t’s all fun and games when you’re able to mess around with a new version of macOS before its final release. However, this usually comes with a slew of bugs that could render some of your most important and most used applications completely useless. That’s not to mention the various issues that are usually found with even when performing the most basic and mundane tasks on your Mac. This is an “issue” every beta season, as you can browse Twitter to see all of the bugs that are plaguing early adopters and developers.
The update to macOS Ventura looks to be pretty massive, as Apple has completely redesigned the System Preferences app, even renaming it to System Settings. But macOS Ventura also adopts Stage Manager, the defining feature of iPadOS 16 which transforms how you can multitask. Unfortunately, the problems that may arise could make it so your Mac is impossible to use, at which point you’ll need to know how to downgrade from macOS Ventura to macOS Monterey.
But before we get started, the most important thing to do before you begin the process is to make sure that all of your important files are properly backed up. Additionally, we recommend using Time Machine for the backup, as this is Apple’s built-in system for backing up all of your files and making them accessible after you’ve downgraded.
How to Downgrade From macOS Ventura to macOS Monterey Using macOS Recovery Mode
Besides using Time Machine to downgrade, which is possible provided that you have a macOS Monterey Time Machine backup, the next easiest method to downgrade only involves a couple of more steps. But before you get started with the process of downgrading, Apple recommends that you first turn off Find My Mac and Sign Out of your Apple ID account.
Open the System Settings app on your Mac.
Click [Your Name] at the top of the left side panel.
Click iCloud.
Scroll down and tap the toggle next to Find My Mac to turn off the feature.
If prompted, enter your Apple ID or macOS admin password.
Once complete, tap the < button in the top left corner.
From the main account page, scroll all the way to the bottom.
Click the Sign Out… button.
Now that you have removed your Apple ID from the Mac, your next step is to perform a proper system backup. There are plenty of various methods available, with Apple’s own Time Machine likely being the most common. But there are other options out there including just using cloud storage for important files, or something like Backblaze, which provides an automatic cloud backup service.
With the backup of your Mac completed, follow these steps to downgrade from macOS Ventura to macOS Monterey using Recovery Mode:
If downgrading a MacBook, make sure that it’s plugged in.
Completely power down and turn off your Mac.
After your Mac is turned off, we need to boot into macOS Recovery Mode.
If using a Mac powered by Apple Silicon:
Press and hold the Power button.
Continue holding until the Startup Options appear.
Select macOS Recovery.
If using a Mac powered by an Intel processor (pre-M1):
Press the Power button to turn it on.
As soon as you press the Power button, press and hold CMD + R on your Keyboard.
When Recovery Mode appears, select Disk Utility.
Select the name of your Mac’s hard drive (usually named Macintosh HD).
With the hard drive selected, click Erase.
Wait for the process to be completed, and confirm that you want to erase it, if necessary.
After your Mac’s hard drive is erased, you’ll be taken back to the main Recovery Mode screen.
Click Reinstall macOS Monterey.
Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.
Just like the next section, this process may take a little while, and depends on the internet speeds for your current location. This is because your Mac will need to download macOS Monterey from the cloud via Apple’s servers, potentially leaving you without your Mac for a few hours.
How to Downgrade From macOS Ventura to macOS Monterey With Keyboard Commands
There’s one more easy way to downgrade from macOS Ventura to macOS Monterey, and it’s with a series of keyboard commands. However, the catch here is that instead of installing the latest available version of macOS Monterey, your Mac will instead install the version of macOS that came pre-installed on your Mac. This might not be much of a problem if you’re using a Mac powered by one of the Apple M1 chips or the M2, but older devices might be surprised to see what version is actually installed.
If downgrading a MacBook, make sure that it’s plugged in.
Completely power down and turn off your Mac.
Press the Power Button.
Immediately press Shift + Option + Command + R on your keyboard.
When prompted, enter your Password.
Click the Continue button.
Follow the on-screen prompts culminating with the Reinstall macOS button appearing.
How to Downgrade From macOS Ventura to macOS Monterey With A Bootable Installer
Create A macOS Monterey Bootable Installer
The final method for those wanting to downgrade from macOS Ventura to macOS Monterey is to do so with the help of a “bootable installer”. Essentially, this is an external USB, SSD, or hard drive that is formatted and used to install the replicate Apple’s “macOS Monterey Installer”. However, this process also requires the most steps but is also the most likely way to successfully downgrade to macOS Monterey from macOS Ventura without dealing with too many headaches.
Before getting started, in addition to performing the backup on your Mac, you’ll need to follow these requirements:
The USB drive must have at least 16GB of storage available.
This drive must also be properly formatted for macOS.
Specifically, when it comes to the formatting of the drive you are planning to use, it’s important that the drive is formatted for macOS. Otherwise, you might run into problems when going through the necessary steps to downgrade from macOS Ventura to macOS Monterey. With that in mind and your USB drive ready to go, here’s how to create a bootable installer:
Download the macOS Monterey installer from Apple’s official support website.
After the download has been completed, the macOS Monterey installer will automatically launch.
Once the window appears, press CMD + Q on your keyboard to quit the installer.
Open Finder on the Mac.
Navigate to your Applications folder.
Locate the Install macOS Monterey “app”.
In the event that this is not located in the Applications folder, locate the app and move it to the Applications folder.
Plug in your external USB drive.
Open the Disk Utility app on your Mac.
Select the name of your external USB drive from the sidebar of Disk Utility under the External section.
In the toolbar at the top, click the Erase button.
Enter a name for the boot drive.
Under Scheme, select GUID Partition Map.
Under Format, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
Click the Erase button and wait for the drive to be erased.
Now that you have downloaded the macOS Monterey installer and properly formatted the removable USB drive, there are just a few steps left in order to create the boot installer. Before proceeding, make sure that the USB drive is still connected to your Mac.
Open the Terminal app on your Mac.
Enter the following command into the Terminal window:
(In this instance, MyVolume is the name that you used when you formatted the external USB drive in Disk Utility)
Press Enter on your keyboard.
When prompted, enter the admin password for your Mac and press enter.
Don’t be alarmed if you don’t see your password characters. Terminal does not display them, but they are being entered.
When prompted press Y and then Enter on your keyboard to confirm that you want to erase the “volume”.
Press OK to enable the copying of the installer to the USB drive.
Once complete, Terminal will show the same information that it did when you first launched the app. Additionally, the name of the external USB drive will now be named macOS Monterey Installer. From here, quit the Terminal app on your Mac, and safely eject the removable USB drive.
Downgrade an Intel Mac
Click the Apple logo in the top left of the Menu Bar.
Select Restart… from the drop-down menu.
When the restart process begins, press and hold the Option key until you see Boot Options.
As soon as the Boot Options appear, press and hold CMD + R on your Keyboard.
In the menu bar, click Utilities.
From the drop-down menu, select Startup Security Utility.
Under Allowed Boot Media, click the box next to Allow booting from external media or removable media.
Turn your Mac off again.
Insert the bootable installer you previously created.
Power on your Mac.
As soon as you press the Power button, press and hold down the Option key.
When you reach the Boot Selection screen, select the option to Boot from Installer.
Click Disk Utility.
Click Continue.
Locate the internal hard drive (usually named Macintosh HD).
Select the hard drive and click Erase in the toolbar.
When prompted, select the APFS format.
Click Erase.
Some users might see a Scheme option. Select GUID Partition Map.
Click Erase Volume Group.
After the hard drive is erased, quit Disk Utility.
Restart your Mac, holding down the Option key when the restart begins, and keep your USB Installer drive plugged in.
When you reach the Boot Option, select the USB installer as the Boot Source.
Select the Hard Drive that you want to install macOS Monterey on.
Click Install macOS Monterey.
Click Continue to confirm the installation.
The process for an installation could take a pretty lengthy amount of time. However, because you are booting from a USB installer, as opposed to trying to download macOS Monterey from the network, it shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes to an hour. But your mileage may vary, so make sure your MacBook is connected to power and the USB Installer remains connected until the installation is complete.
Downgrade a Mac Powered By Apple Silicon
Apple’s M1 and M2 series of processors are truly incredible, as the architecture is essentially the same as what we have on our iPhone and/or iPad. But this also means that the steps you need to take to downgrade from macOS Ventura to macOS Monterey are a bit different compared to if you are doing so using an Intel-powered macOS machine.
Shut down your Mac.
Once your Mac is completely turned off, press and hold the Power button.
When the Startup Options appear, let go of the Power button.
Select USB Installer from the Startup Options.
Click the Continue button.
Click Install macOS Monterey.
Select Quit install macOS.
Once completed, click Disk Utility.
In the sidebar, select the name of your Hard Drive (usually named Macintosh HD).
Click Erase.
Click the Erase button again to confirm.
Wait for the process to finish, then press the Done button.
In the menu bar, click Disk Utility.
From the drop-down menu, select Quit Disk Utility.
Restart your Mac with the USB drive plugged in.
Continue holding the Power button until the Startup Menu appears.
When prompted, select Boot from USB installer.
Select the name of the USB drive plugged into your Mac.
Click the Install macOS Monterey option.
The process for installing macOS Monterey will take quite a while. First, the Mac has to transfer the installation from the USB installer that you previously created, then it needs to create all of the necessary files, folders, and formatting necessary to use macOS Monterey. However, once the process is complete, you’ll be presented with the same setup screen that met you when you unboxed your Mac for the first time.
Andrew is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US.
He has written for a variety of sites over the years, including iMore, Android Central, Phandroid, and a few others. Now, he spends his days working for an HVAC company, while moonlighting as a freelance writer at night.
I’m might go this way since I’ve found that fileshareing is broken in Ventura 13.2…worked fine with Ventura 13.1 so I may downgrade to Monterey. If I do that…can I use Migration Assistant from an up to date Ventura Time Machine, or do I need to reinstall everything from scratch?
If you’re looking to downgrade, FYI – the Migration Wizard WILL import system settings and profiles from Ventura to macOS Monterey 12.6.1. Ventura doesn’t seem to like SMB or printing very much. For a 2021 24″ Apple Silicon iMac, I cloned the Ventura install with CCC, then used Apple Configurator 2 on a 2021 MacBookPro with a USB C/USB C cable to push the IPSW and restore the OS to factory at 12.6.1. Imported the machine config and user profiles from Migration Wizard and now back in business with no SMB/printing issues.
Very well explained and presented. I have not tested this yet, but it looks great the way you have laid out all the steps. And I probably need to do this. I rarely have problems with upgrades but now I have several major devices, such as my Wacom Cintq, that refuse to work properly with Ventura, and no updated drives in sight. It has been years since there was a need to check and make sure an imporatnt device had a driver ready to go in an OS update, never had problems with Wacom, since 1994, until now and only solution may be to go back to OS 12, so good job of laying it all out.
I’m might go this way since I’ve found that fileshareing is broken in Ventura 13.2…worked fine with Ventura 13.1 so I may downgrade to Monterey. If I do that…can I use Migration Assistant from an up to date Ventura Time Machine, or do I need to reinstall everything from scratch?
If you’re looking to downgrade, FYI – the Migration Wizard WILL import system settings and profiles from Ventura to macOS Monterey 12.6.1. Ventura doesn’t seem to like SMB or printing very much. For a 2021 24″ Apple Silicon iMac, I cloned the Ventura install with CCC, then used Apple Configurator 2 on a 2021 MacBookPro with a USB C/USB C cable to push the IPSW and restore the OS to factory at 12.6.1. Imported the machine config and user profiles from Migration Wizard and now back in business with no SMB/printing issues.
Very well explained and presented. I have not tested this yet, but it looks great the way you have laid out all the steps. And I probably need to do this. I rarely have problems with upgrades but now I have several major devices, such as my Wacom Cintq, that refuse to work properly with Ventura, and no updated drives in sight. It has been years since there was a need to check and make sure an imporatnt device had a driver ready to go in an OS update, never had problems with Wacom, since 1994, until now and only solution may be to go back to OS 12, so good job of laying it all out.
Thanks for the guide! Much appreciated.
Unfortunately a downgrade of the official release was needed due to continuing restarts.