- How to downgrade from os mac sierra back to os x el capitan mac os x#
- How to downgrade from os mac sierra back to os x el capitan mac os#
- How to downgrade from os mac sierra back to os x el capitan install#
It's highly recommended for you to back up all important Mac data first before you start downgrading Mac OS to an older system.
How to downgrade from os mac sierra back to os x el capitan mac os x#
Tip: Backup Mac data before downgrading macOS or Mac OS X
Methods on this page can be applied to all Mac systems including the latest Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, and old Mac OS El Capitan, etc. Full stepsĪfter reverting macOS or Mac OS X, run EaseUS Mac file recovery software > Scan and recover lost data. Full stepsīack up data first > Plug in USB and launch Disk Utility > Erase USB > Rename it as "My Volume". While you await Sierra's final release this fall, you can get Sierra's beautiful wallpaper on your desktop.Start Mac and hold Command + R keys > Enter Recovery Mode > Insert Time Machine drive.
Time Machine will restore your Mac to this point and you'll again be running OS X El Capitan. Select the destination for your backup, which is usually Macintosh HD unless you renamed it.Select the most recent OS X 10.11 backup and click Continue.From the Utilities window, select Restore From Time Machine Backup.Restart your Mac and hold down Command-R as it boots up to enter recovery mode.Connect the external drive you use for Time Machine backups.If you installed the MacOS Sierra beta over El Capitan, it's time to dig out your Time Machine drive and get to work. Click the "-" button and then click Apply.Īfter a minute or so, Disk Utility will finish applying changes to your drive and deem the operation successful.On the pie graph on the left, click the wedge that represents the partition you just erased.Select the top-most drive from the left panel.With the data erased from your partition, you still need to delete the now-empty partition in order to reallocate its space to the rest of your hard drive. When the confirmation window pops up, click Erase to confirm your intentions.Click the Erase button at the top of Disk Utility.On the left panel, select the partition you created for the Sierra beta.After El Capitan boots up, open Disk Utility.To erase the partition on which you installed Sierra, you first need to restart your Mac and while it's restarting, hold down the Option key so you can choose which partition to start. (I had a few files I wanted to save from my Sierra partition and simply opened Finder and dragged them to the iCloud Drive folder.) Erase and remove partitionīefore you remove Sierra, make sure you move any files you may need from that partition to an external drive or a cloud service, including iCloud Drive. Hopefully, you followed my advice to create a Time Machine backup before installing the Sierra beta.
How to downgrade from os mac sierra back to os x el capitan install#
And if you took the bold step to install the Sierra beta right over El Capitan, then you'll need to roll back the clock and use a Time Machine backup that predates your installation of the Sierra beta. If you followed my earlier advice to install the Sierra beta on a partition, then it's easy to erase and remove that partition.
If you installed the public beta of MacOS Sierra to give it a spin but have now satisfied your curiosity, you can return to OS X El Capitan while you await Sierra's final release this fall.