If you’ve updated to a newer Android version, but you want to downgrade, then this article will show you how to Downgrade Android Version in Samsung devices to an older version. There could be several reasons, like incompatible apps or an unstable software experience.
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However, this procedure will void your warranty, and service centers may refuse to repair your device. If you flash any custom kernels or install Custom ROMs after downgrading, we’re not responsible for any software damage or boot loops. Downgrading the Android Version if your device is in higher binary is done at your own risk, and we recommend taking a backup of all your essential data before you proceed.
If you’re wondering what Samsung Binary is, it’s a first-party software designed to stop users from installing Custom ROMs, which take away from the experience that Samsung wants to give on your phone.
While it’s impossible to directly downgrade Samsung’s Binary, this method is a workaround that installs old signature stock Samsung software to downgrade your Android version. This may help you circumvent the limitations.
Warning: This method does not downgrade your modem or radio and doesn’t change any boot loader configurations. It doesn’t change or downgrade drivers. It also doesn’t change any critical device images. If you try to alter any of this, your device may go into a permanent boot loop and risk completely getting bricked.
This method does not fully work since there aren’t enough tests, and it has not been tested on all Samsung devices. We can’t tell if it’ll work for all models.
What you’ll need to downgrade Android:
- Latest Binary of the Stock ROM that you need to downgrade.
- A Samsung device with an unlocked bootloader.
- Lz4 unpacker tool.
- Simg2img.exe
- Hxd
- Android Image Kitchen
- Odin
- 7zip
- A Windows personal computer or laptop
How to Downgrade Android Version in Samsung Devices
For Samsung devices running Android 10 and above:
Note: You have to unlock the bootloader of your device first for this to work. Additionally, your device has to be able to use Magisk Mods, or else this won’t work. For example, the Galaxy A20s doesn’t support Magisk, and you can’t use this method. Check whether your device supports it first.
- Download the latest Binary of Stock ROM that you need to downgrade.
- Extract the entire downloaded file.
- Get all the boot images that you need and the recovery images. (vendor.img.ext4.lz4 and system.img.ext4.lz4)
- Convert .lz4 into an img file. Drag and drop the lz4 and convert it into lz4.exe
- Patch the boot.img with Magisk. Then, unpack and repack recovery.img with the Android Image Kitchen.
- Paste simg2img.exe to where the converted super.img is located.
- Open Command Prompt (CMD) from there and type simg2img super.img super.raw. Once done, you will get a super.raw output.
- Open HXD tool and drag and drop super.raw to HXD.
- Use CTRL+F to search all the “U” numbers of the firmware you downloaded. In most cases, it’s U4.
- Find the phases that show some letters as the decoded text. There will be more than one. Fill all these phases with zero bytes.
- Save and remove the super.raw.bak.
- Then, rename the super.raw to super.img and make tar with 7zip, including the patched boot.img, recovery.img and super.img.
- Flash this and format all the data.
Note: vbmeta patched is not essential because of magisk patched boot.img
How to downgrade Android version if you have a system.img and vendor.img device with Android 7,8 or 9
- Repeat all the steps mentioned above until step number 6.
- Convert system.img.ext4 and vendor.img.ext4 to raw using CMD. Simg2img.exe system.ext4.img.raw must go to the same vendor.
- Open both system.xt4.img.raw from Hxd and continue from step number 9 above.
- Save both the vendor and system and delete the .bak files.
- Rename system.img.ext4.raw to system.img.exe4 and vendor.img.ext4.raw to vendor.img.ext4
- Convert to Lz4 by opening CMD and typing lz4-1 system.img.ext4
- Make tar using Magisk patched boot.img and the repacked recovery.img and system.img.ext4.lz4 and vendor.img.ext4.lz4
- Finally, flash and wipe the data.
Note: vbmeta patched is not essential because of magisk patched boot.img
The method has currently been tested on the Samsung Galaxy M01 (Snapdragon 439), downgraded to Android 10 from 12. It also works on the Galaxy A71, which successfully went from Android 13 to Android 10.
You can use this method to update your Android version, even if you don’t want to upgrade your Binary version. The method is so far untested on MediaTek-powered Samsung phones, and it probably only works well for Qualcomm devices. According to some users, the super.img flashing doesn’t work on the Exynos versions of the Galaxy A51 and Galaxy S20, so it might not work at all for Exynos phones, though further testing is necessary. However, it works successfully for the Snapdragon version of the S20FE.
