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How can I uninstall OS X Yosemite and return to OS X Mavericks?

How can I uninstall OS X Yosemite and return to OS X Mavericks?

Posted on Oct 17, 2014 3:09 PM

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Posted on Oct 17, 2014 3:17 PM

  1. You must have a fully bootable Mavericks system from which to boot the computer. You can then erase the volume with Yosemite, then clone the Mavericks system to the empty volume you just erased.
  2. You can erase the drive and reinstall Mavericks if you have a USB Mavericks installer flash drive.
  3. You can boot the computer via Internet Recovery and reinstall the original version of OS X that came with the computer. This is only feasible on models from 2011 to the present.
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Oct 17, 2014 3:17 PM in response to agasss

  1. You must have a fully bootable Mavericks system from which to boot the computer. You can then erase the volume with Yosemite, then clone the Mavericks system to the empty volume you just erased.
  2. You can erase the drive and reinstall Mavericks if you have a USB Mavericks installer flash drive.
  3. You can boot the computer via Internet Recovery and reinstall the original version of OS X that came with the computer. This is only feasible on models from 2011 to the present.

Oct 17, 2014 3:58 PM in response to Mikeysoch

Happy to do so:


Install Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion Using Internet Recovery


Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.


Boot to the Internet Recovery HD:


Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.


Partition and Format the hard drive:


  1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
  2. After DU loads select your newly installed hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
  3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.


Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion. Mavericks: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.


This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer.

Oct 17, 2014 4:06 PM in response to Allan Eckert

I want to do the same thing and here's why...


I have just ordered a new Macbook Air, which will inevitably come pre-installed with Yosemite (I wanted to get it before Yosemite was released, but didn't have enough money until today)


I have an iMac and older Mac Pro, both running Mavericks, and I use Pages and Numbers for a lot of documents, via iCloud. I will want to edit these documents on the new Macbook too.


It appears that, as usual, the latest version of the iWork applications can open files edited in older versions, but the pre-Yosemite versions will not be able to open files edited in the Yosemite versions.


I do not want to upgrade my iMac and Mac Pro to Yosemite, not only because I never upgrade until two or three updates down the line (the list of panicking Yosemite installers on this forum is proof enough of the wisdom of that), but also because Mavericks has already slowed them down noticeably.


So, although it sounds like a bit of a faff, the best solution for me will be to backgrade the new Macbook Air to Mavericks

Oct 20, 2014 5:15 AM in response to Kappy

Hi Kappy - This is obviously a great reply - unfortunately I don't understand any of this technical lingo 😐 Like others, I don't like the esthetics of Yosemite, but that's not my issue. My issue is that I play interactive scrabble online on a website called www.isc.ro. Since I've installed Yosemite I'm unable to connect to the website. I tried changing settings in Utilities, and also tried opening while holding the control button, but have had no luck. I also tried downloading the scrabble program anew and creating a new account, still no luck. Any suggestions? Thanks, from a non-techie.

Oct 20, 2014 7:44 AM in response to agasss

User uploaded filethis is the worst apple software I've ever used. not only is my entire system slowed down i cannot use wireless headphones without suffering a 3 second delay in audio in any application. i cannot use more than 1 application without the entire system slowing down my icons are ****** up and my system cache needs to be constantly thrown away just to stay afloat and act like a normal computer but even that does nothing. i am on a iMac late 2012, is this seriously how apple treats its older computers ? I need to get work done and this has pretty much left my computer on its knees this is the worst upgrade I've ever downloaded on any any platform. how do i get mavericks back in simple terms? this is absolutely unacceptable.

How can I uninstall OS X Yosemite and return to OS X Mavericks?

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