Want to roll your iPhone back to iOS 9.3? Here's how.

iOS 10 is brand-spanking new, flush with new features and new ways to do stuff with old features. But if you need to downgrade your device back to iOS 9.3, that's fine. What's more, downgrading is easy: All you need is an archived backup of your device pre-iOS 10, iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC, and to follow the steps below!

Note: If you're reading this article on the iPhone or iPad you want to revert, either print it out first or open it on another iPhone, iPad, or computer so that you can read along as you go.

How to put your iPhone and iPad into recovery mode

There's no button tap to revert your device back to iOS 9.3. So, to get started, you'll need to put your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch into recovery mode. That lets iTunes take over.

  1. Turn off your iPhone or iPad. (Hold down the Sleep/Wake button until Slide to power off appears, the slide.)
  2. Plug your USB to Lightning cable (or USB to 30-pin Dock cable for older devices) into your computer.
  3. Hold down—and keep holding down—the Home button on your iPhone or iPad.
  4. Plug your USB to Lightning cable (or USB to 30-pin Dock cable for older devices) into your iPhone or iPad.
  5. Continue holding down the Home button until the connect to iTunes screen comes up.


If, for some reason, Recovery Mode doesn't work, you can also try putting your iPhone or iPad into DFU mode. Device Firmware Update mode is a little trickier to get into, but will often force a restore even when nothing else works.

How to downgrade to iOS 9.3 on your iPhone or iPad

If iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC doesn't launch automatically, launch it manually. iTunes will detect your device in recovery mode and ask you what you want to do.

  1. Click Restore on the iTunes popup.
  2. Click Restore and Update to confirm.


  3. Click Next on the iOS 9.3 Software Updater.
  4. Click Agree to accept the Terms and Conditions and start downloading iOS 9.3.


If your device reboots to iOS 10 before the download is complete, simply repeat the steps above and put it back into Recovery Mode. Once the download is complete, iTunes will restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iOS 9.3.

How to restore your archived iOS 9.3 backup to your iPhone or iPad

Once your device is restored, it'll have a clean copy of iOS 9.3. To get your data back, you'll need to restore from a previous backup. If you've been running iOS 10 for more than a day, your standard iCloud or iTunes backup will likely be iOS 10-based and may not restore properly to an iOS 9.3 device. That's where the archived backup you made prior to installing iOS 10 comes in.

  1. Select Restore from this backup in iTunes.
  2. Choose the archived backup you made before installing iOS 10.

Once the restore is completed, your iPhone or iPad should be back to where it was before you installed iOS 10. If you've made any major changes since then, and they don't sync back some other way, you may have to repeat them to get back to exactly where you were before downgrading.

If you run into any trouble or have any questions, ask away in the comments!