TUTORIAL: Downgrade Samsung Galaxy S5 from 5.0 to 4.4 KitKat

[Branden Griffiths]

same thing happened to me, how do i get my phone back to functioning normally

 

[aku506]

Thank you!

This helped me even I'm using S4. Just same steps to downgrade S4 from annoying lollipop. For my suprise, it didn't even trigger Knox warranty void counter.

 

[Cyclone15991]

I assume I can use the same tutorial on my Note 3 (SM-N900), correct?

 

[Dustydes]

Great write up all worked with only a few minor problems.
Many thanks I now have my phone back, nearly sold it and thought about going back to iphone.

SamMobile would not download in Firefox had to use internet explorer
EU version of Odin would not find my phone (I live in UK) US worked first time
Phone did brick, did a hard reset then removed battery for a few minuets. Hard reset on it's own didnt work but booting after battery replaced it did.
Remember to back up with Kies first and screen shots of your apps will help you to remember what you had.

Des

 

[jb4kats]

Hi folks,

I got the 5.0 update for the Verizon Galaxy S5 (SM-G900V) and really dislike it. Does anyone know of a method to downgrade it to 4.4.4?

**UPDATE** I was able to successfully downgrade to 4.4.4. Here is a tutorial for those who may find this post and want to do the same. My S5 is the Verizon model; this should work on all Galaxy S5s. Do this at your own risk, preferably while your S5 is under warranty (though keep in mind your carrier's warranty policies may vary and may not cover you in the very slight chance something goes horribly wrong.)

1. Download Samsung Kies and back up your phone data. Remove the microSD card from your phone if you have one. Make sure your phone has a good charge (at least 50%).

2. Download the firmware you want to downgrade to at SamMobile dot com slash firmwares. (All S5s are model number SM-G900x, with the x corresponding to your carrier. Look up the model number for your carrier's phone - example, SM-G900V is Verizon, SM-G900P is Sprint, etc.) You'll probably want the latest 4.4.x version. The file will be in .zip format and will be 1.5 - 2 GB large, so be patient.

3. Once the download is complete, extract the firmware file to a place you will remember, like a folder on your desktop.

4. Download Odin from a reputable source like Softpedia or another site that tests its downloads for malware.

5. Make sure your phone is off and disconnected from your computer.

6. Open Odin. Under Options, only "Auto Reboot" and "F. Reset Time" should be checked.

7. Click the "AP" (or "PDA") box and browse for the extracted firmware file.

8. Press and hold the following buttons in order: Volume Down + Home + Power. Keep holding them until you see a screen that says "Warning!!" at the top.

9. Press the Volume Up button to continue.

10. The next screen will show the Android logo and say "ODIN MODE" at the top left.

11. Now connect your phone to your computer via USB.

12. In Odin, look to the top left and wait until you see in the leftmost box "COM" followed by a colon and a number, such as "COM:4". The number doesn't matter. Once you see that, you can proceed.

13. In the Message box in Odin, you should see several lines of text.

14. Press Start in Odin.

15. Odin will begin processing, and on your screen you will see "Downloading" with a status bar underneath.

16. When Odin is successfully finished, you will see in the Message box "All threads completed".

17. Your S5 should begin rebooting. You can disconnect from the computer.

18. If your S5 reboots successfully into good old 4.4, you're done! You can re-insert your microSD card. If your data is gone, connect to your computer and restore with Samsung Kies.

If your S5 gets stuck in booting mode (mine got stuck on the Verizon screen during booting), wait a few minutes to see if it boots. If it doesn't, remove the battery, put it back in, and try powering it on again. If that doesn't work, do the following:

1. Press in order: Volume Up + Home + Power until you see an Android screen.

2. Use Volume Down to scroll to "wipe data/factory reset" and press Power to select it. (Make sure you have backed up your phone!)

3. On the next screen, scroll to Yes, select it, and your phone will reset.

4. When it's done, select reboot system now and it will reboot. You should enter the original S5 welcome & setup process.

5. Restore your data using Samsung Kies. This will restore most of everything; you may need to re-setup the home screens and some of your settings, though.

6. If your phone still doesn't boot properly, you'll probably need to take it in to your carrier. Since most/all S5s are under a year old at this point, you should be covered by your carrier's warranty, and they should either fix it or give you a new S5 which will most likely have Android 4.4 on it, so you still get the firmware you wanted and you can restore using Kies.

Depending on your carrier your phone will nag you to update to Android 5.0. Just ignore these messages for as long as you want 4.4.

I hope this helps other folks!

Ok, I tried following your directions here but when trying to install Odin it says it is not compatible with my version of windows to check to see if I needed 32 bit or 64 bit. Also every site I go to to check for another download my virus checker says it contains malware, viruses, etc. .Now I know 99% of you know who have done this before know what you are doing but there are some of us who aren't sure when problems like this arise. Now I'm not afraid to proceed but I need simple easy directions and a download that will work. If I can an Odin version to work I can move on but not knowing where to go to get a working version that does not a potential threatening site. I despise this lollipop version so I am desperate to downgrade. I have a Sprint Galaxy S5 so if you can help I would greatly appreciate it. Also someone else posted somewhere that all these sites want money or change your home page and your search engine so I can see how these sites can be potential hazardous sites.

 

[jb4kats]

Odin not responding and now phone is stuck in Odin mode screen, what do I do??

 

[Janery]

Hi, thanks a lot you shared this article. It works on MAC too? I didn't find ODIN for MAC, and the firmware should be downloaded in PC right?

 

[james spears1]

So i know your supposed to back your phone up before hand right. So if i downgrade to 4.4.4 and backed my phone up what exactly is backed up? Will i lose all my text and phone calls? Will i lose contacts? Also will i have to redownload apps? Will i lose pictures? Honestly the only reason I haven't downgraded yet is because I don't want to lose all my data and I don't understand what "backed up" or "restored" actually means. Any advice is helpful. Thanks!!

 

[srkmagnus]

So i know your supposed to back your phone up before hand right. So if i downgrade to 4.4.4 and backed my phone up what exactly is backed up? Will i lose all my text and phone calls? Will i lose contacts? Also will i have to redownload apps? Will i lose pictures? Honestly the only reason I haven't downgraded yet is because I don't want to lose all my data and I don't understand what "backed up" or "restored" actually means. Any advice is helpful. Thanks!!

Making a backup of your device means to make a copy of the data currently stored on it. There are apps that will make a backup of most everything without having to do much, such as Helium, Titanium Backup, and My Backup Pro. However, if you are stock (not rooted) then Helium may be the only one that will work. It should backup apps, call logs, text messages, etc. For your contacts, you should be setup to sync with Google. If so, go into system settings > accounts > Google > sync the Google account. If you look in that account setting, you'll also see other items that are sync'd with your account such as Calendar, Photos, Drive, etc. That will save contacts with your Google account so that the next time you sign in you'll be able to sync the data and have contacts automatically reloaded. Anything saved on your SD Card can be automatically transferred to a computer by connecting and moving the data over.

Let us know if you have any specific questions while moving through the process and we'll try and assist where possible.

 

[hebr]

I didn't like the Lollipop update either, so I was very pleased to find this guide and I'm now running Kitkat again
So a big THANK's from me.

(used the Nordic version on Sammobile).

 

[jvenz76]

Does an un-root need to be performed before doing this?

 

[laflaone]

I am sick of 5.0. Went from several days of battery life with 4.4 to less than a day. I also don't like the way it looks. the tutorial says to download the previous version(4.4.4) from sammobile.com, which I have. This is were the tutorial gets fuzzy. It says to download Odin, but it doesn't say download to the pc, or to the smartphone. My phone is galaxy s5, Verizon. Then what do you do? The step by step is not too clear. Also what about the root/unroot business? I don't want to change something basic on my phone(which I bought outright) and void my warranty.

 

[sioconnellan]

THANK YOU!!!! You are my hero! I had to do the factory reset as the first reboot, nor the reboot after popping the battery, worked. But that was a small price to pay to get rid of the evil Lollipop! THANK YOU!!!!!!

 

[breanna1588]

I searched for days trying to find a way to downgrade back to kitkat. Lollipop made my galaxy a piece of crap. It was slow, took away a lot of space, apps would crash, it would malfunction, and I just hated the overall look and settings. I finally found this and it worked! I am very thankful and so happy to have kitkat back. My phone is once again the best phone I've ever had. Thank you!

 

[William Prince1]

hi,i have a question. i do all the steps and now my galaxy s5 reboots, but it do it this(the rebooting) for 30 minutes and more.i want to ask if this is normal? and if it's not what can i do?
(sorry for my bad english)

 

[mran613]

Thank you!!! Had several problems with 5.0, made using my phone horrible but now I'm back!!!

 

[rikken]

Recieved a new 329.5 mb Lollipop update today. BOB7.So far the phone runs like a grease lightning

 

[consv93]

Ok, I tried following your directions here but when trying to install Odin it says it is not compatible with my version of windows to check to see if I needed 32 bit or 64 bit. Also every site I go to to check for another download my virus checker says it contains malware, viruses, etc. .Now I know 99% of you know who have done this before know what you are doing but there are some of us who aren't sure when problems like this arise. Now I'm not afraid to proceed but I need simple easy directions and a download that will work. If I can an Odin version to work I can move on but not knowing where to go to get a working version that does not a potential threatening site. I despise this lollipop version so I am desperate to downgrade. I have a Sprint Galaxy S5 so if you can help I would greatly appreciate it. Also someone else posted somewhere that all these sites want money or change your home page and your search engine so I can see how these sites can be potential hazardous sites.

Download Odin from Softpedia or another site that screens their downloads.

Does an un-root need to be performed before doing this?

If your phone is already rooted, I'm not sure.

I am sick of 5.0. Went from several days of battery life with 4.4 to less than a day. I also don't like the way it looks. the tutorial says to download the previous version(4.4.4) from sammobile.com, which I have. This is were the tutorial gets fuzzy. It says to download Odin, but it doesn't say download to the pc, or to the smartphone. My phone is galaxy s5, Verizon. Then what do you do? The step by step is not too clear. Also what about the root/unroot business? I don't want to change something basic on my phone(which I bought outright) and void my warranty.

Download Odin to your PC and connect your phone to it via USB cable. This is not rooting so it shouldn't void your warranty, but proceed at your own risk.

hi,i have a question. i do all the steps and now my galaxy s5 reboots, but it do it this(the rebooting) for 30 minutes and more.i want to ask if this is normal? and if it's not what can i do?
(sorry for my bad english)

You need to do a factory reset. Follow the instructions at the bottom of the original post.

 

[DotScott1]

It appears that SamMobile no longer has anything for the Verizon version D: Please help! I'm desperate to get 4.4.4 back on my Verizon Galaxy S5 Lollipop ruined this phone for me.

 

[Hanrose29]

don't know if this is just me or what...I'm not seeing the tutorial on how to get rid of lollipop...i just upgraded it yesterday and I'm so mad at myself for doing so, way too many problems and I can't stand it. Verizon told me there's no way to go back to kitkat, so I was glad to find this forum. I'm not to phone savy..