MacOS Tahoe is… an acquired taste. And while I was able to find a solution to the most significant issue I had with Apple's latest computer operating system, I still found several things about it that I find too irritating to put up with on my daily driver MacBook Pro. If you feel the same about Tahoe as I do, you can roll back to macOS Sequoia and pretend the whole upgrade ordeal never happened.
I know a lot of people buy Macs so they don't have to deal with complicated stuff every time they want to try something new on their laptops. So, I'll keep this simple. I'm not going to teach you any hacks or tricks that can bork your computer. What we have here is a straight-ahead, Apple-approved (well, I mean, Apple hasn't tried to stop anyone from doing it) method for turning back the hands of time—and you're gonna use Time Machine to do it. Let's get started:
For this guide to do what you want it to, you'll need a Time Machine backup of your Mac from when it was still running macOS Sequoia. Ideally, it should be the most recent Sequioa backup you have, so that all available updates for your MacBook, Mac Mini, or iMac are installed when you've finished following this guide.
Before you go any further, check and see that your Time Machine install still has an archived image of your computer from when it was running macOS Sequioa. Now, double-check it. You're gonna have a bad day without it. Got it? Good. Plug your Time Machine drive into your Mac. And away we go:
- Send your Mac into recovery mode. If you're using an Intel MacBook, restart your laptop while holding down the R and Option keys. If you have an Apple Silicon model, hold down the Power button/fingerprint reader for 10 seconds. Your Mac will shut down. Then, press the button a second time and hold it. This will put the device into recovery mode. On Desktop Macs, the process is the same as on Apple laptops for Intel and Apple silicon hardware, respectively.
- Good job! You're in Recovery Mode. You'll be asked to connect to a WiFi network. Pick one you trust and move on to the next step.
- Since you want to remove macOS Tahoe, you gotta nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure. Click on Disk Utility. Select your Mac HD (or whatever you renamed it to) from the sidebar. Now, look at the options at the top of the Disk Utility interface. Click Erase. A dialog box will appear, asking you to name your Mac's drive once it's wiped clean. As for which File Format to use, go with APTS. Now click Erase. Go to your Mac's menu bar at the top of your display and click on Disk Utility and then Quit Disk Utility. You'll be sent back to the Main Recovery Options window.
- Remember that Time Machine backup you assured me you have? It's time to put it to use. Click on the option to restore your Mac using a Time Machine image.
- Select your Time Machine drive from the list of external HD/SSD options. The Interface should now allow you to select the Time Machine image you want to use. Choose your image and confirm your choice.
- At this point, your Mac will begin downloading macOS Sequioa. Make a sandwich and come back in a while.
- Once a fresh copy of the operating system has been installed on your computer, macOS will prompt you to set up your computer using a Time Machine backup. Make sure your external drive is still plugged in, then select the appropriate option. Now, eat your sandwich while your Mac restores all your data.
And that's it. You'll be asked to enter a few passwords and to initialize some of your software. But you're now in the clear. No more macOS Tahoe.
