Revert back to previous OS

Specifically what makes Tahoe “virtually useless”? I’m running it and I like it a lot. Better to start working on Tahoe and learning its changes and differences.

That being said reverting back to Sequoia is not a simple task. It involves booting into recovery mode, completely and totally erasing Tahoe and all of your data. If you don’t have a verified and stable backup of all your data it will be lots forever. That you asked how to it mean you are likely not qualifies to do it safely.

So what are the issues you are dealing with?

billallen wrote:

All my data is backup in the Cloud.

if I may add my two cents, iCloud is mainly a syncing service. it was not designed to be a backup solution. and as affordable as external drives have become, you would do well to get one that is roughly 2 to 3 times the size of your local drive and make a backup using TimeMachine. please see Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

I just reverted back to Sequoia. The main reason is that Safari is not working correctly. I have a custom home page that has many links to other web sites that worked without issue with Sequoia. With Tahoe 26+ some do not open correctly and some open but makes the site unworkable. An example is YouTube. My link will open Youtube but some videos will not play and I cannot access my Youtube user settings. If I just put in the Youtube.com link in the top menu bar it will function correctly. I'm assuming my custom home page is not playing nice with the new Safari version. Since I already had a Sequoia on an external boot drive I was able to boot from that, erase my internal drive and reinstall Sequoia to that internal and then migrate files back. Now all is fine once again. I had to do this on two of my Macs.

billallen wrote:

It's primarily the sluggishness and slow performance. Also some webpages won't open. Before Tahoe, my Mac flew through the internet. I never had to wait on anything. If I revert I'll take it to the Apple repair shop in town. All my data is backup in the Cloud.

And you assume everyone is experiencing these issues? I’m not. Is your MacBook Pro an Intel model or an Apple Silicon model?

tbirdvet wrote:

I just reverted back to Sequoia. The main reason is that Safari is not working correctly.

Were you able to determine which version of Safari you were using and if that was the cause of the problem? The current version of Safari is 26.2 released on December 12th and available on both Sequoia and Tahoe. Are you currently using Safari 26.2 on Sequoia or one of the previous point releases of Safari?

billallen wrote:

Tahoe 26.2 is virtually worthless. Sluggish, sluggish performance,,,,many web pages won't open or take FOREVER to open. How can I revert back to Sequoia?

I don't have any such issues on an M4 Mini and an M2 MacBook Pro. Others have already provided suggestions to fix your Mac.

I have never done this procedure on any recent macOS, though I have done it on older macOS versions. I have no intention of going through the hassle in order to "test it out." Proceed at your own risk.

To revert, make sure you can find the backup you made prior to installing Tahoe. Create a manual backup of any new or edited files since you backed up on previous OS. If you don't have a backup, it is possible that any Library-based schemes (Photos, Music, Movies) will not work anymore when you revert back. You should export all data out of those libraries and store on an external drive. All metadata (keywords, faces, ID3 tags, etc.) will be lost.

Create a Bootable USB Installer. Instructions for how to download the previous OS and how to use the installer are all in the link.

If you have an Intel Mac, go into Recover and enable external boot from the Startup Security Utility.

Startup from the Bootable USB Installer.

Open Disk Utility and completely erase the drive, not just the volumes or containers, the whole Device (use Show All Devices) from the View popup menu. Quit Disk Utility. If you have an Apple Silicon Mac, you may render it useless until you DFU reset (requires another Mac/ Apple Store visit).

Reinstall macOS.

During the Setup Assistant, Migrate from the backup you made prior to installing Tahoe. If you choose a backup made after installing Tahoe, it will tell you that you must upgrade the OS first. Go back and find an older backup.

Restore any new files.

I would use the Mac OS built in recovery option to go back to the previous Mac OS version you had. I would back up any data you may had to a local drive or the iCloud Storage so you can retain any data you have used on Mac OS Tahoe.

I also would also suggest forgetting network settings you may have had and forgetting the network and restarting the device two-three cycles and than loading into the Mac OS environment and connect to the network and try it out. If that does not work than going back to your previous Mac OS you had might do the trick until Apple does a patch and bug fix for your device or any Mac Devices that are having the issues you are experiencing.

I believe Safari 26 is the issue. All ok with Safari 18.6. Safari 26 with Sequoia has messed up sidebar bookmarks so not using that version. I did not test that version to see if I still had my issue with Sequoia.

Have you restarted your cable modem and/or wifi system?

MtD