Can a downgrade of macOS give my MacBook random errors and glitches?

My MacBook Pro is 13 inch with a M2 chip. I bought it last year around January. The mac came with macOS Monterey 12.7, however I upgraded it to macOS Ventura a couple of weeks ago. When I tried to downgrade the Mac to Monterey again, it worked but there are issues. For example, some panels in settings were clicked and the entire app became unresponsive. So basically what I am trying to say here is that the downgrade seems to be "successful" however, there are issues and corruptions with the system. I have already tried to do this downgrade twice, and both times there are random errors and glitches (corruptions) with the system. I used a USB stick as the installer.


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Pro (M2, 2022)

Posted on Mar 22, 2024 7:14 PM

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Posted on Mar 23, 2024 10:19 PM

Did you restore your data from a backup? If so, was it from a backup made with Monterey or Ventura? Sometimes once you upgrade the OS (or an app), some files (usually ones with databases such as Photos, Music, etc.) will cause problems since those databases may have been modified. This could include any settings/preferences you restored from a Ventura backup.


When downgrading an OS, if you only have a backup from the newer OS (Ventura in this case) you must only transfer the data files. You should not restore any settings, nor should you restore Photo Libraries, Music/iTunes Libraries, or possibly anything including your saved mailbox associated with the Mail app, and other similar types of databases or libraries.


If you still have a backup for your previous Monterey installation before the upgrade to Ventura, then you can safely restore everything from the Monterey backup. However, anything you added or modified on Ventura will be gone, although you can restore those files from the Ventura backup by using the Time Machine interface (excluding any macOS databases & libraries such as the examples I listed previously....there may be others I'm not aware).


Just curious why you want to downgrade in the first place?

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 23, 2024 10:19 PM in response to maxlei2010

Did you restore your data from a backup? If so, was it from a backup made with Monterey or Ventura? Sometimes once you upgrade the OS (or an app), some files (usually ones with databases such as Photos, Music, etc.) will cause problems since those databases may have been modified. This could include any settings/preferences you restored from a Ventura backup.


When downgrading an OS, if you only have a backup from the newer OS (Ventura in this case) you must only transfer the data files. You should not restore any settings, nor should you restore Photo Libraries, Music/iTunes Libraries, or possibly anything including your saved mailbox associated with the Mail app, and other similar types of databases or libraries.


If you still have a backup for your previous Monterey installation before the upgrade to Ventura, then you can safely restore everything from the Monterey backup. However, anything you added or modified on Ventura will be gone, although you can restore those files from the Ventura backup by using the Time Machine interface (excluding any macOS databases & libraries such as the examples I listed previously....there may be others I'm not aware).


Just curious why you want to downgrade in the first place?

Mar 22, 2024 7:48 PM in response to maxlei2010

Start with this of M1 or M2 Mac...


On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > Shut Down.

Wait for your Mac to shut down completely. A Mac is completely shut down when the screen is black and any lights (including in the Touch Bar) are off.

Press and hold the power button on your Mac until “Loading startup options” appears.

Select a volume.

Press and hold the Shift key, then click Continue in Safe Mode.

The computer restarts automatically. When the login window appears, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.

Does the problem occur in Safe Mode? 


Restart normally.


Try one of these two…

You can use Drive DX to possibly get a better view of Drive health…

https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx


Thanks to Jack-19…


It may be wise to run SMART Utility to check the drives' health.


Are you running any VPN, Anti-Virus, or Cleaning apps?


We need to see what all is running, a report from this will not display any personal info...

Using EtreCheck - Apple Community


EtreCheck is a FREE simple little diagnostic tool to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac. It will not display any personal info.

https://www.etrecheck.com/


Thanks for Old Toad’s etrecheck instructions…

Slow iMac 2017 - Apple Community


Use the Note tool on the bottom of this editor's toolbar, as shown in the image, to copy and paste the output from EtreCheck. In a Reply before you click post, look for this to add longer texts...

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Can a downgrade of macOS give my MacBook random errors and glitches?

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