Home > Tips and Tricks

Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade: Downgrade detected [Fix]

In this guide, we will show you the steps to fix the “Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade: Downgrade detected” error. There could be quite a few reasons why you might be to perform a downgrade. Two of the most common scenarios could be if the current app version is buggy or if it has introduced some UI changes/feature removal that is not in sync with your requirement.

So in such cases, all you need to do is uninstall the current version, install the older version, and then disable its automatic updates. In this regard, the uninstallation of a user-installed app could directly be done from the settings menu but when it comes to system apps, you will have to take the help of ADB Commands.

Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade detected

Once that is done, you could then install the older version of the app via ADB commands. However, that is proving to be easier said than done. Numerous users have voiced their concern that they are getting the “Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade: Downgrade detected: Update Version Code x is older than current y” error. If you are also in the same boat, then this guide will help you out. Follow along.

Fix Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade: Downgrade detected

Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade detected

There could be two plausible reasons for this error: either some of the data of the app that you are about to downgrade is still present on your device and/or you haven’t used the forced downgrade parameter in the ADB Commands. So we will be addressing both these concerns which in turn will rectify the underlying issue.

  1. First off, download Android SDK Platform Tool and extract it to any convenient location on your PC. Doing so shall give you the platform tools folder, which we will be using subsequently.
    install-adb-platform-tools-windows-remove-bloatware
  2. Now download an earlier version of the app (that you are about to downgrade) from any trusted third-party site. Once downloaded, transfer it to the platform-tools folder.
  3. Then enable USB Debugging on your device. For that, go to Settings > About Phone > Tap on Build Number 7 times > Go back to Settings > System > Advanced > Developer Options > Enable USB Debugging.
    Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade detected
  4. Now connect your device to the PC via a USB cable. Then head over to the platform-tools folder, type in CMD in its address bar, and hit Enter.command-prompt-inside-adb
  5. It will launch the Command Prompt window. So execute the below command and hit Enter:
    adb devices

    Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade detected

  6. You should get the device ID signifying the connection is successful. If that is not the case, then check your device, you would have got a Debugging Prompt, tap Allow.
    Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade detected
  7. Now execute the below command to open the shell environment. You will now get your device codename (such as sunfish for my Pixel 4A)
    adb shell

    Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade detected

  8. Now get hold of the package name for the system app that you are about to downgrade. For that, you may refer to our guide on How to Get App Package Name on Android [3 Methods].
    Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade detected
  9. After that, execute the below two commands to uninstall the said app for the current user as well as from the system altogether (make sure to replace the PackageName accordingly).
    adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 PackageName
    adb shell pm uninstall PackageName
  10. In our case, we will be uninstalling YouTube, so the above command transforms to:
    adb shell pm uninstall --user 0 com.google.android.youtube
    adb shell pm uninstall com.google.android.youtube

    Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade detected

  11. Once the app is uninstalled, you will get the Success message.
  12. You will now have to install the older version using ADB Commands [do not install it from your device as it will give out an error]. So type in the below command [replace PackageName]:
    adb install -d PackageName.apk
  13. For example, in my case, the name of the app is youtubeold.apk, so the above command transforms to:
    adb install -d youtubeold.apk

    Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade detected

  14. With this, the downgrade stands complete. [TIP: the -d parameter in the above command stands for downgrade].

So these were the steps to fix the “Failure Install Failed Version Downgrade: Downgrade detected” error. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.


Share:
  • vincent

    “Once the app is uninstalled, you will get the Success message.” – nope.
    After uninstall I get message: [failure: -1000]