Downgrade macOS Ventura To Monterey Without Losing Data
Downgrade macOS Ventura to Monterey
Do you want to downgrade macOS Ventura to Monterey on Mac? That’s not surprising, especially if you jumped in during the early macOS 13 Developer Beta stages, when the software is plagued with bugs and lacks performance.
The macOS Ventura downgrade can be done in a couple of ways including Time Machine backup, macOS Recovery or Bootable Installer.
If you performed a Time Machine backup before installing macOS 13 Beta that will be your first option.
How To Downgrade macOS Ventura With Time Machine Backup
Important: When you restore from a backup all data on your Mac will be erased. If you accumulated data during the days or weeks spent discovering macOS Ventura you should manually backup these files and transfer them back to your Mac after the downgrade.
- 1. Connect hard drive used for Time Machine backup to Mac.
- 2. Click the Apple Icon and Restart… computer.
- 3. Open boot selection screen. This can be done in various ways depending on what Mac model you own:
Apple Silicon Macs – Press the Power button until you get the startup screen. Next, go for Options and Continue.Intel-based Macs – Press & hold Command (cmd) + R when the Apple Logo shows up or the startup chime is played.
- 4. Select Restore from Time Machine Backup and click ContinueClick Continue again after reading through the procedure.
- 5. Select Backup source and click Continue one more time.
- 6. Pick the recent macOS Monterey backup and click continue one last time. That’s it. Be patient until the downgrade is completed.
Downgrade macOS Ventura With macOS Recovery
Use this option if you don’t have a macOS Montery Time Machine backup available:
- 1. Click Apple logo and go for Shut Down…
- 2. Turn Mac back On and immediately press & hold one of the three keyboard combinations available below. Release when the Apple logo appears:
Command (cmd) + R to reinstall the latest macOS version installed on your Mac. (this will keep you on the macOS Ventura Beta updates)
Option (alt) + Command (cmd) + R to upgrade to the latest macOS version compatible with your Mac.
Shift + Option (alt) + Command (cmd) + R: to reinstall the macOS version that your Mac was shipped with, or the closest available to it.
- 3. Enter Mac password and click Continue.
- 4. Click Next and go for Reinstall macOS. Now, click Continue.
- 5. Follow the on-screen prompts and select the disk to flash.
Tip: Enter Mac password if you’re asked to unlock your disk. - 1. Power off Mac.
- 2. Press & hold the Power button until you get the loading startup options.
- 3. Click USB installer and click Continue.
- 4. Click Install macOS Monterey and select Quit install macOS.
- 5. Click Disk utility and Continue.
- 6. Click Macintosh HD (hard drive), available under internal and go for Erase. Click Done after the process completes.
- 7. Now, go for Disk utility and select Quit Disk Utility.
- 8. Activate Mac and click Exit to Recovery.
- 9. Agree and select Macintosh HD. Click Continue.
- 10. Select the Startup Disk and Restart. The macOS setup screen should appear next. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete.
Important: While macOS 13 is downgraded to the most recent macOS Monterey 12.4 (at the time of writing) don’t close the lid on your Mac. Computer will see restart several times, the progress bar will show and hide and the screen my go completely black.
Be patient Mac will reboot when finished and you will be asked to log-in when ready!
Downgrade macOS Ventura With Bootable Installer
This option is also straightforward if you own a Mac with Apple Silicon (M1 chip):
Have you managed to downgrade macOS 13 to 12? What option did you choose? Share your feedback in the comments!
Related: You might be also interested in how to downgrade iOS 16 to 15!
