Downgrade to Ventura.

[Mattyman]

Hi. I’m ready to downgrade to Ventura. I’ve created a boot disk for Ventura. Do I use migration assistant on sonoma and clear everything and reboot using the boot disk? or do I need to use utility disk? The macOS guides are not completely clear but looks as though migration assistant completely formats the drive?

thanks

 

[chrfr]

Hi. I’m ready to downgrade to Ventura. I’ve created a boot disk for Ventura. Do I use migration assistant on sonoma and clear everything and reboot using the boot disk? or do I need to use utility disk? The macOS guides are not completely clear but looks as though migration assistant completely formats the drive?

thanks

Migration assistant doesn't erase the disk. You'll need to start up from the boot disk you made and then open Disk Utility from there and erase the disk, then do your Ventura installation.
If you have an Intel Mac with a T2 chip in it you'll need to first go into recovery, before you erase the disk, and open the Startup Security Utility to allow external boot devices.

 

[Mattyman]

Migration assistant doesn't erase the disk. You'll need to start up from the boot disk you made and then open Disk Utility from there and erase the disk, then do your Ventura installation.
If you have an Intel Mac with a T2 chip in it you'll need to first go into recovery, before you erase the disk, and open the Startup Security Utility to allow external boot devices.

Ok. Thought that may be the case. I’ve done your last step all ready. I did read migration assistant erases volunes

 

[Mattyman]

Migration assistant doesn't erase the disk. You'll need to start up from the boot disk you made and then open Disk Utility from there and erase the disk, then do your Ventura installation.
If you have an Intel Mac with a T2 chip in it you'll need to first go into recovery, before you erase the disk, and open the Startup Security Utility to allow external boot devices.

And when you say disk surely it’s the volumes? If I erase the disk will I eliminate the recovery element?

 

[MBAir2010]

And when you say disk surely it’s the volumes? If I erase the disk will I eliminate the recovery element?

What mac are we using?
today i just reinstalled a fresh version Catalina on a macbook pro and had to type in the old mbp password.
i tried reverting my new refurb m1 to Monterey without any success last month.
a time machine back up really saved my bacon.

this downgrade should work but i think this is not as simple as the last two decades.
time machine of an older os is the sure best way to downgrade.

i hoped this helped.

 

[Mattyman]

What mac are we using?
today i just reinstalled a fresh version Catalina on a macbook pro and had to type in the old mbp password.
i tried reverting my new refurb m1 to Monterey without any success last month.
a time machine back up really saved my bacon.

this downgrade should work but i think this is not as simple as the last two decades.
time machine of an older os is the sure best way to downgrade.

i hoped this helped.

It’s a 2020 MacBook Pro. Had Catalina installed when I bought it new.

 

[MBAir2010]

It’s a 2020 MacBook Pro. Had Catalina installed when I bought it new.

You should be able to reinstall Ventura easily than the M chip.
apple has a good how to guide, tho you seem to know what you are doing.

 

[chrfr]

And when you say disk surely it’s the volumes? If I erase the disk will I eliminate the recovery element?

You can erase the entire disk. Recovery will get recreated when you reinstall.

 

[Fishrrman]

I would recommend using SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner to create a cloned backup of your current (Sonoma) install -- rather than time machine.

It's possible your tm backup will "object" if you try to use it to "downgrade" to an earlier version of the OS -- even during the migration process after the re-install.

On the other hand -- using a cloned backup (which is really just a "finder backup") you may have a better chance at getting setup assistant to "accept it" during setup.

Both CCC and SD are FREE to download and use for 30 days.
Doing the above will cost you nothing.

My opinion only.