How to return to OS X Yosemite from OS X El Capitan

get-down-the-captain-yosemite

Surely more than one of you is thinking of going back to the operating system of your Mac ... This is one of those decisions that I personally do not share since it is always better to be updated to the latest with your operating system and forget about problems d Previous security and other problems, than keeping an old version on the Mac. Obviously there are nuances in this regard and if you cannot update for hardware reasons or for compatibility problems with your application or work tool, it is advisable to go down to the previous version.

I already said in advance that it is best to always be updated to the newest, be it OS X, iOS or any other current operating system, worse in the case of having an urgent need to go back, today let's see how to downgrade from OS X EL Capitan to OS X Yosemite.

What do we need to get back to OS X Yosemite?

First of all, have a Mac with OS X El Capitan 10.11.x and a backup of the previous Apple operating system in Time Machine. In this case what we are going to do is go back to the previous OS X Yosemite from a copy of Time Machine. There are several options to return to a previous OS X but today we are going to focus on this one, which is very simple and effective thanks to Time Machine.

Once we have verified that if we have a backup in our Time Machine, the steps are very simple.

Yosemite-beta-terminal-developer-0

Steps to go back to previous OS X

The first and foremost thing to do is manually perform another system backup before starting anything. For this we can use Time Machine directly and click on "Make a backup now" to have our back covered. Once the backup is done we will turn off the Mac.

The next step is boot the Mac by pressing cm + r and enter the recovery mode. Once inside we can directly select the restore option from Time Machine and this is where we will choose the hard drive where the backup is located with OS X Yosemite.

It is important to observe the date, time and version of OS X before pressing anything stored as a backup since surely we have some of Mavericks even. To choose a correct version we leave as a reference that OS X 10.8.x is from Mountain Lion, in the case of Mavericks it is OS X 10.9.x, For Yosemite, which is the one that interests us, it will be OS X 10.10.x (being version 10.10.5 the latest available) install in our case.

Select the version and click on restore It's the only thing left for us to do now. This process takes time as everything that is stored in that backup will be loaded and may take a while. Also important have your Mac connected to a WiFi network just in case (if it is with cable better) and to the power connector So you don't run out of battery power during the process.

And that's it!


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      Juan Antonio said

    Hi, when going from El Capitan to Yosemite, I have a problem with the Photos application, it does not recognize the photo library because it is made with a newer version than the one in Yosemite… ..
    Does it happen to someone?
    There's a solution?
    Thank you

         vicente asencio said

      It happens to me that when it reaches 95% of restoration it says that it finds problems
      and does not continue
      there's a solution

      Jordi Giménez said

    Hi Juan, it is strange that you are commenting to see if someone has a solution (I did not go down to Yosemite and I cannot help you)

    try to access the photos from HD Macintosh-Users- «your User» -Images-Photo Library and from there right button and «Show package content» -Masters

    If the photo folders appear, then you will have to search for an alternative or the previous version of Photos ...

    tell us!

      Salomon said

    Although it is not the subject I apologize in advance, I want to know how to return my WatchOS2 to the initial one, to make it work as before.
    Thank you.

         Jordi Giménez said

      Hello Salomon,

      the Apple Watch operating system cannot be downloaded.

      regards

      Yang said

    Hello, I hope I do not get out of the thread much, but since I updated to Capitan, I have sound problems. I have an aluminum MacBook from late 2008, and I've been upgrading from Leopard to Yosemite without any problem; all good until a few weeks ago when I installed El Capitan and the sound has suddenly started to come out distorted, no matter what I hear; be it CDs, music s, iTunes, Quick Time movies, or VCL, everything sounds bad, like a badly tuned radio. However, when I put on the headphones, everything sounds perfect and without any problems. Can someone tell me if this is happening because I have updated Captain?

    Thank you very much.

         Drako said

      It happens to me exactly the same ! I search, search and search, and no one gives me a solution ……

      christopher said

    I have a question if I don't have any backup. I can do this by going back to Yosemite without losing any. Important file or data. since I update the captain and the truth is I have problems with a controller Dj does not recognize the driver and checking the official page to a. There is no update and it urges me to work again

         gutty said

      same computer same problem .. I search the internet and there are a lot of people with the same problems of the macbook pro late 2008 and no solution

      Jacks said

    I have a problem update AL CAPITAN and it is not compatible with some programs and drivers that I use. That is why I wanted to return to the YOSEMITE version and erase the entire disk but I did not make any backup and now nothing appears when I turn on the MACBOOK PRO, I need help. I am new to MAC and I really don't know what to do.

      facundo vidal said

    Hi I want to go back to yosemite but I never did a backup in time machine, is there another way to go back from el capitan to yosemite? thanks

      roberto said

    hello if i don't have the backup copy?

         Jordi Giménez said

      You can restore from scratch if you have a bootable USB.

      regards

      Vicente said

    Good afternoon
    I have an Imac updated to Os X El Capitan and since this update an old HP Scanjet 4850 Scanner has stopped working and I cannot find any drivers to assimilate said scanner to the operating system. Could you provide me with a solution?

      doodleaccess said

    Hello Jordi,

    I have a macbook (not pro) it is from 2008-2009. I upgraded the system to El Capitan and I'm doing terrible ... the computer is too old. I would like to return to Yosemite but I have no backup from before the capital, I have it after.

    Yes, I know ... the fact is, is there any option to desist El Capital and return to Yosemite?
    If there is no option, what should I do to improve the performance of my computer? if I have two programs open it crashes for a while.

    and finally, I installed the new operating system because Microsoft Office 2011 crashed and did not work. I had to remove it from the computer because it did not work. So now I also don't have Office. ./

    Tips? help? miracles?
    thank you very much!

      Lra said

    HELLO JORDI, a query ... I did not make the copy to follow, can I do it the same way? I mean, erase both discs.

         Jordi Giménez said

      Hi Lra, if you didn't save it in Time Machine, you can't use this method, what you can do is install the operating system that your Mac had when you bought it.

      regards

      nelson pacheco said

    I do not have an air from 2009 and this one with the captain and I have no sound in the speakers, it only works with headphones, someone help me please, I'm desperate

      Juan said

    Hello, I have an iMac with the captain, it works perfectly for me but I have made an update which does not allow me to install a Nikon NX2 photography program, however if I could go back to how I had it from the factory without that last update I could install it and then for Last update it to the version that I have that would be this 10.11.3 (15D21)

         Andrew said

      Hi, install the following from the Nikon official site (search google): ViewNX-i (includes Capture NX-D and Picture Control Utility 2). With that it is solved, previously I had the same problem as you. Greetings and success.

      Cristian said

    Hi. cordial greetings as other people who have left their comments here, I also want to improve the performance of my mac with captain. What I can do? Thanks for your help

      Alina said

    El Capitan has been a disaster for me.

      Andrew said

    Hi, maybe someone can help me.

    I have a late 2008 aluminum Macbook - 15inch, and since upgrading to El Capitan the sound has been distorted from the built-in speakers. Anything sounds bad, be it YouTube videos, iTunes music or my own CDs, music or movies, (it sounds bad, like when you tune the radio wrong); but when I wear headphones it sounds perfect and crisp as it always has been.
    Can anybody help me?. I think it is a problem with the software and drivers update, but I have not been sure to solve it. From already thank you very much.

    Mac Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

         Jordi Giménez said

      Hi Andres, the funny thing is that the speakers sound bad and the headphones sound good. Did you try connecting the Mac to a TV and see how it sounds? if the tv is heard well, it is a hardware problem, that is, the Mac speakers.

      regards

           Andrew said

        Hello Jordi, thanks for answering. I'm going to try the TV thing.
        It is that it smells strange to me that from one moment to another the internal speakers of the mac are heard badly, (as unknown). That is why I insist on a software problem (bug, driver…). But hey, it is also within the options (like everything in life), which are expired and have to send to change for others, in a technical service.

        Regards!

      Patrick said

    Hello, I do not know if there will be another place to publish this, if there is, I apologize but I did not find it, I tell you: my niece downloaded and updated the yosemite to my air 2009, can I downgrade?

    Hello, I have my faithful Macbook Air mid 2009, the thing is that the computer is very slow now that it was updated! and when trying to do the recovery with cm + ro cm + alt + r it gives me only the option of An initial hard disk, only when pressing alt gives me the recovery option but with version 10.10.5 which is the Yosemite version. I was reviewing in your tutorials and could not pull it off.

    To all this, I took it to an authorized technical service and they charge me a lot of money to enter it, and they did not give me assurance that they could do something and I lose the money.

    Here in Chile they are only authorized distributors, there is no APPLE store.

    I really appreciate the help you can give me!

      Robert Avalos said

    I have an Imac which updates the OS to the captain, it has 20 gigs of ram and although the activity monitor indicates that I have many gigs of free memory for use, the adobe design programs are closed, a problem that I did not have at all before updating, in addition to others such as the disconnection of the wif network every time I stop using it for 5 min, extreme slowness when opening an application, etc. Some tips for this, I can't downgrade because I don't use time machine with a backup.
    Greetings and thanks for your comments

      Cecilia said

    Hello! Very Good the post! I wanted to ask you a question, I have a backup on an external disk with time machine. When I try to restore it tells me that it cannot find any backup. My previous system was the Lion. Is that the problem?

      David alzate said

    Hi

    Is it possible to install Yosemite (10.10) when I have bought an iMac that comes from the factory with El Capitan (10.11)?

    I tried to do it but it was not possible and Apple support tells me that it is not possible so the equipment comes from the factory with El Capitan. I need to have Yosemite and I feel like I made a bad purchase by not being able to do this process.

      Joseph said

    Hello my problem is that when I installed El Capitan it stopped recognizing my Toshiba external disk. The message says that the FAT is incompatible. But before this I used it without problem on PC and Mac. THANK YOU

      carmelo said

    Captain
    It has brought us misfortunes, the Mboxpro does not recognize me and it is a drag, let's see if they solve the many problems it has created

      Daniel said

    Hello Who can help me? I'm new to Mac and I bought a 120GB MAC BOOK PRO RETINA SCREEN to use Pro Tools (professional recording software) and Final Cut Pro (video editing software) well the joke is that when I upgraded to Captain, it is not supported With my interface and with the Pro tools program, it does not detect my hardware, also I do not have a previous point to return to with Yosemite, I proceeded to make a backup for anything and I also have my documents backed up on my external hard drive, then I deleted the contents of the hard disk of the MAC and it already asks me to install Yosemite without problem, my question is: Already installed Yosemite, can the backup that contains the software that I had previously installed in the captain be installed in the Yosemite applying the backup? For example Final Cut Pro? I don't worry so much about the pro tools because I have the original discs but I don't have the Final Cut ones anymore… they had lent them to me. What do you think?

      Ady Paulin Velasquez Garcia said

    I WANT TO KNOW IF THESE INSTRUCTIONS ALSO APPLY TO AN I MAC PURCHASED LITTLE AGO, SINCE IT HAS NEVER BEEN UPDATED BUT ALREADY COMES WITH THE CAPTAIN, AND HOW CAN I DO IT IS TO INSTALL PROTOOLS SINCE IT IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE LAST VERSION. THANKS AND I HOPE YOU CAN HELP ME