How do I downgrade from iOS 26 to iOS 18

timdavis130 wrote:

I upgraded to iOS 26 when it was released and hate it. Everything is worse. How can I go back to iOS 18? I have an iPad an iPhone and 2 Apple Watches that were upgraded.

You can't downgrade. It has never been supported. I think iOS 26 is pretty cool, but as with all Major iOS updates, there is a learning curve and once you get accustomed to things, you'll likely no longer even remember the previous iOS. That is until next September, when an all new iOS is released again.

bgride wrote:

What version of IOS will be on the Factory Reset? I checked the health a while ago and the health is good but the OS is killing it.

When you restore your phone, it will still be on iOS 26. You can't downgrade it.

Just so you know, if you update your iPhone, there’s no going back.

This update has caused allot of confusion and has been a steep adjustment for many users.

The new user interface is here to stay and has been thoroughly tested throughout the Beta program process.

You can adjust display preferences as well as Accessibility settings to better reflect your needs.

You have the option to provide ⇢ Product Feedback.

If enough requests are made, your feedback might help with future development, like a toggle in the settings.

Good luck! 👋🏼😉

timdavis130 wrote:

Will I also forget that all my devices (not that old, 1 or 2 years, and I always buy Pro iOS an IPad devices) were never slow and laggy? To the point where they get hard to use because you aren’t sure if you actually pressed a button or not?

My iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max are running just fine on iOS 26. If your iPhone is running slow, you could have a LOT data to index, which could take a few days. It takes time to index millions and millions of bytes of data.

Read this link about what to expect after an iOS update --> About Apple software updates - Apple Support

This is the worst update yet. My battery is near zero and I need to at least power this usage down as the IOS is sucking the life out of my phone. Does anyone have any ideas to help here? If I back everything up and do a factory reset will that work?

bgride wrote:

This is the worst update yet. My battery is near zero and I need to at least power this usage down as the IOS is sucking the life out of my phone. Does anyone have any ideas to help here? If I back everything up and do a factory reset will that work?

What is your Battery Health on your iPhone? Settings > Battery > Battery Health.

Sure, you can backup your iPhone (preferably using your computer) then restore your phone from the backup --> Restore all content to iPhone from a backup - Apple Support

Also, when you updated, did you do a Forced Restart after updating? I do this after EVERY iOS update and I've never had an issue with any update, ever --> Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

domster7 wrote:

Not if you restore to an 18.x ipsw, which is still being signed by Apple.

For a very short time window, yes. If history repeats itself, it will stop being signed in a matter of days. But either way, as lobsterghost1 said, doing so is not supported, even if it's possible for a short while.

What version of IOS will be on the Factory Reset? I checked the health a while ago and the health is good but the OS is killing it.

Giving that a try. Thanks will let you know!

Like they said, it’s the same OS, as you can’t downgrade. Factory Resetting won’t change the OS.

>When you restore your phone, it will still be on iOS 26. You can't downgrade it.

Not if you restore to an 18.x ipsw, which is still being signed by Apple.

[Edited by Moderator]

> doing so is not supported, even if it's possible for a short while.

What do you mean "not supported"? It's a normal restore, using Apple's own instructions. I just did it myself.