With macOS Big Sur, Apple introduced the world to its latest operating system. With many key changes, macOS Big Sur (aka macOS 11) earned a lot of praise among mac users.
However, some of you are creatures of habit and you are not satisfied with these numerous changes and want to go back to macOS Catalina. So, if you’ve already upgraded to macOS 11 beta version, but want to go back to the previous operating system, here’s a guide.
Preparing to Downgrade
The first thing to do is to make a full backup of your hard drive. Make sure your personal and official data is in a safe place from which you can always restore it.
There are two ways to downgrade your mac’s operating system. The first is through the Internet and the second is through a bootable drive. In case you want to downgrade your OS with a bootable drive, it can get a bit confusing. You should avoid it if you don’t have any technical knowledge. With this guide, you will learn the first method that works with the Internet. Let’s start!
Steps to Downgrade macOS Big Sur to Catalina
- Turn off your Mac or Macbook.
- Press the Option + Command + R keys and the power button.
- When the spinning globe appears on the screen, release all keys.
- Make sure your Mac is connected to the Internet if it isn’t already.
- Depending on your internet speed, the following screen may take time to appear.
- Now, the macOS utility window will open; select the disk utility option.
- Select to show all devices.
- Now, the most important step. Select the main disk and erase it. Make sure you have the backup of your data.
- Immediately after erasing the data, close the disk utility window and select reinstall macOS.
- The Catalina installer will appear, select install.
- Now, the macOS Catalina installation will begin.
As soon as the installation is finished, your Mac will reboot and go. The same method can be applied to downgrade other versions of macOS. This is the simplest method, anyone can implement it. The only thing you have to make sure is that you have a complete backup of your data and it is ready.
Benefits of using macOS Catalina
macOS Catalina has stood the test of time. A lot of Mac users feel more secure using this version, as it provides a Mac user with more security. While macOS Big Sur is still in its beta stage. The full version will start rolling out later this year. However, if you’re not ready to use an uncooked version of the operating system, you should go for macOS Catalina. Some of the users find macOS Catalina to be more user friendly, another reason why you should go for macOS Catalina.
If you want to downgrade your Mac operating system, the steps you have to follow are easy. Anyone with a beginner to an intermediate level of skill can follow these steps.