My Nexus 7 tablet is about three years old. Like a good Google disciple, I’ve been diligently updating my Nexus 7 whenever a new system update came along. My little tablet worked fine running Android 4.4 (KitKat). Then around the end of 2014 Google pushed out Android 5 (Lollipop). I was really excited at first. However, after a very short time I realized things had changed drastically on my Nexus 7. I had to reboot almost everyday just to get it to do anything. My tablet was very sluggish…almost unuseable. I hate the new email client too. So the result is, I have not been using my Nexus 7, which has me shopping for a new Samsung table (that’s another story).

Today I decided to do some research on reverting my Nexus 7 back to Android 4.4. It can be done, but it looks like it would take me a couple of hours and at least a six-pack to get through it. During my research I read an article that suggested wiping the cache partition as a temporary fix. Well, I followed the prescribed steps and now my Nexus 7 is back to its old snappy self, but has all the new Android 5 apps (some good, some not so good). This is not a permanent solution, but it may buy us some time until Google debugs Android 5. Here is the procedure:

1. Power Off  your Nexus 7.
2. Press and hold the Volume Down button (the big button on the right edge) simultaneously (at the same time) while pressing the Power Button (the smaller button on the right side) until “Start” appears on the screen.
3. Go to “Recovery Mode” by pressing the Volume Down button twice to highlight “Recovery Mode”.
4. Press the Power Button to enter “Recovery Mode”.
5. You will see an Android robot laying on his back with a red triangle over him and the words “No Command” under it; while holding down the Power Button, press and release the Volume Up button once.
6. Use the Volume Down button to move down the menu on the screen to select “Wipe Cache Partition”.
7. Use the Power Button to enter “Wipe Cache Partition”.
8. You  will know the wipe of the cache partition is finished when you see  “Cache Wipe Complete” on the bottom of the screen.
9. Now reboot your Nexus 7 by using the Volume Up button to select “Reboot System Now” and then press the Power Button.

I hope this helps perk up your Nexus 7 like it did mine.