Monterey crashed my MacBook. How do I recover it back to Catalina?

[Pilot Jones]

After updating to Monterey, my 2015 MBP slowly started getting a little sluggish until it completely collapsed a few days later.

Now I have this blinking folder icon every time I boot it up.

I tried going through the recovery process, but it defaults to installing the very first macOS that was compatible with my laptop, which is Yosemite. Unfortunately Yosemite too is super buggy and I'm not able to log into my iCloud account in the app store to update to Catalina, which was the last stable version my MBP was on.

Is there a way that I can bypass both the earliest (Yosemite) and the very latest (Monterey) macOS versions while fixing my laptop and recover my laptop directly back to Catalina?

 

[CloudChief]

You'll probably need to create a bootable USB installer for Catalina. This does mean that you will have to download the installer for Catalina. I'm not sure if you will be able to do this if you have a newer version (Monterey) installed.

Here is Apple's guide for creating a bootable USB installer:

Create a bootable installer for macOS – Apple Support (UK)

You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system. These steps are primarily for system administrators and other experienced users who are familiar with entering commands in Terminal.

support.apple.com

Here are direct links to different MacOS installers in the App Store (under 'Use the App Store'):
How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

Hope this helps.

 

[Fishrrman]

If you're having trouble getting a copy of the Catalina installer, try this alternate way:
1. Download dosdude1's free "Catalina Patcher" from here:

macOS Catalina Patcher

We ARE NOT going to "patch" anything, please keep reading.
Launch the patcher
Click continue, and then click continue one more time to get past the "contributors" pane.
Now click "DOWNLOAD A COPY".
(I didn't go past this point).
This should download the Catalina installer. Not sure if it's a .dmg file... or what.
That's really all you needed the "Catalina patcher" for, so quit it.

2. Now you need a tool to create the bootable installer.
I recommend the free "Install Disk Creator", which you can get here:

Make a Bootable USB macOS Installer Download the update for Big Sur compatibility -

What’s needed for a clean install on a Mac A backup of the disk before it’s erased. Two options are to use Duplicate (a free utility which can copy and paste an entire bootable volume), or Mac Backup Guru (a paid, fully featured backup utility with unique incremental backups capability) for...

macdaddy.io

With this app it takes only a few clicks of the mouse to create the bootable USB installer.
You need a USB flash drive 16gb or larger.

Since Monterey is "newer than" Catalina, you're going to have to ERASE THE ENTIRE INTERNAL DRIVE to install it.

So... you had better be backed up before you go further.

OK, I'll outline the procedure if you don't know it already:
Power down, all the way off.
Connect the USB bootable flash drive.

Hold down the OPTION key and KEEP HOLDING IT DOWN.
Press the power on button (keep holding option down).
This should bring you into the Startup Manager.
Select the flash drive and hit return.

The Mac should boot from the flashdrive.
If it opens to the OS installer, don't run it yet.
You need to quit it and then select disk utility instead.

Get disk utility open.
VERY IMPORTANT STEP: go to the "view" menu and choose "show all devices".
(you can't see the internal drive unless you do this)

Now, look at "the list on the left"
The top line should be the internal SSD.
Click on it and click erase.
Choose "APFS, GUID partition format".
The erase should take only a few seconds.
Then, quit disk utility and re-open the OS installer.

Start clicking through.
The Mac will reboot one or more times, and the screen may go dark for a minute or more with no other indication of activity. Be patient.

When the install is done, you should see the initial setup screen (choose your language).
At this point, if you have a backup, connect it and then start clicking through.

Startup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate from another drive, yes, you do.
Point the way to the backup, and give SA time to digest everything.

You can migrate everything, or UNcheck some things. This is UP TO YOU.
The migration may take a while.

When done, you should see your old login screen -- so log in and look around.

Good luck.