How to Downgrade From macOS Sonoma Step by Step

[Music] hi there welcome to another video in this one we're going to talk about Mac OS Sonoma and what to do if you feel upgrade remorse you know that feeling when you upgrade to the latest and greatest version of the OS and then realize it's not as great as you thought it would be or that it doesn't work with some apps you really need to use or maybe it just runs really slowly on your Mac by the way if that's the problem check out our video on what to do if Sonoma is slow on your Mac the link is in the description if you've already decided to downgrade from Mac OS Sonoma and want to go back to Ventura then keep watching we'll show you exactly how to do it the bad news about downgrading is that it means wiping your startup disk and getting rid of everything on it hopefully you backed up your Mac right before you upgraded from Ventura if you're watching this before you upgrade make sure you back up before you go ahead it's best to use time machine why because restoring from time machine is backed right into Mac OS utilities when you boot in recovery mode it's also an option in migration assistant which kicks in automatically when you clean install a new OS but any backup is better than none so if you didn't back up before you upgraded do it now you won't be able to restore the whole system from that backup but you will at least be able to recover the latest version of your files are you downgrading because your Mac is slower running Sonoma than it was with Ventura or is it crashing or less stable if that's the case then there are some things you should try before you downgrade you could free up Ram run Unix maintenance scripts rendix Spotlight or repair disk permissions yes I know that sounds like a lot but the good news is that you don't have to do it manually clean my Mac X's maintenance module can do it for you with just a few clicks you can run all those tasks and more and that may speed up your Mac under Sonoma or make it more stable you can download it for free from the link in the description so give it a try how to downgrade Mac OS Sonoma there are three main ways to downgrade from Mac OS Sonoma you can restore straight from a time machine backup if you have one or you can boot in recovery mode and reinstall Ventura or you can use a bootable installer on a USB stick or external drive time machine backup okay so you've got a time machine backup made just before you upgrade it to Sonoma perfect this is going to be really easy go ahead and plug in the backup Drive once you've connected The Time Machine drive boot your Mac in recovery mode by holding down command r on an Intel Mac until you see the Apple logo or holding down the power button on an Apple silicon Mac until you see the startup option screen when you see the startup options screen on an Apple silicon Mac choose options then continue when you see the Mac OS utilities menu choose restore from time machine backup and click continue click continue again choose the time machine disk as the source look through the list of backups until you find the one that was made just before you upgraded it should say it was made with Ventura click restore once your Mac is restored from The Time Machine backup you should be back running Ventura again recovery mode this method only really works if you have an Intel Mac because you can use a keyboard shortcut to start up in recovery mode and force your Mac to use internet recovery to reinstall the version of the OS that it shipped with originally that may not be the same version you want to upgrade to but it should be simple to upgrade from there until you get the version you want first shut down your Mac hold down shift plus option plus command plus r and press the power button release the keys when you see the Apple logo choose reinstall Mac OS wait for it to reinstall when the installation is complete you'll be back running the version of Mac OS that your Mac came with how to downgrade using a bootable installer this is more complicated than the other methods because you need to make a bootable installer first but it's a great option if you don't have a time machine backup to restore from and you have an apple silicon Mac to make the boot up installer you first need to download Ventura from the App Store the link is in the description when the download is finished don't click open if the installer starts click the file menu then quit now look in your applications folder and you should see the Ventura installer plug in your USB stick and use Disk Utility to erase it and reformat it as apfs give it the name Ventura installer go to Applications utilities and open Terminal type this command we've put it in the video description so you can copy and paste it if you'd like but you must have named your USB stick Ventura installer for it to work and the installer you downloaded must be in your applications folder note that my volume in the command is to be replaced with the name of your USB drive press return and wait for terminal to report that it has successfully created the installer when it does quit terminal now click on the Apple menu choose system settings then General startup disk and choose the USB stick shut down your Mac and boot in recovery mode choose Disk Utility in Mac OS utilities select your max boot disk and then erase confirm you want to erase it quit Disk Utility choose reinstall Mac OS Ventura from the menu once it's finished you can follow the steps to set up your Mac and you'll have downgraded from Mac OS Sonoma and that's it that's how to downgrade from Mac OS Sonoma it's really not that difficult even if you use the terminal method most important thing to remember is to back up your Mac before you upgrade it's much easier that way [Music] thank you

Channel: CleanMyMac

Views: 3,953

Keywords: downgrade macos, downgrade macos sonoma, how to downgrade from sonoma, sonoma to ventura, roll back sonoma to ventura, macos sonoma, macos ventura, macos, macbook, mac, mac tips, downgrade

Id: Q49yubibqyI

Length: 6min 8sec (368 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 19 2023