Downgrade from MacOS Sierra to El Capitan: If macOS Sierra is not your cup of tea then you can downgrade back to OS X El Capitan. MacOS Sierra is new OS for your MacBook’s. New is mostly always better but it doesn’t mean that it suits you well or it is the perfect OS just because everyone is talking about it. You want something easy and comfortable for yourself. So if you are missing your previous MacOs The OS X El Captain, then you can Downgrade from MacOS Sierra to El Capitan by just following the steps in this article.
The process basically involves erasing macOS Sierra and then re-installs El Capitan from scratch and then restores your original pre-Sierra data from a Time Machine backup you made before you downloaded the Sierra. The process will go in this order to break it down:
- Back up your Mac
- Create a bootable drive of OS X El Capitan
- Erase macOS Sierra
- Reinstall OS X El Capitan
- Restore data from an earlier El Capitan Time machine backup
Table of Contents
So here is How to downgrade from MacOS Sierra to El Capitan :
- First, download the OS X El Capitan installer from the App Store.
- Create a bootable installer on a separate hard drive. (Use Disk Utility and format) You’ll need 8GB + of storage available on an external drive, which should be formatted with a GUID Partition Table, in which you put the installer.
- Back up any new files after installing sierra on the harddrive
- Restart Mac and Hold down the Option/Alt key at startup and when the drive icon appears then Install OS X El Capitan, click on the arrow below it to start the install.
- Select Disk Utility
- When the Disk Utility app launches, choose your Mac’s hard drive and click on the Erase tab. Name your hard drive and select one of the OS X Extended formats.
- Click Erase and wipe your hard drive.
- Once your Mac has been wiped you can install El Capitan from your Bootable Installer. Here’s how:
- Quit Disk Utility.
- Select Install OS X, click Continue and follow the installation process.
- If you have a backup then connect to your Time Machine drive and run Migration Assistant to restore all your files from the backup.
- Any additional data you had created since installing Sierra, and had backed up can be restored as well.
From the Editor’s Desk:
This is How to downgrade from macOS Sierra to El Capitan. It isn’t as hard as it may appear to be, the steps above are in great detail and one can really follow them and do it. Anyways the new mac is coming soon, so probably there will be new changes, so if you’re on comfortable to el captain then switch it without any problem. Let me know in the comments if you have any doubt or suggestion for the process.