Keeping your Apple phone up to date is generally a good practice, as new updates contain support for the latest features and bug fixes from the last version. But you may encounter a situation where you want to stop the iOS updates and keep the previous version of iOS.
To stop iOS updates, turn off your Wi-Fi and go to iPhone Settings. Then, go to the “General” tab and tap on the “iPhone Storage” tab. Then scroll down and look for the iOS Update icon. Click on it and then tap on “Delete Update”. Confirm that you want to delete the update, and the iOS update will be deleted and stopped.
But stopping the update once does not mean that your device will not try and download this update again. This is a whole other issue that needs to be resolved separately. Because even if you stop an iOS update once, the phone will try and download/install this update at a later time.
To stop an iOS update in progress, the first step will always be to turn off Wi-Fi/Cellular Data so that the download stops midway.
We are going to take a look at the step-by-step method on how to stop the iOS update that is in progress. Then, there is a detailed guide on how to avoid this situation altogether by disabling auto download and installation of updates.
Stop an iOS Update in Progress
Once the iOS starts downloading a new update, you can not stop this by going into the “Software Update” tab in the “General” Settings. But another way to stop this download is to delete the downloaded update file. Let’s take a look at the step-by-step guide on how to do this.
Follow these steps to stop iOS updates in progress.
Step #1: Go to “General” Settings
Tap the gear-like icon on the home screen to open the Settings app on your iPhone, and then tap on the “General” tab to access “General” Settings.
Step #2: Open “iPhone Storage”
In the “General” tab, look for the “iPhone Storage” option and tap on it. This contains all the apps that are taking up memory, including the iOS update file that is being downloaded.
Step #3: Delete the Update File
Inside “iPhone Storage”, scroll and look for the iOS Update File. The icon will be exactly like the Settings icon accompanied by the “iOS + version number” letter.
Tap on this file and click on the “Delete Update” option. The system will ask you to confirm. Click on “Delete” to confirm, and the file will be deleted, and the iOS update in progress will stop.
By following these steps, you can stop an iOS update, no matter whether it was being downloaded or installed. This method works for both situations.
Disable Auto-Update Downloading/Installing
Now, let’s take a look at how you can stop the updates from downloading/installing automatically if you are planning to keep your phone on the old version of iOS for a long time. You can enable this setting anytime you want to update your phone to the latest version.
- Go to Settings and tap on the “General” tab.
- Click on the “Software Update” tab to access update-related settings.
- Click on “Automatic Updates” to open auto update settings.
There are two options in the “Automatic Updates” settings.
- Download iOS Update: This option downloads the iOS update automatically whenever a new version is available. Toggle it off, and your phone will no longer automatically download a new update. The second option will be greyed out when this option is turned off.
- Install iOS Update: This option automatically installs the iOS update whenever a new update is downloaded. We recommend toggling this option off while keeping the “Download iOS Update” option on.
- Your phone will download updates, but these will not be installed. But when you do want to update your phone, you will not have to download huge update files first, as they will already be downloaded.
Conclusion
A download that is in progress can be stopped by deleting the update file from the iPhone Storage option in General Settings. This method works for both scenarios, whether the update is downloaded or installed.
If you want to keep the old iOS version for a long time, stopping the update every time it starts can be a hassle. There is another setting that controls the automatic download and installation of updates. You can either disable the “Automatic Download of iOS” updates or the “Automatic Installation of Updates”.
As discussed earlier, we recommend disabling the automatic installation of updates while keeping the automatic downloading of updates on. This way, all the new updates will be available to install anytime you want to update your iOS to the latest version. You will not have to download the iOS update files as they are already available.
