I need to downgrade from Monterey to Big Sur. How do I do that?

Aaron_a_a_ron wrote:

I need to downgrade from Monterey to Big Sur. How do I do that?

If your Mac shipped with Big Sur—

How to reinstall macOS

Recovery (both M1 and Intel) — How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

this would be an erase and reinstall, you restore your user data from backup.

Back up your Mac with Time Machine

Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

Restore your Mac from a backup

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203981

restore items backed up with Time Machine

Restore items backed up with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support

Aaron_a_a_ron wrote:

I need to downgrade from Monterey to Big Sur. How do I do that?

Same as here if you qualify to go backwards:

Revert your Mac to a previous macOS version
Revert your Mac to a previous macOS version - Apple Support

leroydouglas wrote:

Aaron_a_a_ron wrote:

I need to downgrade from Monterey to Big Sur. How do I do that?

Same as here if you qualify to go backwards:

Revert your Mac to a previous macOS version
Revert your Mac to a previous macOS version - Apple Support

This article is out of date, and only applies to macOS Catalina 10.15.x or earlier. In macOS Big Sur and later, Time Machine doesn't back up macOS itself.

The only remaining options are:

• On an Apple silicon Mac, grab a Big Sur IPSW file and do a DFU restore (recommended)

• Use a Big Sur bootable installer

Hi Aaron_a_a_ron,

Just to confirm, what year was your 16" MacBook Pro made in?

These devices can't downgrade to macOS Big Sur:

• 14" MacBook Pro (2021, M1 Pro/Max)
• 16" MacBook Pro (2021, M1 Pro/Max)
• Mac Studio
• Any future Macs