Pixel 10’s May 2026 update prevents you from installing older Android versions

Source: 9to5Google

Update Overview

With the May 2026 update, rolling out now, Google is implementing an anti‑rollback measure on Pixel 10 series devices that prevents the installation of any older Android versions.

In a notice available below, Google says that Pixel 10 series devices – specifically Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL, and 10 Pro Fold – won’t be able to roll back to an older bootloader version and, in turn, an older Android build as well. This is similar to the notice shown for Pixel 6 and Pixel 8 series devices from the May 2025 update.

Warning: The May 2026 update for Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL and 10 Pro Fold devices contains a bootloader update that increments the anti‑rollback version for the bootloader. This prevents the device from rolling back to previous vulnerable versions of the bootloader. After flashing the May 2026 update on these devices you won’t be able to flash and boot older Android 16 builds.
— Google developers site

After applying the May 2026 update and successfully booting, an Android 16 build resides in the inactive slot (see Android’s seamless updates for more on slots). The inactive slot still contains an older bootloader whose anti‑rollback version has not been incremented. If the active slot is later flashed with a build that fails to boot, the fallback mechanism of seamless updates will attempt to boot from the inactive slot. Because that slot holds the older bootloader, the device can become unbootable.

How to avoid the unbootable state

If you are flashing an impacted Pixel device with the May 2026 update (or newer) for the first time, follow these steps:

1. Boot into Android 16 (May 2026) at least once.
2. After the successful boot, sideload the full OTA image that corresponds to that build.
3. Reboot the device to ensure both slots now contain a bootable image.

What does this mean for you?

For the average customer, probably nothing. Rolling back from a new Android update to an older one—especially within the same core version—is not common practice.

However, developers may be affected. If a build breaks on a device that cannot be rolled back, the device could become stuck in certain recovery modes and become unusable, as described in this issue tracker entry.

While most users won’t notice any impact, the increasing use of anti‑rollback measures suggests that tools to recover affected devices would be valuable, particularly for developers.

The May 2026 update is rolling out now.