How to Downgrade macOS from Golden Gate to Tahoe/Sequoia without Losing Data

Being thrilled at the latest updated macOS 27 operating system --- Golden Gate, you Mac users might go ahead of the rest to experience its fantastic features, but realize that this newly developed system also comes with bugs that make it irritating to use. These bugs are usually reported to be stuck apps, battery drain, slow response, system freezing and crashing, etc.

Feel regretful of the upgrade? Want to downgrade macOS Golden Gate to Tahoe, Sequoia or a more stable early version, while worrying about data loss? Just walk through this article to learn how to safely revert from macOS 27 Golden Gate to Tahoe without losing data.

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Preparations Before Downgrading macOS 27 Golden Gate to Tahoe

Prior to seeking solutions on degrading macOS Golden Gate back to Tahoe, Sequoia, or earlier versions, some crucial preparatory work can’t be left out, which are listed as follows.

• Take a backup of your system data.
  After macOS Golden Gate downgraded to its previous build, all the system data will be erased forever. So, creating a backup of your current data is the key point to prevent losing data when degrading macOS system. It is recommended to utilize the built-in Time Machine feature, an external USB drive or an automatic cloud service to do the backup and manually restore data from the backups afterwards.
• Maintain a good Internet connection.
  Make sure that your Mac is connected to a stable and relatively fast Wi-Fi or Ethernet. This is to avoid interference in the downgrade process from Golden Gate to Tahoe.
• Keep your Mac plugged into power.
  The Mac to be degraded should be kept powered in, so that uninstalling macOS Golden Gate and reinstalling macOS Tahoe can be done smoothly free from disturbing.

How to Downgrade macOS without Losing Data?

After the preparations mentioned above have been made, this section will deliver 4 feasible methods of downgrading macOS Golden Gate to Tahoe with no data loss. Read on to pick the most suitable one for your case.

Method 1: Use Time Machine Backup to Downgrade macOS 27 Golden Gate

On condition that Tahoe Time Machine backup has been enabled before upgrading to macOS Golden Gate version, this method is achievable as the most straightforward one to rollback to Tahoe. Otherwise, head for the rest 3 ways. Here’s the tutorial with Time Machine.

1. Connect the Time Machine external drive to your Mac.
2. From the Apple menu bar, click Restart.
3. Go to boot selection screen. Hold down the power button until startup screen shows. Then click Options > Continue.
4. Choose Restore From Time Machine, click Continue button.
5. Select the disk containing the Time Machine backup, click Connect icon, then enter password.
6. Choose a recent macOS Tahoe backup, click Continue. 
7. Wait patiently till the downgrade finishes.

Method 2: Revert from macOS Golden Gate to Tahoe with Bootable Installer in Recovery Mode

Provided that Tahoe Time Machine backup is unavailable, another approach with no worry of losing data is to create a bootable drive and install macOS Tahoe in Recovery Mode. With multiple steps, it would be possibly more complicated than the first solution, but a higher success rate of downgrading is guaranteed. Let’s see how.

1. Go to Mac App Store, search for macOS Tahoe, click Get button to download it onto your Mac first.
2. Once the download completed, the macOS Sonoma installer will get into your Applications folder.
3. Plug an USB drive to your Mac, it will be used to create a bootable macOS installer.
4. Find Disk Utility on your Mac using spotlight feature, and open the app to erase the USB drive for clean installation.
5. Go for the drive on the left sidebar under External > select Erase from the top toolbar.
6. A dialog box will pop up. Select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format. Also change the USB drive name to a simpler one for further use. Here we use USB. Then click Erase button.
7. When the Erase process completes, click Done to continue. Now the USB drive has been prepared.
8. Launch Terminal on the Mac, copy and paste the command “sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Tahoe.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/XXX”. You should replace XXX with your USB drive name. And hit Enter.
9. Enter password.
10. Type Y to copy the macOS to your disk.
11. Turn off your Mac, then boot it into Recovery mode.
    For Apple Silicon M1 Mac: immediately hold the Power button until you see the installer drive on screen with volumes.
    For Intel-based Mac: immediately hold down the Option (Alt)+R key to detect your installer drive. 
12. Choose Install macOS Tahoe, click Continue.
13. Then open Disk Utility, erase the internal Macintosh HD drive. Then go back to finish the setup by clicking on Install macOS Tahoe. 
14. Follow the prompts given by the system to install macOS Tahoe on your Mac.

Method 3: Downgrade macOS with Cisdem

Cisdem Data Recovery for Mac is a professional-grade tool to downgrade macOS versions, using its helpful feature of creating a bootable macOS installer. Moreover, it’s also designed with a couple of more functions, such as backing up files before downgrading macOS Sequoia to Sonoma, restoring lost data after a macOS downgrade (see details in the later part), update, installation, etc. To degrade macOS, you’re required to prepare a USB flash drive larger than 32 GB beforehand.

Free Download macOS 10.15 or later

How to downgrade mac OS without losing data?

1. Insert the USB into your Mac.
2. Download and install Cisdem Data Recovery, then run the program on your Mac.
3. Select macOS Installer.
4. Choose a macOS version to download it from App Store, click Refresh to get the downloaded installer. 
5. Select the USB drive as destination, click “Erase and create” from the pop-up window to format it, then choose Create macOS installer button.
6. When the creating process is done, click Finish.
7. Boot your Mac into Recovery mode, select the USB drive as startup disk, reinstall the macOS to downgrade current one to a previous version.

Method 4: Downgrade macOS Golden Gate to Tahoe by Factory Reset

Suppose that the factory-shipped macOS version was Tahoe, Mac factory reset is the easiest way to move back towards macOS Tahoe from Golden Gate. If the Mac is restored to factory settings, its operating system is restored to the raw macOS build as well. Meanwhile all the settings, media and data on this Mac will be wiped off completely. Therefore, do remember to back up your data before downgrading. As below is the step-by-step guide of factory reset.

1. Click on the Apple icon at the top left corner of your Mac screen, select System Preferences.
2. Click the exact text again on the menu bar, choose Erase All Content and Settings, enter your Mac user password to confirm.
3. Click on Continue button, enter your Apple ID password to sign out of your Apple ID.
4. Choose the red words Erase All Content & Setting to start factory resetting.
5. Wait till the following interface appears. At this point your macOS system has been degraded back to Tahoe successfully.

What if You Lost Data after macOS Downgrade?

It is repeatedly stressed that useful data are supposed to be backed up before macOS downgrade for fear of losing them. However, data loss after downgrade still happens, which may result from improper human actions or other unexpected situations occurred at any moment during the downgrading. 

So what can we do if losing data after macOS downgrade? A specialized third-party data recovery software must be your top priority.

Among plethora of data recovery tools on the Internet, Cisdem Data Recovery for Mac deserves to be a nice choice. This software is capable of restoring files lost due to a variety of reasons, such as system upgrade/downgrade/reinstallation, unintentional format, malware attack, power surge and so on. With clear interface and straightforward operation, users could deal with any heavy-duty data retrieval with no need of professional knowledge on data recovery, in addition, it can repair damaged video files that saved on your Mac, external hard drive or SD card.

Here’s the guide on how to recover lost data after macOS downgrade with no hassle.

1. Free download and install Cisdem Data Recovery on Mac.
   Free Download macOS 10.15 or later
2. Go to Hardware Disk, select the Mac drive used to store your lost data, click “Search for lost data” button.
3. After both quick scan and deep scan, recoverable items will be displayed at the left sidebar. Choose Path or Type to preview the found files. You can use the filter tools or search bar to quickly locate specific files.
4. Pick out your wanted files, click “Recover” button to restore them.

Final Words

To downgrade macOS 27 Golden Gate to Tahoe, dedicated downgrading tool, Time Machine backup, bootable installer in macOS Recovery mode and Mac factory reset, can be used according to different occasions. Backup initially is the key to do the downgrade without losing data.

If files are missing after macOS downgrade unfortunately, just try the helpful software --- Cisdem Data Recovery to rescue them back.