How to Downgrade a .deb Package on Ubuntu

Sometimes a newer version of an app doesn’t work as expected — maybe it’s buggy, has UI issues, or just doesn’t suit your workflow. This can be frustrating, especially when there’s no built-in way to roll back to a previous version. Fortunately, on Ubuntu (or any Debian-based Linux distribution), you can downgrade .deb packages manually.

In this post, I’ll show you how to downgrade an already-installed .deb package using dpkg, and explain why tools like gdebi might not work in this case. We’ll use Local by Flywheel as a practical example.

Why Downgrade?

Let’s say you updated Local by Flywheel to version 9.2.4, but after the update, you noticed UI issues — for instance, blurry sidebar text. Since the issue didn’t exist in version 9.2.2, you want to go back.

Trying to install the older .deb package with gdebi might give you this error:

This package is uninstallable
A later version is already installed

That’s because gdebi doesn’t support forcefully downgrading packages. But don’t worry — there’s a workaround using dpkg.

How to Downgrade Using dpkg

Here’s how you can force the installation of an older .deb package even if a newer version is installed:

1. Open your terminal.

2. Navigate to the directory where your .deb file is located:

   cd ~/Downloads

3. Run the following command to downgrade (replacing the filename if necessary):

   sudo dpkg -i --force-downgrade local-9.2.2-linux.deb

That’s it! This command tells dpkg to install the .deb package and force the downgrade, bypassing version checks.

After Downgrade: Fix Dependencies

If the downgrade causes dependency issues, fix them using:

sudo apt-get install -f

This ensures that your system resolves any broken packages after the downgrade.

A Word of Caution

Downgrading packages can be risky if:

• The app depends on system-wide libraries that changed in the newer version.
• Other apps rely on the newer version.

Always check for potential side effects and consider backing up your data before proceeding.

Conclusion

While Ubuntu doesn’t provide a built-in tool to downgrade .deb packages easily, dpkg gives you full control — if you know how to use it. In cases like Local by Flywheel, going back to an earlier version can solve unexpected problems introduced in newer updates.