to download the iOS 18 beta right away and try out all new iPhone features, such as customizing your Home and Lock screens, configuring Control Center and exploring the redesigned Photos app. (Be sure to make a backup of your data first!) The system-wide Apple Intelligence tech is coming in beta later this fall. It's exciting to play with the newest tech months before most people will see it.
But there's a reason iOS 18 is still in beta: Bugs and performance snags typical of prerelease software can disrupt your everyday use, which is why you shouldn't install it on your main iPhone. If you find this first version to be too brittle, you can head back to the safe shores of iOS 17 by following these steps.
Reverting to the previous system version isn't a matter of replacing a few key files here and there -- you'll need to erase the phone and install the current release version. This is why it's important to back up your iPhone before installing the beta (or, honestly, updating any version of iOS).
Note: If your excitement got the best of you and you skipped the backup step, you should still attempt to sync your important data, such as contacts, photos and notes to iCloud. Go to Settings, tap your name to view your Apple Account and then tap iCloud. Tap the categories for items saved to iCloud, such as Mail or Drive, and make sure they're set to sync. Note that this is different from iCloud Backup, which encompasses more data.
First, if you're restoring from a Mac, make sure you're running the latest version of MacOS:
If an update is listed -- and you have a current backup -- go ahead and install it.
Under Windows, open the Apple Devices app, which replaced iTunes as Apple's conduit for managing its devices.
If you've enabled Find My for that device, you'll want to turn it off before you revert back to iOS 17. Find My is key to the Activation Lock security feature that requires the Apple ID and password of the person who set up the phone. When you finish reinstalling iOS 17, you can turn it on again.
To turn off Find My, Go to Settings, tap your name and tap Find My. Then tap Find My iPhone and turn it off. (If the option is grayed out, you may need to disable Stolen Device Protection first.)
This screen indicates the iPhone is in recovery mode.
Apple
Next, do the following button dance on the iPhone to enter recovery mode:
The computer will ask if you want to update or restore the iPhone; don't be alarmed if the dialog makes it sound as if something is wrong with the phone. Click Restore. In the confirmation dialog that appears, click Restore and Update.
Or, if you don't see that dialog, open a new Finder window (MacOS) or the Apple Devices app (Windows) and select the phone in the sidebar. Click Restore iPhone and follow the directions that follow.
The release version of iOS, currently 17.5.1, will download and be installed on the iPhone.