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How To Downgrade From iOS 8 To iOS 7.1.2
If you want to go back to iOS 7.1.2 after updating to iOS 8, don’t worry, it’s still possible and here’s how
We love iOS 8, just have a look at our review here for the new update. But not everybody does, we get that. It can take up a lot of room on your iPhone or iPad and some of the features can really slow it down.
Maybe you downloaded the update for your iPhone 4S before reading our warning. Don’t worry, there is a way to go back to the perfectly good iOS 7.1.2. Down below we are going to talk you through the steps to get your iPhone or iPad back to the older software. Let us get started.
All the steps coming up below are the same whether you are using a Mac or have a Windows PC. You can’t do this for the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus.
Note: If you want to downgrade to iOS 7.1.2 at any stage, make it quick. Apple may take the files down at any point making it almost impossible to downgrade from iOS 8.
Turn Off Find My iPhone
First off we need to make sure the Find My iPhone application is turned off. To do so head into Settings, then iCloud and select Find My iPhone at the bottom of the page. You then need to toggle it to off, it’s just so we can restore the phone at a later stage.
Grab The Software
The easiest way to get the software you need is on iDownloadBlog’s website. Use that link you just scanned over and you want to find the relevant file to you depending on which iPhone or iPad you are using.
Restore Your iPhone
Once the software is downloaded to your computer, you want to connect your iPhone up and open iTunes. On the Summary page you’ll see where it says Check For Update or Restore iPhone. Hold down ALT on your keyboard and press on Restore iPhone.
Now you need to select the downloaded file on your computer, so find where you saved that and select it. You’ll then get a warning along the lines of “iTunes will erase and restore your iPhone to iOS 7.1.2”. All you want to do is hit Restore.
Time To Wait
It may take a while. Your iPhone will likely shut down and start up a couple of times during the process so make sure you don’t need it for a little while. Whatever you do, don’t unplug the iPhone half way through the process.
Congratulations! You should now be running iOS 7.1.2. If you ever want to upgrade back up to iOS 8, here’s how.
James Peckham
15:04, 25 Sep 2014