How To Use Ipsw File To Restore Iphone

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Ranee Wates

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Aug 3, 2024, 4:06:06 PM8/3/24

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In our digital life, there are a lot of situations that we will need to install IPSW file on iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, like, update iOS system, restore unsigned ipsw without iTunes, downgrade iOS, repair iOS issues, restore device to factory reset and so forth. At the very beginning, we'd better figure out what the IPSW is.

IPSW file is the raw iOS software for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, which is normally used in iTunes to install iOS firmware. And iTunes utilizes the IPSW file format to store iOS firmware to restore any device to its original state. In the following, we will show you how to install iOS manually with IPSW.

Have you met situations like, iTunes won't let you restore iPhone from IPSW file, or your iPhone/ipad might got stuck when you are trying to restore or update them from IPSW, or see an error when using iTunes? You can try to restore iPhone from IPSW without iTunes by using iPhone restore tool - UltFone iOS System Repair, a profesional IPSW restore tool that empowers you to restore iPhone/iPad with the latest IPSW file and thus fix various iOS system issues like iPhone black screen of death, Apple logo loop, iPhone frozen, iPhone stuck in recovery mode, and more.

Here in this article we introduces two methods to install IPSW file to iPhone/iPad. The method of using iTunes allows you to restore iPhone with IPSW file but will cause data loss and the operations are a bit complicated to beginners. So, it is recommended to free download this best IPSW restore tool to restore your iPSW files without iTunes. Enjoy!

As you can see, to manually restore the firmware of your iPhone to previous version, you need to go to IPSW download website first. Additionally, you need to back up your data with iTunes to avoid data loss. After all this preparation, you can finally begin to use the IPSW file on Windows PC to restore the iPhone with iTunes.

1. After connecting the iPhone to Windows PC, it could detect which platform the iPhone loaded, and list the compatible iOS firmware according to ipsw.me website for you to save your time.

IPSW is a file format used to install iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, HomePod, watchOS, and most recently, macOS firmware for devices equipped with Apple silicon.[3] All Apple devices share the same IPSW file format for iOS firmware and their derivatives, allowing users to flash their devices through Finder or iTunes on macOS or Windows, respectively. Users can flash Apple silicon Macs through Apple Configurator 2.[4]

The .ipsw file itself is a compressed archive file (renamed Zip archive) containing at least three Apple Disk Image files with one containing the root file system of the OS and two ram disks for restore and update. tvOS, audioOS and macOS also include a disk image for the recovery environment (recoveryOS).

The file also holds the kernel caches, and a "Firmware" folder which contains iBoot, LLB (Low-Level Bootloader), iBSS (iBoot Single Stage), iBEC (iBoot Epoch Change), the Secure Enclave Processor firmware, the Device Tree, Firmware Images (Apple logo, battery images, Recovery mode screen and more), baseband firmware files in .bbfw format (renamed zip file), and other firmware files.

There are two more files named "BuildManifest.plist" and "Restore.plist", both property lists that contain compatibility information and SHA-256 hashes for different components.[citation needed]

BuildManifest.plist is sent to Apple's TSS server and checked in order to obtain SHSH blobs before every restore. Without SHSH blobs, the device will refuse to restore, thus making downgrades very difficult to achieve.[5]

The archive is not password-protected, but iBoot, LLB, iBEC, iBSS, iBootData and the Secure Enclave Processor firmware images inside it are encrypted with AES. Until iOS 10, all the firmware files (including the root file system and Restore and Update ramdisks) were encrypted. While Apple does not release these keys, they can be extracted using different iBoot or bootloader exploits, such as limera1n (created by George Hotz, more commonly known as geohot). Since then, many tools were created for the decryption and modification of the root file system.[citation needed]

After the 2015 San Bernardino attack, the FBI recovered the shooter's iPhone 5C, which belonged to the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health.[6] The FBI recovered iCloud backups from one and a half months before the shooting, and wanted to access encrypted files on the device. The U.S. government ordered Apple to produce an IPSW file that would allow investigators to brute force the passcode of the iPhone.[7] The order used the All Writs Act, originally created by the Judiciary Act of 1789, to demand the firmware, in the same way as other smartphone manufacturers have been ordered to comply.

Tim Cook responded on the company's webpage, outlining a need for encryption, and arguing that if they produce a backdoor for one device, it would inevitably be used to compromise the privacy of other iPhone users:[8]

So, I spent a lot of time researching how to do this. I understand I should back up my data and all first. (done), next, I need to ensure I have the latest version of iTunes for Windows (Done), next I need to download the ios 8.4.1 ipsw file. This is where the problem comes in. When I download this file, its actually a file that is zipped. When I unzip the file, it extracts into several folders and files. Amongst them, I cannot find a single file that is noted as the ipsw file.

I navigate iTunes to the iPhone info screen, locate and while holding the Shift button, I activate the Restore button. At this time, I get a window pop-up asking me to point to the ipsw restore file. And as I mentioned there was no such stated file in the extracted restore zip file. For kicks, I point to each of the folders extracted from the zip file thinking maybe it would find it under a different name or something.

First, if you don't have a backup of your device saved from when you were on iOS 8.4.1 before, it won't work...it isn't possible to restore your device using a backup from newer software than what you were running.

Step 2: Download the latest iOS 8 firmware for your iPhone or iPad from this website ( ). Just like the following picture shows, this website will tell you if Apple is still 'signing' the iOS version you want to download.
Step 3: Connect your iPhone or iPad to computer with its USB cable and then launch iTunes on your computer.

Step 4: Once connected, place your iPhone or iPad to DFU mode: Press the Power and Home button for ten seconds, release the power button when you see the Apple logo appear on the screen of your iDevice and keep pressing the home button until an iTunes window pops up and says "iTunes has detected an iPhone (iPad) in recovery mode. You must restore this device before it can be used with iTunes."

And 'yes', I did make a backup of my iPhone before upgrading to ios 9. So, I was covered there. After renaming the .zip extension to .ipsw, I followed the rest of the instructions as stated and all went well. And restoring my backup and all also worked like a charm.

Like any computing device, iPhones and iPads occasionally have problems. Sometimes iOS crashes, and you need to reinstall it to ensure that you can go on using the device without losing any data. Sometimes you get a black screen, and can't do anything with your device. Sometimes an iPhone or iPad gets into a loop, where it reboots over and over.

All of these are signs that the device's software - the iOS operating system - needs to be reinstalled. You can do this with iTunes, but you will loose your device's data. Unfortunately when a device is in such of state, you cannot back it up.

? Important: Make sure you have a recent backup of your device made with iMazing, iTunes or iCloud before reinstalling iOS. If you don't check the option "Erase device before installing", iMazing will try to preserve your device's data but there is no guarantee. To exit recovery mode, click the Exit Recovery Mode button. Then back up your device with iMazing.

Normal mode: This is the case when everything is working. You are reinstalling iOS because of a software glitch, but you can manage the device as usual. You may do this because of sync problems, or because certain apps quit unexpectedly, and still don't work after you've reinstalled them. In this mode you can still back up your device so make sure to do a backup before reinstalling iOS.

Recovery mode: In this case, iOS is not ready for use on your device. You'll see on the screen an iTunes icon and an image of a cable, prompting you to connect the device to a computer and install the software with iTunes. iMazing can work with the device when it's in this mode, but it cannot back it up. If your iPhone or iPad is in recovery mode, use iMazing to try to exit recovery mode so you can make a backup. To exit recovery mode, click the Exit Recovery Mode button on iMazing's Reinstall iOS screen. If you cannot exit recovery mode, try to reinstall iOS, iMazing should preserve its data but there is unfortunately no guarantees so it's better to do it if you have a recent iMazing, iTunes or iCloud backup.

DFU mode: DFU, or Device Firmware Update mode, is your last hope if everything else has failed. To put your devie in DFU mode, have a look to this article:
How to put an iPhone or iPad into DFU mode

iMazing offers two installation types: you can either download the latest version of iOS for your device from Apple's servers, and install that on your iPhone or iPad, or you can install from an image file, or .ipsw file. This .ipsw file is one that you may have on your computer if you updated your device through iTunes, or if you tried to restore the device in that way.

If you choose to install from an image file, iMazing displays a dialog asking you to find that file. You can download IPSW files from this website: IPSW.me. Make sure to select the right package for your device model, otherwise the installation will fail.