{"id":6572,"date":"2026-02-27T14:52:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=6572"},"modified":"2026-02-27T14:52:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:52:52","slug":"how-to-downgrade-from-macos-26-tahoe-on-a-new-mac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=6572","title":{"rendered":"How to downgrade from macOS 26 Tahoe on a new Mac"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>If you\u2019re downloading the installer from within macOS Tahoe, you\u2019ll see a pop-up when the download completes, telling you that the installer can\u2019t be run from within that version of macOS. Since we\u2019ll be running it off of its own USB stick, you can safely ignore this message.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ars-lightbox align-fullwidth my-5\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col flex-nowrap gap-5 py-5 md:flex-row\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"flex-basis: calc(46.622907617979% - 10px);\">\n<div class=\"ars-lightbox-item relative block h-full w-full overflow-hidden rounded-sm\">\n  <a data-pswp-width=\"1980\" data-pswp-height=\"1400\" data-pswp-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-tahoe-01.jpeg 1980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-tahoe-01-640x453.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-tahoe-01-1024x724.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-tahoe-01-768x543.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-tahoe-01-1536x1086.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-tahoe-01-980x693.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-tahoe-01-1440x1018.jpeg 1440w\" data-cropped=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-tahoe-01.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"cursor-zoom-in\"><br \/>\n    <br \/>\n  <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pswp-caption-content\" id=\"caption-2142155\">\n      Settings for formatting your USB disk to get it ready for a macOS installer.<\/p>\n<p>\n                      Andrew Cunningham\n                  <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"md:hidden\">\n<div class=\"ars-gallery-caption\">\n    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-right\" viewbox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clippath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"\/><\/clippath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>\n              <span class=\"ars-gallery-caption-text\">Settings for formatting your USB disk to get it ready for a macOS installer.<\/span><br \/>\n                    <span class=\"ars-gallery-caption-credit\"><br \/>\n                      Andrew Cunningham<br \/>\n                  <\/span>\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex-1\">\n<div class=\"ars-lightbox-item relative block h-full w-full overflow-hidden rounded-sm\">\n  <a data-pswp-width=\"2500\" data-pswp-height=\"1544\" data-pswp-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition.jpeg 2500w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-640x395.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-1024x632.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-768x474.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-1536x949.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-2048x1265.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-980x605.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-1440x889.jpeg 1440w\" data-cropped=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"cursor-zoom-in\"><br \/>\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"632\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-1024x632.jpeg\" class=\"ars-gallery-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-labelledby=\"caption-2142158\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-1024x632.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-640x395.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-768x474.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-1536x949.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-2048x1265.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-980x605.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/disk-utility-partition-1440x889.jpeg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><br \/>\n  <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pswp-caption-content\" id=\"caption-2142158\">\n      A 64GB disk is large enough to hold two or three macOS installers at once.<\/p>\n<p>\n                      Andrew Cunningham\n                  <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"md:hidden\">\n<div class=\"ars-gallery-caption\">\n    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-right\" viewbox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clippath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"\/><\/clippath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>\n              <span class=\"ars-gallery-caption-text\">A 64GB disk is large enough to hold two or three macOS installers at once.<\/span><br \/>\n                    <span class=\"ars-gallery-caption-credit\"><br \/>\n                      Andrew Cunningham<br \/>\n                  <\/span>\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden md:block\">\n<div class=\"ars-gallery-caption\">\n    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-left\" viewbox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clippath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"\/><\/clippath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>\n              <span class=\"ars-gallery-caption-text\">Settings for formatting your USB disk to get it ready for a macOS installer.<\/span><br \/>\n                    <span class=\"ars-gallery-caption-credit\"><br \/>\n                      Andrew Cunningham<br \/>\n                  <\/span>\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"ars-gallery-caption\">\n    <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-right\" viewbox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clippath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"\/><\/clippath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>\n              <span class=\"ars-gallery-caption-text\">A 64GB disk is large enough to hold two or three macOS installers at once.<\/span><br \/>\n                    <span class=\"ars-gallery-caption-credit\"><br \/>\n                      Andrew Cunningham<br \/>\n                  <\/span>\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>While the installer is downloading, install and prepare your USB drive. Open Disk Utility, click the View button, and select \u201cshow all devices.\u201d Click the root of your USB drive under the \u201cexternal\u201d header in the left sidebar, and click the Erase button in the upper-right control area.<\/p>\n<p>Change the disk\u2019s name to whatever you want\u2014I use \u201cMyVolume\u201d so I don\u2019t have to change Apple\u2019s sample terminal commands when copying the installer files\u2014and make sure the Format is set to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and the Scheme is set to GUID Partition Map. (That\u2019s not an error; the macOS installer still wants an HFS+ filesystem rather than APFS.)<\/p>\n<p>The handy thing is that if you have a larger USB drive, you can create installers for multiple macOS versions by partitioning the disk with the Partition button. A 64GB drive split into three ~21GB partitions could boot Tahoe, Sequoia, and another past or future macOS version; I just have it split into two volumes so I can boot Sequoia and Tahoe installers from the same drive.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"ars-wp-img-shortcode id-2142156 align-fullwidth\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"ars-lightbox\">\n<div class=\"ars-lightbox-item\">\n            <a class=\"cursor-zoom-in\" data-pswp-width=\"1972\" data-pswp-height=\"1236\" data-pswp-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive.jpeg 1972w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive-640x401.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive-1024x642.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive-768x481.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive-1536x963.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive-980x614.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive-1440x903.jpeg 1440w\" data-cropped=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n              <img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1972\" height=\"1236\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive.jpeg\" class=\"fullwidth full\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive.jpeg 1972w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive-640x401.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive-1024x642.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive-768x481.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive-1536x963.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive-980x614.jpeg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/macos-recovery-drive-1440x903.jpeg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1972px) 100vw, 1972px\"\/><br \/>\n            <\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pswp-caption-content\" id=\"caption-2142156\">\n              Running the Terminal command to create our macOS 15 Sequoia boot drive.<\/p>\n<p>\n                  Credit:<br \/>\n                                      Andrew Cunningham\n                                  <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div><figcaption>\n<div class=\"caption font-impact dusk:text-gray-300 mb-4 mt-2 inline-flex flex-row items-stretch gap-1 text-base leading-tight text-gray-400 dark:text-gray-300\">\n<p>\n      Running the Terminal command to create our macOS 15 Sequoia boot drive.<\/p>\n<p>              <span class=\"caption-credit mt-2 text-xs\"><br \/>\n          Credit:<\/p>\n<p>          Andrew Cunningham<\/p>\n<p>                  <\/span>\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Once the Sequoia installer is in your Applications folder, run a Terminal command to copy the installer files. Apple has commands for each version of macOS on <a href=\"https:\/\/support.apple.com\/en-us\/101578\">this page<\/a>. Use this one for Sequoia:<\/p>\n<p><code>sudo \/Applications\/Install\\ macOS\\ Sequoia.app\/Contents\/Resources\/createinstallmedia --volume \/Volumes\/MyVolume<\/code><\/p>\n<p>If you named the USB drive something other than MyVolume when you formatted it, change the name in the command as well. Note that names with spaces require a backslash before each space.<\/p>\n<p>The Terminal will prompt you for your password and ask you to type Y to confirm. It will then reformat the drive and copy the files over. The time this takes will vary depending on the speed of the USB drive you\u2019re using, but for most USB 3 drives, it should only take a few minutes to create the installer. When the Terminal command is done running, leave the disk inserted and shut down your Mac.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2026\/02\/how-to-downgrade-from-macos-26-tahoe-on-a-new-mac\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re downloading the installer from within macOS Tahoe, you\u2019ll see a pop-up when the download completes, telling you that the installer can\u2019t be run from&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}