If you don’t have a Time Machine backup, you’ll have to downgrade macOS the old-fashioned way: by resetting your hard drive. How to Downgrade macOS without Time Machine Once you’ve completed the steps above, your Mac should be ready to go with a downgraded version of macOS. Do not that if you use Time Machine to create a backup and recover from that same backup later, you’ll also inadvertently recover the original macOS you used to create the backup. Alternatively, you can use either Time Machine or a free backup app. To back up your files, you can go down the traditional route and copy them to an external disk drive. This is especially important in this case, since you’ll be formatting your hard drive and wiping all the data. The first step before any software upgrade/downgrade is to back up your Mac. These steps will help you downgrade from an later version of macOS, such as Big Sur, to an earlier macOS version. Fortunately, it’s possible to downgrade your system to an earlier version of macOS, such as the OS version that was shipped with your device. Besides the usual bugs with fresh software releases, you may also run into problems like unresponsive systems. While the latest version of macOS is one of the year’s most anticipated events, a small number of users face issues with their installations.
