How to Downgrade from macOS Big Sur to macOS Catalina?

There can be several reasons to downgrade from macOS Big Sur to macOS Catalina. However, macOS Big Sur beta version is in stock and the beta version has tons of bugs that can crash your whole data. At the same time, you don’t have any solution without moving back to macOS Catalina.

However, you have installed macOS Big Sur on your Mac to check all the new features. Although, Apple included major new features in the latest Macintosh operating system. This operating system has advanced improvement and handy features. As you know, the stable version of macOS Big Sur is coming at the end of this year. But, you cannot wait till that time and you are curious to get all the new changes and improvements experience.

It is fine to give it a try, but, the beta version has several errors and you don’t have to install it on your main host. Therefore, if you have installed macOS Big Sur on virtual machines or on your Mac computers. And, you face several errors that force you to roll back from macOS Big Sur. Then, you are in a good place and this article is for you.

What is macOS 11 Big Sur?

The macOS Big Sur is the 11 version of the Apple operating system. Apple released the new operating system on June 22 and introduced at WWDC 20 in online events. The macOS 11 is the current Macintosh operating system having tons of new features and improvements. Thanks to Apple for including handy features and upgraded all the macOS applications.

At WWDC 20, Apple highlighted all the features such as the new experience for users with Menu Bar, Floating Dock, and New Icons for Apps, Control Center, Notification Center, Major update to Safari web browser, Messages, Maps, And software updates.

Once Apple released the macOS Big Sur, After a while Apple release the first macOS Big Sur developer beta. This developer beta is for Apple developers to check it out and send their feedback. However, the public beta is coming in this month and the final version will be released at the end of this year.

What is macOS Catalina?

The macOS Catalina is the previous Apple operating system that released on June 22, 2019, at WWDC. This operating system has several new features like iTunes Replacement, iPad apps on Mac, Send an Email, Screen time comes to the Mac, Apple watches Approval, Safari Improvement, and etc.

The macOS Catalina fifth beta version is released and now available for all users to upgrade to macOS Catalina 10.15.5. Apple fixed all the macOS Catalina issues that users faced and now you can go with it easily.

macOS Big Sur VS macOS Catalina

What you think, which operating system is best for your system. Although, macOS Big Sur is the latest Apple operating system that released in the previous month June 22. And macOS Catalina is the previous operating system that released on June 22, 2019. I checked both and observe all the features and improvements. Finally, I got macOS Big Sur is better than macOS Catalina. But, the macOS Big Sur stable version is not released yet and the beta version has several errors.

You can wait for the final release of macOS Big Sur and install it on your system. But, till that time, I recommend you to use macOS Catalina. However, macOS Catalina was the powerful Macintosh operating system and it has several new features. When Apple introduced macOS Catalina at WWDC19. Then, All users are curious to check it out like today they are doing with macOS Big Sur.

Anyhow, today’s update and today’s latest operating system macOS Big Sur is the only operating system that has amazing features and in high-demand from legions of users.

How to Downgrade from macOS Big Sur to macOS Catalina?

Below are the steps that can help you to downgrade to macOS Catalina from macOS Big Sur. However, there is a multi-step process that erases your Mac, installs the latest version of macOS Catalina and then you need to restore from Time machine backup. Though these steps will take a little time but you can do it easily.

Backup your Mac

While you have macOS Catalina on your system and you want to upgrade to macOS Big Sur. Then, did you make a backup of your Mac using a time machine? If yes, then you can restore all the files and data from it after you downgrade to macOS Catalina. In case, you didn’t make a time machine backup of your Mac. Then, you will have a new macOS Catalina Mac.

However, you are using macOS Big Sur and you might download files from the internet or you made documents files. Then, make a copy of all your files to an external hard drive. Although, you can save to cloud service like Google Drive. Once you roll back to macOS Catalina then you can transfer them back. Even you can transfer to your iPhone.

Erase macOS 11 Big Sur from Mac Drive

To start the process, you need to restart your Mac. Therefore, go to the Apple logo and tap on Restart.
While your Mac is restarting, immediately press and hold Command+R. Remember, keep holding until you see the Utilities menu.
Now, tap on Disk Utility and click on Continue.
After that, select your Mac drive like Macintosh HD from the left side of the page.
Tap on the Erase button from the top menu.
Here you will see a pop-up erase menu. So, type a name for the drive and select APFS for format from the dropdown list.
Then, click Erase.
Wait for a while, once the drive is erased then click the Done button and go to Disk Utility and click Quit.

Note: Don’t close the macOS utilities page because all the processes and steps will be done with this page.

Reinstall macOS Catalina

On the macOS Utilities, tap on Reinstall macOS and click Continue.
Afterward, agree to the terms and conditions.
Now, follow the on-screen instructions to download macOS Catalina.
While the download is done then follow the installation steps of macOS Catalina.

How to Reinstall macOS Catalina using Bootable USB Drive?

The above method will download macOS Catalina from the internet. If you have a fast internet connection then the macOS Catalina setup will be downloaded soon. Anyhow, it will take a little time. In case, your internet connection is not good and you want to reinstall macOS Catalina using a bootable USB drive. Then, follow this method. Make sure, you created macOS Catalina bootable USB.

Plug the macOS Catalina bootable USB drive to your Mac.
Go to Apple Logo and tap on Restart.
While restarting, hold down the option key.
Now, you will get the option to choose a startup disk. Here, select the macOS Catalina bootable USB drive.
once you select the bootable USB, then, macOS Catalina will start installing on your Mac. Therefore, click the Continue on the macOS Catalina installation page.
Now, agree to the license terms and conditions.
After that, follow the installation steps to complete the macOS Catalina installation.

Restore Time Machine Backup

This step will work when you have a time machine backup for macOS Catalina. Otherwise, you can’t go with this process. In case, you made a backup of your macOS Catalina before installing macOS Big Sur. then, you can restore all the files once your downgrade to macOS Catalina from macOS Big Sur.

Plug the Time Machine hard drive to your Mac.
Now go to Apple Logo and tap on Restart.
While restarting, press and hold the Command+R keys.
Afterward, tap on Restore from Time Machine Backup in the macOS Utilities and click Continue.
Check all the restoring information from a backup. After that, select the Backup source and proceed.
Hand down to select the latest and recent macOS Catalina backup on the drive and click Continue.
Now, wait to complete the restore process.

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Conclusion

I hope this method helps you to downgrade from macOS Big Sur to macOS Catalina. Don’t worry, you can install or upgrade to macOS Big Sur once the stable version released by Apple. For now, use macOS Cataline and check the Apple official website for the macOS Big Sur announcement.

No matter, whether you have installed macOS Big Sur developer beta or public beta. This method will work for both the macOS Big Sur installer.