Stuckgrade Mac OS

Just like most of us, you've probably jumped on the Sierra bandwagon and upgraded expecting cool features and a boost in performance. But the new macOS has it's bugs and troubles: some apps and hardware pieces are incompatible with it just yet, and some features are off-putting rather than appealing.

In any case, you don't have to endure Sierra if for whatever reason you don't feel like it at this point. Follow our guide on how to downgrade macOS Sierra and familiar OS X and wait for another update (or don't).

How to remove macOS Sierra and go back to OS X 10.11

Stuckgrade Mac Os X

Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the Commandand Rkeys until the Utility Menu appears. Select Disk Utility and click on the Continuebutton. Select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volume entry from the the side list. From the Apple menu  in the corner of your screen, choose About This Mac. You should see the macOS name, such as macOS Big Sur, followed by its version number. If you need to know the build number as well, click the version number to see it. Which macOS version is the latest?

IMPORTANT: Do not proceed before you have this guide opened on some other device or printed out! If you want to reinstall El Capitan to the very Mac you're reading this on right now, please make sure to have this page opened anywhere else or even print out the instructions. We've prepared a full tutorial on how to remove macOS Sierra from your Mac and revert back to El Capitan OS.

Step 1: Keep your files backed up

First, let's figure out how to reinstall macOS without losing data. While you downgrade your Mac, it will be cleansed from the files you've worked on since you've installed Sierra. If you still need them, you should back them up.

To begin with, make sure you're backing up the files you actually need, not some old trashy stuff that you'd be better off without. You can make use of a Mac cleaner to get rid of the files you no longer need. An app like CleanMyMac X is a good fit for the job. After you download and install it, look in the left-hand menu for the Large & Old files tab. Run the scan to find stuff on your Mac you might want to get rid of quickly. Now you can move the rest of them to an external drive or cloud storage, like DropBox or iCloud.

Also, it's vital to have a Time Machine backup for all your files before you proceed. Draw thine weapon mac os. This is a general Mac backup and you can restore all your files by the end of the reinstallation process. You can find it in Settings -> Time Machine.

Step 2: Make an OS X El Capitan installer into a bootable drive

Before you proceed directly to macOS downgrade, you'll need OS X El Capitan installer ready for launch. For this purpose you'll need a bootable flash drive (USB) with El Capitan on it. When you create it, you can then erase the operation system you've got now (Sierra) and install El Capitan, but it must be specifically a bootable installer on drive, not just an file on the USB stick. Otherwise you won't be able to choose it for installation. No worries, it's not too hard to create, just stick to the steps below:

1. Find an external drive (a thumb drive will do) with at least 8GB of storage space.
2. Download El Capitan installer file (Install El Capitan.app) from the App Store and put it into the Applications folder.
3. Open Terminal and paste this into Terminal window:

   sudo /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app --nointeraction

4. Enter admin password when asked.

Wait for about half an hour till it's ready. In the end, you will see: Copy Complete. And finally, Done. This means you're all set.

Step 3: Erase macOS Sierra out of your sight

Ping (itch) (liven) mac os. Once your bootable installer is ready to roll, time to delete macOS Sierra. The following list shows you the easiest way to completely remove macOS Sierra from your Mac, so there is no coming back after you've gone all the way. Make sure you've kept all precautions, like you have the rest of this page on a separate device and your files are safely backed up or moved to the cloud storage.

Sure, you're ready to move on? Then go.

1. Make sure you've got internet connection.
2. Restart Mac (Apple icon -> Restart).
3. Press and hold Command+R right after the startup until Mac makes that specific reboot noise.
4. Open Disk Utility, you can see it in the Utilities selector.
5. Click Continue.
6. You can see the list of disks, find your Startup Disk among them and choose it.
7. Find the Erase tab in the top. Name the file you want erased (for instance macOS Sierra).
8. Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) from the list.
9. Hit Erase.

When the process of erasing Sierra is complete, you can open the main menu in the upper left corner and simply quit Disk Utility. You won't need it anymore. Quitting will bring you back to the OS X Utilities selector and our reinstallation journey continues from there.

Step 4: Install OS X El Capitan back on your Mac

Finally, after you've erased something, you have to install something back. With the bootable drive it's more than easy, just a couple of clicks. However, not as fast.

1. First, in your OS X Utilities selector, find and choose Reinstall OS X.
2. When you see El Capitan installation, just click continue and then click through the license agreement.
3. From then, follow the usual installation flow. Let it finish and let it reboot.

IMPORTANT: there is a possibility, that you'll be able to download an earlier version of OS X, probably the one that was on your Mac when you bought it. In this case, finish the installation and then go to the Mac App Store to upgrade to El Capitan.

Step 5: Retrieve your files from El Capitan backup

As we mentioned before, a Time Machine backup is not exactly an option, it's more of a necessity when it comes to getting your files back. Here's how to do it:

1. Restart Mac.
2. Press and keep Command+R through the whole reboot.
3. In the OS X Utilities selector, select Restore from Time Machine Backup.
4. Press Continue (twice).
5. Select the Backup source (time to recall where your backup is stored).
6. Continue.
7. Select OS X El Capitan backup on the drive (the most recent one).
8. Continue.

Your data will be restored and then your Mac will reboot. It might take a while, so be prepared to wait. Average restoring time mainly depends on the size of your backup.

The classic OS X 10.12, or rather macOS upgrade, introduced tons of features anyone would still want on their Mac. Why? Because, it's well-tested and secure. Now we'll take a quick look at the legendary macOS Sierra upgrade. (In case you want to upgrade your Mac to macOS 10.13 High Sierra, check out this guide.)

Interestingly, it first brought Siri to your Mac. This is great news for everyone who's already used to her help on iOS. Then, there's Watch unlocking for Mac, there's one-click Apple Pay, tabs in apps, and cross-device copypasting. Just to name a few.

So, if you were on the fence about upgrading to Sierra, and in fact, any newer OS, go right ahead. Your Mac deserves a refreshment.

How to upgrade macOS: Sierra 10.12 compatibility list

As with the previous versions, macOS Sierra is available for a limited list of Mac models.
Here are the models of Macs that are compatible with macOS 10.12 and can upgrade to Sierra:

Does order matter when you upgrade macOS?

If your current operating system is OS X Lion (10.7), you can skip a few versions, and upgrade directly to macOS High Sierra. To upgrade to Sierra from, say, Mavericks, you'll have to consequently upgrade to Yosemite and then to El Capitan first.

Check Your macOS for Sierra Compatibility

These OS versions can upgrade to Sierra:

• OS X Mountain Lion v10.8
• OS X Mavericks v10.9
• OS X Yosemite v10.10
• OS X El Capitan v10.11

Here's how to find out which OS version you're running now:

1. Click Apple icon in the top left corner.
2. Choose About this Mac.
3. There you have it, in capital letters.

Memory (RAM): 2 GB (preferably 4 GB)
Sierra is pretty lightweight, so you only need 2 GB of RAM to upgrade. Cool, eh?

Disk space: 8 GB of free space on drive.
In the same About this Mac menu select 'Storage' tab. In front of the multi-colored bar, you will see the phrase, 'X.XX GB free out of XX.XX GB.' If you don't have at least 8 GB of free space, you should delete some old files.

Stuckgrade Mac Os Download

Before you update macOS, don't forget to:

Clean up your Mac

This is essential if you want a fast and effortless update, and glitchless work of your new macOS. And it's also pretty easy. To give your Mac a cleanup, you need to get rid of system junk, uninstall extra apps, and clean some old caches. If that sounds like a lot of work, you can get a Mac cleaner like CleanMyMac for the job.

How to update your Mac: Clean it up first

1. Launch it.
2. Hit Scan to find all the extra files you can delete.
3. Press Run.

As you can see, I have 8.56 GB worth of caches, obsolete language files, broken downloads. You'll feel great getting rid of them.
That will give your Mac a basic system cleanup, but CleanMyMac is going to come in handy after the update as well. It monitors your Mac's health, helps you speed up the system and remove unnecessary apps (Trashing doesn't fully uninstall apps, by the way).

Back up your Mac

This is basic common sense before any Mac software update you'd like to undertake. Why? Well, because sometimes updates happen less smoothly than you'd like them to. To make sure you have all your information and files saved up neatly, you need a backup. To back up your Mac, you need to activate Time Machine.

• Open your Applications folder.
• Choose Time Machine.
• 'Select Backup Disk…'
  Note: You may need to first choose to 'Set Up Time Machine.'
• Choose where you'd like to store your backup.
• Both an external drive or an Airport Time Capsule fit.

• Switch the toggle on the left, from 'OFF' to 'ON.' Right beneath the name of your storage device, you'll see 'Oldest backup,' 'Latest backup,' and 'Next backup' — Your backup will begin within 5 minutes. To speed it up, click the arrow clock icon next to the Date & Time at the top-right of the menu bar and select 'Back Up Now.'

How to download macOS Sierra (or newer macOS) and install it

macOS Sierra is increasingly becoming a relic. Since 2020, the newest available macOS version is Big Sur. But it all comes down to hardware. Your Mac can only upgrade to the latest version its hardware can support. If your Mac is from around 2012 it can update as high up as to macOS Catalina. If your Mac is from 2010 or older, its limit is macOS High Sierra.

To download any new macOS and install it you'll need to do the next:
1. Open System Preferences.. in the  Apple menu.
2. Click on Software Updates.
On top of the list you'll see the latest macOS version your Mac can download. In our case, it's macOS Big Sur.

Another way to do it is via the Mac App Store.

1. Open App Store.
2. Click the Updates tab.
3. You'll see macOS updates available for your Mac.
4. Click Update.

Wait for macOS download and installation. Your Mac will restart when it's done.

Now you have a new OS.
For historic interest, this is how macOS Sierra looked back then when it was still available in the Mac App Store. Now, it can't be found there anymore.

Download macOS installers directly from Apple

For users of past operating systems Apple created a handy a list of macOS installers. They go as far back as to macOS Yosemite. The first 3 of them will open and start the update process automatically.

• macOS High Sierra 10.13
  The 3 following installers will download macOS as a disk image (.dmg) After you unpack it, the macOS updater app will appear in your Applications.

We hope this guide has been of use, and don't forget to clean up your Mac and back it up before you get the classic macOS! Cheers.