Downgrading from Catalina to Mojave

Question

Level 1

8 points

Downgrading from Catalina to Mojave

Hello,

I'd like to downgrade from Catalina to Mojave.* I have a Time Machine backup but nothing from right before I upgraded. I read a couple tutorials that say I need to wipe my HD to downgrade. But because I don't have a Mojave backup I would rather not. Could I just install Mojave from the App Store / Software Update pane? Will this mess things up?

Thanks for your help!!

* downgrading because the new Music / Books apps are making my life and work more complicated, due to missing features mentioned already in other threads...

MacBook, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 19, 2019 4:39 AM

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Answer 1

dialabrain

Level 10

135,953 points

Oct 19, 2019 4:58 AM in response to hibou_-

You cannot downgrade without erasing the drive.

See: https://www.imore.com/how-downgrade-macos

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

135,953 points

Oct 19, 2019 5:25 AM in response to hibou_-

You're welcome. The simple answer why is because Catalina changes where system and user files are stored. The drive has to be restructured. What will happen is you will get a message that Mojave can't be installed.

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Answer 3

Nov 6, 2019 9:04 AM in response to hibou_-

For music, I too have a mega library but this might help you. On Catalina I was able to get back the List view (somewhere in the view menu and in Show View Option, and also to search you need to do CMD-Shift-F , a new search field will appear under the Apple stuff search field and you will be able to use Music like iTunes.

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Answer 4

dialabrain

Level 10

135,953 points

Oct 19, 2019 7:15 AM in response to hibou_-

You're welcome. That's why it's important not to install betas and new upgrades on a production machine without testing it first.

It's a bit late now but see this user tip: Upgrading macOS without fear - Apple Community

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Answer 5

Nov 6, 2019 8:57 AM in response to dialabrain

I guess you are right, I am in that nightmare right now. I installed Catalina 2 days ago and found out yesterday that LaCie Desktop Manager is not compatible with Catalina. I had no warning from the install. Now back on Mojave, all the backup on Time Capsule made with Mac on Catalina are not accessible, only those from machine on Mojave. I can't select my backup even if there month's of backup made on Mojave. I might make a copy of the backup and try to remove those last few backup made with Catalina.

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Answer 6

hibou_- Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2019 6:51 AM in response to dialabrain

OK thanks. So is there any solution for those of us who don't have Mojave backups...?

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Answer 7

dialabrain

Level 10

135,953 points

Oct 19, 2019 6:57 AM in response to hibou_-

Welcome. Without a backup, no. You can downgrade but you will lose all your files and apps you had installed except for any data you had stored on iCloud. If you backed up Catalina using Time Machine, I don't believe you can install Mojave and use Time Machine to restore your files.

Is there some reason you want to downgrade?

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Answer 8

hibou_- Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 19, 2019 7:07 AM in response to dialabrain

Thanks again for your help. That's disappointing. I guess I'm stuck with Catalina then. To answer your question, I want to downgrade because of these changes in the interface :

Music : I have 9k songs in my library, many of which I use for work. Navigating my music library quickly is impossible without column browser

Books : Can no longer see play count for audiobooks, and specifically play count of individual chapters, which was useful for me. Maybe I could get around this by importing my audiobooks to Music – in any case, it's annoying.

Finder / iPhone : I film with FilmicPro on an iPhone. Copying files into the Finder is less intrinsic, and a lot slower, than it was with iTunes (last tested in the beta of Catalina, maybe things have been improved)

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