then check the "Zip file signature verification" checkbox.
7. Start the firmware installation process by sliding the "Swipe to Confirm Flash" slider to the right.

When the installation is successful, the corresponding inscription will appear on the screen. It remains to reboot the device by pressing the "Reboot System".

Through the update menu (OTA)

The next method involves the use of update menu (OTO). The advantage of this method is that you do not need any cables and wires. Since the update is installed by air, the rollback to the previous version is done in the same way. First, let's look at the most simple instructionand then move on to the more advanced one:

1. Download the archive with the necessary firmware to your smartphone.
2. Go to the phone settings. As an example, we use the Xiaomi smartphone, so on other devices the procedure may be different.
3. Go to the "About phone" section.
4. Go to the "System Update" tab.
5. Click on the "three dots" located in the upper right corner of the screen.
6. Select the "Select firmware file" option and specify the path to the previously downloaded archive.
7. The system will request permission to reboot the device. Grant it and wait for the procedure to complete.

In most cases the system does not allow you to roll back to a previous version, so we recommend using an alternative method. It requires a computer and an installed utility ADB Run. First, activate USB debug mode on the phone and connect the device to the computer. Then turn off the smartphone and enter the "Recovery" menu. From there we go to the section "apply update from ADB". The firmware file must be moved to the folder with the ADB utility.

Now start the ADB Run utility on the PC and enter the command "7". Press the "Enter" button and enter the number "1" in the input line.

Enter the command "adb sideload_archive_name_with_firmware.zip" and press "Enter". Immediately after this action the reflashing process should start and if successful, the corresponding inscription will appear on the screen.

Via Titanium Backup

Before proceeding to the instructions, note that this method is only suitable for smartphones with root rights. If not, then use one of the previous methods. So, the first thing to do is to install an application on your phone Titanium Backup. For safety reasons, we recommend that you install on Google Playrather than using a third-party site to do so.

Start the program and go to the "Restore" tab, and then select "Restore OS with data".

The rollback will be done to the firmware originally installed on the particular device.

Video tutorial

To summarize, rolling back Android to a previous version is a very complicated procedure for unprepared users. Remember that in the process of performing all actions there is a risk of irrevocably turning your device into a "brick".