After nearly four months of beta testing, iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 have finally been released to all users with a compatible iPhone and iPad.
If you don’t want to get these new iOS and iPadOS versions on your devices, here’s what you need to do to stay on iOS 18.
Even though Apple has been testing iOS 26 since June 2025 and working on user feedback, you may not want to install the latest iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 right away because of these reasons:
- You don’t want to try the first version of the public release, as you have reservations that something like app compatibility, AirPrint to a specific old printer of yours, CarPlay, etc., may break. So, you want to wait for a couple of weeks of user reviews to pour in.
- You have an institutional, work, school, or lesser-known old app that’s not yet confirmed to work well with iOS 26.
- You have concerns about the battery life.
- You’re about to travel to a new place and don’t want even the slightest possibility of something breaking due to a new iOS update.
- You’ve limited free space on your iPhone or iPad and don’t want a massive iOS update file to download on the device and eat up the remaining space.
- You just haven’t developed a taste for the new Liquid Glass design interface yet.
- You’re an optimist with hopes of jailbreaking your device, even though jailbreaking is officially a thing of the past now.
Whatever your reasons may be, here’s how to stop your iPhone or iPad from automatically downloading and installing iOS 26 or iPadOS 26.
Turn off automatic iOS updates
It’s a well-known fact that automatic software and app updates aren’t pushed to all iPhones and iPads on the very first day. Apple generally waits for a few days or even several weeks of feedback before automatic updates happen in batches. Still, if you want to be sure not to get iOS 26 accidentally, turn off automatic software updates from device settings:
- Open the Settings app, tap General, then select Software Update. Wait for this screen to load fully.
- Tap Automatic Updates.
- You’ll see two headings here: Automatically Install and Automatically Download. Turn off the switch for iOS Updates under the Automatically Download heading to stop your iPhone from downloading iOS 26 in the background. Once you do this, you’ll notice that the iOS Updates switch under the Automatically Install heading is also turned off.
Note: Keep the switch next to Security Responses & System Files enabled, unless you’ve strong reasons to turn it off.
Delete the iOS 26 file if it’s already downloaded
In case you had automatic updates enabled and your iPhone or iPad automatically downloaded iOS 26 but has not installed it yet, then select the iOS 26 update file in Settings > General > iPhone Storage and delete it.
After that, turn off automatic updates as shown under the previous heading and restart your device. Your iPhone will stay on iOS 18 and won’t auto-download or install iOS 26.
Downgrade to iOS 18 if iOS 26 is already installed
For a limited time, you can downgrade your iPhone from iOS 26 to iOS 18 if the new version has already been downloaded and installed.
Don’t install iOS 26 manually…
Finally, remember not to install the new version of the iOS operating system manually from Settings > General > Software Update. In case your family members, colleagues, or friends also use your iPhone or iPad, ask them not to download and install the new iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 update on your device.
What are your reasons for not updating to iOS 26? And did you get a chance to see the new iPhones and everything else Apple announced at its recent event?