How to Downgrade iOS 9.3 to iOS 9.2.1

[Last Updated: Mar.28, 2016]

Several days ago, Apple released the biggest iOS upgrade - iOS 9.3 since iOS 9. To be honest, this is a great release with many nice new features, like Night Shift that offers you a better night rest by cutting down the iPhone iPad display’s blue light cast, Notes with Touch and Password to protect your private data from others, and CarPlay has been updated with better maps and music choices, etc.

All of these sound great, while recently many users reported that they had a serious problem on thier iPhone iPad after upgrading to iOS 9.3 – can’t open links in Safari, Mail and Message App. But even worse, several days has passed,  Apple still haven’t released any effective solution. Just some possible solutions that worked for part of users are shared in Apple Support Communities, and they are shared by users instead of Apple.

Therefore, at this moment, if you are stuck on this problem of can’t open links in Safari, and this has seriously influenced your life and work, the only way you can get rid of it is downgrading iOS 9.3 to iOS 9.2.1. After all, there hasn’t any effective solution. Absolutely, downgrading to iOS 9.2.1 is a complicated and tough process, to help you make it smoothly, here we offer you a step-by-step guide.

Part 1: What You Need to Know/Do Before Downgrading iOS 9.3 to iOS 9.2.1

There are some improtant things you need to know before performing a downgrade on your iPhone or iPad as below:

1. You only can downgrade to the iOS version Apple is still signing (which is iOS 9.2.1).

2. Create a complete backup of your iPhone/iPad with iTunes or iCloud before downgrading to iOS 9.2.1, so that you can get back lost data with this backup if you are unlucky and stuck on some terrible situation.

3. Downgrading to last iOS version is a long process, be patient, and do not quit it until it finishes. How long this process will take depends on how much data needs to be recoved.

4. Once downgraded your iPhone or iPad to iOS 9.2.1, you can’t restore your device with the backups made on iOS 9.3 any more. Only the backup made on iOS 9.2.1 is compatible with your device.

If you only have iOS 9.3 backups, and haven’t any iOS 9.2.1 backups. After downgrading to iOS 9.2.1, you need’t restore your iPhone iPad again. Here we recommand you an iOS managment tool – AnyTrans, which allows you to extract files and data like Photos, Videos, Messages, Contacts, Notes, etc, from an iTunes backup (iCloud founction has been locked by Apple since iOS 9), and help you get them to iDevice again.

Related Guide You May Like: How to Extract Files from iTunes Backup >

5. This tutorial below will guide you to downgrade iOS 9.3 to iOS 9.2.1 only when Apple is still signing iOS 9.2.1. Once Apple stops signing iOS 9.2.1, this tutorial is not work any more. But you still can refer it to downgrade to the iOS 9.3 from the newer iOS version.

Part 2: What You Need to Downgrade to iOS 9.2.1 from iOS 9.3

To make a downgrade from iOS 9.3 to 9.2.1, you need:

• A Mac or PC with the latest iTunes installed, and is connected to network.
• A USB cable for your iPhone or iPad.
• About an hour of time set aside.

Part 3: Step-by-Step Guide to Downgrade iOS 9.3 to iOS 9.2.1

Step 1: Make a full backup of your iPhone iPad. If you want to finish the whole process, you’d better back up it with iTunes instead of iCloud.

Step 2: Turn off Find My iPhone/iPad on your iDevice, go to Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone/iPad > Turn it off.

Step 3: Download the latest iOS 9.2.1 firmware for your iPhone or iPad from IPSW.

When enter the Homepage of Ipsw, you just need to select your device and avaible iOS version. Normally, there are two available iOS versions, one is the curent one, one is the last one. If you just find only one available version, it may as Apple has stopped signing the last version. Absolutely, this website will tell you whether this iOS version is still signing in a direct way, just like the following picture shows:

If your computer is not working with the latest iTunes, you also can download one from IPSW. According to the operating system of your computer, select the right iTunes package.

Step 4: When the download completes, connect your iPhone or iPad to computer (Mac or PC) with its USB cable, and launch iTunes if it doesn’t open automatically.

Step 5: Once connected, place your iPhone or iPad to DFU mode.

To active DFU mode on your iPhone iPad, you need to press the Power and Home button for ten seconds until the Apple logo appers, now release the Power button, but still hold on Home button untill an iTunes window pops up and says “ iTunes has detected an iPhone (iPad) in recovery mode, you must restore this device before it can be used with iTunes”. Now release the finger on Home button from your iPhone or iPad, and click OK in iTunes.

Step 6: In iTunes, click Device button and Summary tab. And then Alt/Option click the “Restore iPhone/iPad” button on Mac, or use Shift click on the “Restore iPhone/iPad”button on Windows.

Step 7: Select the iOS 9.2.1 IPSW file you downloaded earlier.

Step 8: Click Restore and Update button when asked to continue.

Step 9: Then the next screen will offer you the information about iOS 9.2.1 update, click Next button and an Agree button to proceed.

Step 10: Then iTunes will verify the iOS 9.2.1 software, and install it on your iDevice, and then wait for the process to finish.

Step 11: When the whole process finishes, you will enter a “Hello” screen. You just need to follow the screen prompt to set up and activate your iPhone or iPad, and restore your iDevice with an iOS 9.2.1 backup.

Just like we mentioned above, if you haven’t any available iOS 9.2.1 backup, you can use AnyTrans to extract Photos, Messages, Contacts, Call History, and other data from iTunes backup that are made on iOS 9.3 and get them back to your iPhone or iPad again.

Related Articles You May Like: How to Downgrade from iOS 11 to iOS 10.3.2/10.3.1 >

How to Extract Photos from an iTunes Backup >

How to Extract Text Messages from iTunes Backup >

How to Restore Contacts from iTunes Backup >

Now you have downgraded to iOS 9.2.1 successfully. If you find your iPhone or iPad have some problem, please move to this page that collect the most common iOS 9 problems and solutions. Anyway, good luck to you!