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How to Downgrade Android 5.0 to Android 4.4

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This guide will show you how to downgrade Android 5.0 Lollipop to Android 4.4 KitKat. This works to downgrade Android 5.0.2 to Android 4.4 or from Android 5.0 to Android 4.4 — walking you through the steps to downgrade to an old version of Android on a Nexus device.

In this Android downgrade guide we will focus on the Nexus line of devices including the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, Nexus 9 and Nexus 10. If you are not using a Nexus device, this guide is not the way you want to downgrade from Android Lollipop to an older version as you will need files and steps not linked here.

If you are not happy with the performance of the Android 5.0.2 update on the Nexus 7 2012, or you are simply experiencing one of the many Android 5.0.2 problems that can impact performance and usability, you will need to use this guide to downgrade Android 5.0.2 to Android 4.4.4.

Use this guide to Downgrade Android 5.0+ to Android 4.4.4 KitKat.

Use this guide to Downgrade Android 5.0+ to Android 4.4.4 KitKat.

It is very important to remember that unlike an upgrade, this wipes the device completely. If you don’t back up your Nexus before you downgrade you will lose important information and data. Make sure you backup your Android phone.

How to Downgrade Android 5.0 to Android 4.4.4

These steps show you how to downgrade Android 5.0 in any version to any version of Android 4.4 KitKat that Google still offers as a download for your device. This assumes you are not rooted, but that you are able to connect to a computer and to run an unlock command and other commands to flash software to your Nexus. Flashing is a term for installing software to your Nexus in a special recovery mode while it is connected to a computer.

Download the Factory Image

The first thing you need to do is download the Android factory image from Google. Scroll on the Android Factory image page until you find your device and the right download link. Click to download the Android 4.4.4 factory image for your device. This will take a few minutes to complete.

Install ADB

In order to downgrade Android 5.0 to Android 4.4.4, you will need to use ADB. This is a tool that allows the computer to talk to the Nexus device. You cannot perform an Android 5.0 downgrade without this free tool. You do not need to buy it and it is easy to install on Mac or Windows thanks to helper applications that handle any difficult parts of the installation.

This is how to install adb on Mac, and you can use the directions to do the same on Windows.

This is how to install adb on Mac, and you can use the directions to do the same on Windows.

Use the ADB Installer for Windows to install ADB on Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 in about 15 seconds. The six step process will install ADB, Fastboot and the drivers you need to use the tool.

On Mac, you can use a similar tool called Nexus Tools to automatically install the latest version on your Apple computer. Open Terminal on your Mac, go to XDA and copy the command listed into the terminal window and then hit enter. You may need to enter your computer password to complete the installation.

Unlock the Nexus

In order for this to work, you need to unlock the Nexus if it is not already done. This will erase everything on your Nexus, so make sure you are backed up before you use these commands.

You will need to turn on USB Debugging mode in Developer Settings. If you have not already enabled developer settings you need to go to Settings -> About phone -> tap on the Build number at the bottom of the screen seven times. Then go back one page and tap on Developer Settings -> USB Debugging -> On. When you plug it in to a computer it will ask you to trust the computer -> Choose yes.

You can now open a Terminal Window anywhere on Mac and type adb devices and you should see your device connected. On Windows you will need to go to the adb folder which should be at C:\adb and then type cmd in the address bar to open a command window and then type adb devices to see if your device is listed.

With the terminal window or command window still open type or paste the following command.

adb reboot bootloader

This will boot the Nexus into a bootloader menu and you can now type

fastboot oem unlock
When complete you will see Unlocked on your device.

When complete you will see Unlocked on your device.

You will need to press the volume up button on the Nexus to accept and then power to confirm. This will unlock the bootloader and wipe your data. And now we can get to the actual Android 5.0 downgrade.

Wipe Cache and Factory Reset

On your Nexus we now need to wipe the cache and perform a factory reset. This prepares the Nexus for the downgrade process. You do not need to be plugged into the computer to do this.

When complete you will see Unlocked on your device.

You need to wipe the cache and factory reset from this mode.

  1. You need to power down the Nexus device.
  2. Hold the Volume Down and Power button to reboot into the bootloader.
  3. On this screen you need to use the volume button to switch to Recovery Mode and the power button to select.
  4. After this boots you will see a small Android logo with No command below it.
  5. You need to press and hold the power button and then press volume up once.
  6. On this screen you will see several options and you need to choose to wipe cache partition. Scroll with volume buttons and choose with power.
  7. Then choose to wipe data/factory reset then scroll to Yes and select.

Install Android 4.4 KitKat to Downgrade Android 5.0

Now you can finally downgrade Android 5.0 to Android 4.4 KitKat. You will need to connect your Nexus to the computer with a USB cable and go to the folder where you downloaded the KitKat factory image.

With the Nexus on this screen, you can now start the Android 5.0 downgrade.

With the Nexus on this screen, you can now start the Android 5.0 downgrade.

 

The Nexus needs to be in the bootloader mode for this to work, like in the image above. To get back there turn the Nexus off and then hold the volume and power buttons until you see that screen again.

You need to open a Terminal window here on Mac or a Command window on Windows.

On Mac you can two-finger click and choose New Terminal at Folder. If you don’t see this option you need to go to System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Services -> check New Terminal at Folder.

On Windows just type cmd in the address bar of the Explorer window and hit enter to start one there.

On Windows type

flash-all.bat

On Mac type

sudo ./flash-all.sh

Then enter your password.

When you see finished, you are ready to go.

When you see finished, you are ready to go.

Commands will show on-screen and eventually you will eventually see rebooting and then finished on the Terminal or Command window. This lets you know it is complete.

After a few minutes the Nexus will reboot and you will now be on Android 4.4.4 KitKat instead of Android 5.0.1. You will still get notifications for updates, just don’t choose to install them.

Android 5.0 vs Android 4.4 Walkthrough: What’s New in Lollipop

Android 5.0 vs Android 4.4 - Lockscreen

Android 5.0 vs Android 4.4 - Lockscreen

 With Android 5.0 Lollipop Google has slightly improved the lockscreen. There's now a shortcut to the dialer by swiping left to right, and notifications are more useful and interactive. Shown right on the lockscreen they can be swiped away, slide down to expand, or double tap to instantly unlock right into that app or notification. Everything is simple and smooth, and we still have full-screen album artwork on the lockscreen while playing music.

The quick shortcuts and improved notifications will come in handy for all users.

94 Comments

94 Comments

  1. Jim

    01/30/2015 at 2:05 pm

    Had big problems w 5.0 and neexus 7 2012. 5.0.2 better but still problems especially with chrome browser. Switched to firefox and the nexus 7 2012 working much better. No slowdowns so far. No guarantees it will work for you.

  2. Hans

    02/03/2015 at 7:49 am

    I swear, if we don;t get 5.0 for the Note 4 this month I’m not gonna be happy with Sammy…

  3. jgimco

    04/02/2015 at 7:45 am

    i think we are missing a part in this guide, when i type flash-all.bat in my command prompt nothing happens, the system can´t recognise like a command or program, i think we need to specify the root of the downloded image

    • Igal Schneider

      04/23/2015 at 12:58 pm

      You will have to extract the downloaded archive

      • gasperj

        08/19/2015 at 1:37 pm

        Thanks :)

  4. Daniel Coster

    04/15/2015 at 3:17 am

    Thanks this is the best tutorial i have found.

    • Reg Pringle

      04/17/2015 at 10:13 am

      Same problem as jgimco wants to know path to flash-all.bat. Where is this script located? Got kitcat image ready to go and nexus 7 2012 in fastboot mode but missing final bit.

      • Igal Schneider

        04/23/2015 at 1:00 pm

        You will have to extract the downloaded archive

        • kamyl

          04/26/2015 at 7:26 pm

          help me please, i extract all the file from hammerhead ! Ive wrote down the flash-all bat and receive the same error message. help me please !!!!

          • kamyl

            04/26/2015 at 7:37 pm

            My bad, i was trying to open the file: flash-base.sh from WINRAR.
            :) it worked thx

  5. Suresh

    04/19/2015 at 12:01 am

    Thanks for the procedure, I was able to successfully downgrade my Nexus7 2012 to KiktKat.
    In the procedure “fastboot oem unlock” is doing the data erase too, So the steps related to can erase and data erase may not be needed with latest adb tool.
    Thanks again,
    Suresh.

  6. Nadia Santika

    04/26/2015 at 9:33 am

    may i ask tutorial how to downgrade lollipop to kitkat for sony xperia z ultra? i really need it please..

  7. Kamyl

    04/27/2015 at 10:33 am

    Hi , ive done everything here, downgrade worked succesfuly, some info have been backed up ( contacts ) but all the other info are not here. i’M trying to find a way to backup my info, as i said ive followed everything you said, got a backup account with my gmail and everything…PLEASE HELP
    [email protected]
    Nexus 5

  8. Nicholas

    04/29/2015 at 2:50 pm

    Thanks very much for the guide
    One part that wasn’t crystal clear to me that I think might help others if I post is when I was getting the fastboot unrecognised error I did not extract the image files into the same folder as adb, as soon as I did that it got past the error

  9. Naq

    05/05/2015 at 12:44 am

    Hi, Ok everything went well until the point when you said enter cmd to the Explorer window. Did you mean the Explorer Browser window? or am i missing something here. Because I went to c:/ and entered cmd in there as well then when i enter flash-all.bat it says not recognized. Plus the image of Kit Kat is a tgz. file which won’t open either, so I’m a bit stuck on what to do. Any help would be much appreciated, as i’m not very into this techy stuff.Thanks

  10. Coty

    05/17/2015 at 7:50 pm

    Why is there a link leading to this article from an article about the Galaxy s4? Why would you suggest downgrading the firmware in your phone and then link to an article detailing the steps to downgrade on a totally different phone?

  11. Graham

    05/18/2015 at 10:58 am

    Thanks for this howto. Nexus 7 (2012) was gradually improving with 5.1.1, but was still like wading through treacle. Just need to reinstall my old apps. :-)

  12. Paul Beal

    05/26/2015 at 1:10 am

    Thank you, this allowed me to downgrade my Nexus 7 (2012) from Lollipoooop back to KitKat with no worries whatsoever.

    • Carlos Bellorin

      08/04/2015 at 8:03 pm

      If it worked to you, please can you help me? After I typed flash-all.bat in command window, all the process went apparently well till at the end appears the message “error: failed to load ‘image-nakasi-stu84p.zip’ : No such file or directory. From the web of android I downloaded the image I thought it was the correct to my device. Was I wrong with the version of image I downloaded? Did I do something wrong or missed a step? Please Help

      • Matt

        11/20/2015 at 10:31 am

        when you run the command from the command line, you have to first change the command line directory to the fold with your extracted files i.e. cd /home/user/Downloads/nakasi-krt16s and from there run the ./flash-all.sh command and all should be well.

  13. Dario

    05/26/2015 at 12:30 pm

    I was doing fine…and “then enter your password” what password?
    Assume I’m missing something simple here, but?

  14. Shakir Afridi

    06/02/2015 at 7:29 am

    When I type adb reboot bootloader, it says no devices found although I have enabled USB debugging and my Nexus 7 is connected via USB cable.

  15. Manish

    06/14/2015 at 7:53 am

    It was going all smooth and then i ran Into The Dreaded “missing system.img” Error. I tried to execute all install steps manually, step by step –
    flash-all.bat
    fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
    fastboot flash boot boot.img
    fastboot flash system system.img

    Recovery and boot went well and finished in few seconds. However “erasing system” took half an hour. Now it is stuck on sending ‘system’ from last two hours.
    Is it normal to take so much time to flash system? What should I do? Plz help.

  16. Quan VU

    06/22/2015 at 12:17 am

    The CMD notified that: the archirve does not contain boot.sig, recovery.sig,…. and then product failed. Now. I cannot even power up the Nexus 7 (2012). I tried the volume down button and the power button but it didn’t work. Help me pls.

    • Quan VU

      06/22/2015 at 12:23 am

      anyone, pls help pls. Now, I cannot do anything to turn my Nexus 7 up. Pls pls pls help

    • Pero

      07/04/2015 at 3:52 am

      Try downloading another version of factory image for your device, that worked for me. For instance, there are two images of 4.4.4 for Nexus7 mobile, first one behaved like yours, the other one worked

      • Tim Crook

        01/08/2016 at 6:50 am

        Thank you for this additional help.
        I had the same problem as Quan Vu, and Pero’s solution worked for me.
        Mine is an old Nexus 7 and needed the nakasi image.

  17. Steven

    06/23/2015 at 3:56 am

    you may want to add this to your instructions if you get no connect via the ADB.

    Settings-> Storage and pushing the top right button and choosing the command USB Computer Connection, then selecting PTP

  18. Vincent Jeremiah Sy

    07/07/2015 at 3:28 am

    what password .. ?? Pls .. Help

  19. blackmcraven

    07/13/2015 at 3:11 am

    Thank you for the very detailed description. I followed it step by step and get my 4.4.4 back on my Nexus 7 2012 WiFi.

  20. Clint Green

    07/13/2015 at 2:42 pm

    Thank you so much, my paper weight is usable again, just a suggestion to really go step by on this article. It’s really helpful but has a steep learning curve for the everyday user.

  21. kevinashcraft

    07/20/2015 at 5:41 pm

    This was the best tutorial I’ve seen. Android 5.1.1 crashed my Nexus 10. Back on 4.4.4 and couldn’t be happier!

    One word to the wise: Once you’re downgrade is complete (gone through set-up, on Wi-Fi, etc), you need to get in Google Play immediately. Go to Settings, and change the preference to allow automatic updating. I caught it just as the updates were trying to start!

  22. Zein

    07/23/2015 at 11:20 am

    I’m not happy with the lolli 5 on my samsung gal alpha, had a blocking mode in kitkat 4.4.4 and after upgration to lollipop 5 don’t have it anymore which I really needed for my work… :((

  23. olilyon

    07/29/2015 at 8:57 am

    It seem that i have no chance…As Quan VU, at the end of downgrade (last step) the error
    “the archirve does not contain boot.sig, recovery.sig” appear and now my Nexus7 (2012)
    doesn’t work anymore, black screen. When i try to connect it tomy computer in USB,
    it recognize it with two devices : “APX” and “Unknow device” ….
    That seem very bad……….
    Anobody could help me ?
    Oli

  24. Dennis Franco

    07/29/2015 at 10:14 pm

    Ok i probably messed up.
    Did everything until the installing of the factory image.

    first, it would appear failed messages in the terminal command window.
    Then it started to appear “okay” messages but it will fail at “transfer data” and the final result will also be fail.

    i tried several factory images, kept reseting and wiping cache partition.
    But never actually made it work.

    And now, my tablet Nexus 7 -2012, WIFI only, doesn’t boot in recovery mode.
    How can i solve this?

  25. N7Bricked

    08/05/2015 at 1:35 pm

    Bricked it, really useful…

  26. Hope it'll work

    08/07/2015 at 3:02 am

    For those wondering about the flash-all stuff, it was in the archive I downloaded. The thing is I had to uncompress many times. I uncompressed from .mantaray-ktu84p-factory-74e52998.tar to mantaray-ktu84p-factory-74e52998 (nexus 10 , 4.4.4) and then uncompressed mantaray-ktu84p-factory-74e52998 again which got me 6 files. including a .zip file which I uncompressed. it was only when i got my 6 files that the flash-all was there.

  27. Attiq Bhayo

    08/09/2015 at 3:37 am

    Thank you .. My nexus now feels powerful again.. There was bit confusion for Flash thing. A quick guide to new comers is. The image file you downloaded, extract it to a folder then again open that file using WINRAR and extract that folder into same folder where the original file was extracted. Now open that extracted folder and type cmd in address bar and put that flash-all.bat command.

  28. Jer

    08/25/2015 at 12:27 pm

    Bricked, can’t even power on or do diddly, mint

  29. Aisha Iftikhar

    08/28/2015 at 7:47 am

    Thank you, worked like a charm.

  30. hardyrexion

    08/31/2015 at 4:25 am

    I get to the point of typing flash-all.bat and get an error:

    line 1: @ECHO: command not found
    line 2: ::: command not found
    line 3: ::: command not found
    line 4: syntax error near unexpected token `(‘
    line 4: `:: Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0(the “License);’

    I have all files including the image-nakasi-ktu84p.zip in one folder (C:\adb)

    Any clues?

  31. Archerphoto

    09/17/2015 at 3:30 am

    Thank you. Took some additional reboot of my PC, but it worked perfectly.

  32. paras

    09/23/2015 at 10:10 am

    which password should i enter

    • Jpothi

      10/07/2015 at 12:18 am

      there is no password if you are using windows

  33. khrystek

    10/02/2015 at 12:24 pm

    Awesome, I really appreciate this step-by-step guide. My Nexus 7 2012 is 10 years younger yet :)

  34. Rams

    10/05/2015 at 2:24 am

    I have Nexus 7 Cellular (2012) model. Which Kitkat will work for me? I am seeing two lists for nexus 7. 1) “nakasi” for Nexus 7 (Wi-Fi)…. 2) “nakasig” for Nexus 7 (Mobile). Please help..

    • Ramkumar Ka

      10/10/2015 at 11:05 pm

      Nexus 7 (Mobile), both the versions 4.3 Jelly Bean and 4.4.4 kitkat works for me. Appreciate your effort. Thanks.

  35. Col

    10/05/2015 at 2:09 pm

    A couple of questions:
    1. Does this leave the Nexus 7 unlocked (is this the same as rooted)?
    2. Can it be relocked after Kit Kat has been installed?

    Thanks

  36. Jpothi

    10/07/2015 at 12:15 am

    Excellent Guide, it will be great if the author can make a few edits in the guide as pointed out in the comments above.

    1. To get back to the bootloader mode, the down volume button and power has to be pressed together. ( “down” is not mentioned.
    2. The KitKat factory image has to be unzipped into the ADP folder.

    Thanks again for the great guide.

  37. satya

    10/09/2015 at 11:17 pm

    Best tutorial!! You are the man!!

  38. shahbaz

    10/10/2015 at 7:09 am

    Factory reset has resolve my issue of fast battery drain and heat of my nexus 4 lolipop 5.1.1.

  39. mike

    10/10/2015 at 2:07 pm

    i dont understand wich one is the explorer window at the last steps

  40. Bob

    10/14/2015 at 2:38 pm

    IT worked fine except the fastboot.exe had an error. I’m running Win 10 on a PC. Any suggestions?

  41. Max

    10/17/2015 at 8:50 pm

    Worked like a charm! – Still restoring my applications, but is definitely back to 4.4 and Nexus7-2012 is as responsive as before!
    Thank you!

  42. Jennifer

    10/18/2015 at 7:17 am

    Thank you, I left my N7 for a while and thanks to you I can finally use it again. Went back to 4.3 which were far more responsive than 4.4 for me.

  43. Boris

    10/30/2015 at 2:21 pm

    YOU ARE THE BEST

  44. Patrick

    11/01/2015 at 2:40 am

    Thanks for your nice tutorial. Worked like a charm.

  45. Markus

    11/02/2015 at 7:20 am

    good tutorial, the wipe part is outdated though. I’m back on 4.4.4 now, and really looking forward to have a useful tablet now again.

  46. Vilas

    11/02/2015 at 8:15 am

    I could unlock boolader in my nexus 4. but when I try to run flash-all.bat, it says “waiting for device”..It is not able to get connected to nexus4 even with USB debugging in ON position. Prior to starting bootloader it is detection a device with some number but after starting bootloader its waiting for device to connect.

    Please help me with the above…Any suggestion please..

    • Canv

      11/15/2015 at 9:57 am

      You must ensure your device is recognized before proceeding. To do this be in your SDK program, ensure that you have ADB working in the command window, and type ADB devices and you should get the serial number of your device listed. If it doesn’t list then your USB driver isn’t working properly.

  47. Šomi D Prof

    11/07/2015 at 3:30 pm

    Can someone please advise which image to use for Nexus 7 2012 tablet?

  48. Canv

    11/15/2015 at 9:52 am

    Just tried this downgrade and it worked perfectly. Just remember that all files need to be in the platform-tools file folder to work properly.

  49. John Salerno

    11/30/2015 at 12:39 pm

    Does this work for 5.1? The opening sentences are so specific about which versions of Lollipop these instructions work for that I want to be sure. Thanks.

    • Canv

      12/01/2015 at 9:13 am

      Yes, I was on 5.1. It is specific to Nexus 7 2012 wi-fi, I can confirm if you follow the specifics you will be very pleased with the end result. The 2012 Nexus 7 just doesn’t like Lollipops!

      • John Salerno

        12/01/2015 at 9:45 am

        I have the 2013 model. But as it turns out, it came with Lollipop already installed and so far it seems to be running fine. I’ll see how it goes and if necessary will either upgrade to 5.1 (it came with 5.0.2) or downgrade to KitKat.

  50. Canv

    12/01/2015 at 9:50 am

    Totally different tab and processor you should be fine. If not then there is a different image for the 2013 that you would download.

  51. Prasad

    12/07/2015 at 6:18 pm

    Mine is Nexus 7 WiFi. I downloaded the factory image 4.4.4 Nakasi-Ktu84p and extracted. After extracting the file ‘flash-all.bat’ seems as ‘flash-all.sh’. will it work properly? please help with proper guide.

  52. Canv

    12/08/2015 at 10:48 am

    Prasad, You need to provide a bit more info for accurate help. First which Nexus 7 wi-fi 2012 or 13. That will dictate which Kitkat image is correct. Then which operating system (PC or MAC). ‘flash-all.bat is PC file ‘flash-all.sh is a MAC file. Do you have ADB? Does it work at recognizing your Nexus? Please answer these questions and remember that all files need to be in the platform-tools file folder of ADB to work properly.

    • Prasad

      12/08/2015 at 6:12 pm

      Thanks Canv, Mine is Nexus 7 2012 Wifi and PC with Windows 10. I have ADB tools My device is recognized. I downloaded the Factory image 4.4.4 and extracted. After extraction it is found Flash-all.bat changes to flash-all.sh. I don”t know why.

  53. Canv

    12/09/2015 at 5:43 pm

    Hi Prasad,
    That is strange. Unfortunately this forum doesn’t allow either of us to attach a screen print of the platform-tools directory. In mine I have fastboot an application file listed before “Flash-all” a Windows batch file, then “Flash-all.sh” an SH file, and then flash-base.sh another SH file.
    Perhaps download ” image-nakasi-kot49h” and extract it. It is a Nexus 7 2012 wi-fi 4.2 version, that is what I used as the image I extracted and everything worked fine.
    Let me know if that works., OK?

  54. Yogesh Choudhary

    12/11/2015 at 12:23 am

    Hello there,

    I know these Steps are for Nexus devices only, But can anyone please help me with these similar steps for Moto G 1st Gen device. Lollipop has almost killed my Moto G 1st Gen device. Is there any way I can down grade my device to Kitkat from Lollipop? Please help

  55. Luis Orihuela

    12/30/2015 at 9:09 am

    does this work from 5.1 to 4.4?

    • abhay Kumar

      02/22/2016 at 11:20 pm

      Yes. I just did it from 5.1 to 4.4 on my Nexus 7 (2012)

  56. Thulasinathan

    02/17/2016 at 5:25 am

    Pls help how i have downgrade kitkat os from lolipop

    • abhay Kumar

      02/22/2016 at 11:21 pm

      Just follow the tutorial exactly as detailed above. It will work for sure. I just did it.

  57. abhay Kumar

    02/22/2016 at 11:18 pm

    Wow. Its quite unbelievable that a novice like me could do this under an hour.
    Thanks to the great step by step tutorial.
    Thanks

  58. Tom

    04/03/2016 at 7:01 am

    It did not work to downgrade my Nexus 5 from latest android M version to Lollipop 5.1.1 – on mac, the sudo ./flash-all.sh command was not found. (I had opened the zip before)

  59. David

    04/12/2016 at 3:59 pm

    I spent ages trying to figure this out, the instructions are missing something. When I downloaded the factory image for my Nexus 7 it was in a TGZ format. You then extract it to change it to a TAR format. What isn’t clear is that you extract AGAIN using 7-ZIP or whatever from the TAR file. Then you will get several files. Copy all of these into the ADB folder, THEN enter the flash-all.bat command. Hope this helps, was sheer luck and a couple of hours time that I figured it out.

  60. Soud

    05/05/2016 at 11:51 pm

    I format my Nexus7 but i dont active Developer option. Now how can i active my device. please help me my device is full dead

  61. Pablo

    05/10/2016 at 7:01 pm

    It seems a great tutorial, I want to apply this downgrade my Nexus 7 (2012) but I have a question: After downloading the factory image on the PC, where I keep this file? I mean, when I apply the command “flash-all.bat” where it should be the factory image on the PC or the Nexus 7? It’s the only question I have. Thank you!

  62. Arthur

    05/29/2016 at 1:50 am

    I do not get any connection between my Nexus 7 (2012) and my Macbook; After the “adb devices” command in the terminal my Nexus does not show.
    The Nexus is in developer mode, USB debugging is on, and I tried both MTP and PTP mode. Also tried on two windows PC, but I do not get any connection. Off course also tried other USB cable.
    Apart from a hardware problem in my Nexus, anybody any idea what else can cause the problem?

  63. Arthur

    05/29/2016 at 1:54 am

    Ah, problem solved; with a third USB cable it works

  64. David Moten

    05/31/2016 at 4:19 am

    A nice extra touch is to turn off the “System update downloaded” notification by going to Settings – Apps – Google Play Services and unticking the notifications checkbox.

  65. sidney carrara

    07/25/2016 at 7:54 am

    Hi, there.
    I have a nexus7 wifi, HW version ER3, bootloader version 4.23, lock state = unlocked. Installed ADB on windows, but cannot communicate to the device. Device will not start, not even in “recovery mode”.

    Any suggestions?

  66. Ankit Duhai

    08/16/2016 at 11:51 am

    thanks for sharing these methods to downgrade but will these also for micromax. please reply me

  67. Ric

    08/25/2016 at 10:14 pm

    where do I get the flash-all.bat from?

  68. Harpreet Siddhu

    10/05/2016 at 11:15 am

    Do you have a video explaining all these things? It will be great if you can share that too.

  69. DJ

    12/17/2016 at 7:08 am

    Thank you for this guide. Very clear instructions. Makes downgrading back to Kitkat almost a breeze.. Just hit a snag on the “flash-all.bat” part, but was able to figure out that it came with the .zip file (android factory image) from Google.

    Now I’m happy that my Nexus 7 2012 is running fast and zippy as it should be. Goodbye Lollipop, and good riddance.

  70. Chiri

    01/16/2017 at 2:08 pm

    Wonderful, thanks for that great tutorial as it is complicated to find instructions when one have a mac! My Nexus 7 is living again… soooo good! I still can’t get why google is proposing an upgrade when all it does is killing your tablet and making you leaving the android world….
    Thanks again, cheers E

  71. Robert England

    03/03/2017 at 3:09 am

    DAMMIT YOU BASTARDS – THIS IS A NASTY TRICK! YOU RUINED MY ONLY ANDROID DEVICE WITH CRAP INSTRUCTIONS! NOW IT DOESN’T START AT ALL!

  72. Holly

    10/12/2017 at 3:42 am

    I have followed all of the steps but now I cannot get out of bootloader mode
    1. Typing ‘flash-all.bat’ in command prompt did nothing, even after I extracted the files. So instead I just double clicked on the flash-all.bat doc and that automatically ran command prompt.
    2. I was not asked for a password, the commands just ran until they finished and I was asked to close the window
    3. “After a few minutes the Nexus will reboot” – My Nexus did not reboot, it remained in bootloader mode, so after a long time I just powered it down but now whenever I turn it back on it opens up in bootloader mode.
    How do I get back into my Nexus?

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