- Its come with Catalina, I don't see much point in trying to get used to that with Big Sur out. I may as well go straight to that, I know with windows I always liked to do a clean install, but with Macs I've no idea were to start.
- Install macOS Catalina on a bootable drive. It might seem a bit counterintuitive, but you have to install macOS Catalina on an external drive before you erase Big Sur. This requires some Terminal work, which we’ll guide you through in a minute. Before that, make sure your Mac can boot from external media.
Install Macos Catalina Not Big Sur
New things are always exciting and they definitely give us an adrenaline rush trying them. Somehow, not all new things are a perfect fit for us. This might be the case with macOS 11 Big Sur. You definitely switched from your previous MacOS Catalina to the new enhanced MacOS 11 Big Sur and after your high, you realized that you were perfectly comfortable with MacOS Catalina. It’s not too late, you can still seamlessly downgrade to Catalina without losing any of your data.
Here is how you can downgrade seamlessly in 5 simple steps;
Reinstall macOS Catalina on Your Mac. Restore Time Machine Backup (Optional) Step 1. Back up your Mac (Very Important) If you want to downgrade from Big Sur to Catalina without losing data, it is important to save and backup your data on the macOS Big Sur, so you do not lose any important files. This compatibility check tells which version of macOS can run your latest software or applications. As per the experts from Apple, the older version of macOS High Sierra had a better scope to install and run macOS. Later, the experts predicted that if you have a MacBook older than 2012, you may not be able to access Mojave or Catalina effectively.
First backup your data
The key to reinstall mac OS Big Sur, Catalina or Mojave without losing data is the backup, since no one can guarantee all data will be perfectly maintained after macOS reinstallation. However, if we unfortunately lost files after macOS reinstallation, Time Machine or Cisdem Data Recovery is helpful to recover them back.
You will need to back up your accumulated data since the upgrade. You might have used the MacOS 11 Big Sur for a short while but this step is important nevertheless and this is something very important when you are doing downgrade from big sur to catalina.
To do this you may first need to clean your system so you can retain only important files. CleanMyMac X can help you accomplish this by getting rid of unseen junk and clearing your accumulated clutter and this is something very important and should be done well. There are many people who are not sure about how it is done and regret it later and you should try and avoid being there and so be careful once you are doing the downgrade from big sur to Catalina.
Once done, you can now backup your cleaned data using the Time machine tool or an external backup tool like getting Backup Pro.
Time Machine backup.
- Backup your data by opening the system preferences and select Back up and this is something very important and you should never ignore it and if you do that then there could be an issue and that is the last thing that you want. Things need to be done in the right way to avoid any kind of issue and you will not have an issue.
- Select the drive for use and you are good to go.
Install macOS Catalina on an external drive
Before you can uninstall Big Sur, you first have to install macOS Catalina on an external drive. Some older models of Mac that do not use M1 chip might have problems with booting files. To surpass this hitch, allow booting from an external media before you downgrade. This is something important and you should look for doing it the correct way and once you do that then there will be no problem at all for anyone which is something very important and should not be ignored at all and one has to take things into consideration in the right way which is something very important and should not be looked anywhere else which is something very important.
Once you have booted your Mac externally, you can get back Catalina by simply downloading it from the App store. Thereafter, install macOS Catalina on a formatted external drive and should be done in the right way for a good result.
Erase macOS Big Sur
You have finally downloaded Catalina? Now it’s time to get back to your comfortable MacOS and say bye to Big Sur. Erase macOS Big Sur from your hard drive.
Reinstall macOS Catalina on your Mac
You can now run a downgrade to Catalina by reinstalling it on Mac. For this to happen you need to ensure you are connected to the internet.
- Insert your bootable external drive into your Mac then select restart on the menu.
- Hold down options while your Mac restarts, a list of startup disks will appear, choose the bootable drive with macOS Catalina and select continue.
- Finally, agree to the licensing T & Cs then wait for Catalina to reinstall
Restore data
The final step is to restore the data that you had backed up. Depending on what you had used, this is how you restore your data:
Time Machine Backup
- Restart your Mac then hold down Command + R to initiate recovery.
- Access utilities then restore from Time Machine Backup and continue.
- Select the backup source then proceed to back up and wait for your data to be restored.
After data restoration, your Mac will reboot.
For Get Backup Pro, you just have to launch the app then select backup and restore your data to a location of your choice. All your data will be restored on MacOS Catalina and you are all set with a smooth downgrade on your sleeve.
After many months of fine-tuning, Apple finally released macOS 11.0 Big Sur in November 2020. The major features (like the new Safari) have been announced much earlier and fans, as well as haters, had their say. Still, many users ask themselves, whether macOS Big Sur is worth it. So, let’s take a look at macOS Big Sur and macOS Catalina to find out what improvements it brings.
Big Sur has more demanding system requirements than Catalina and you may also need to free up space on your Mac to install it. CleanMyMac X can help with both of those by running scripts to optimize your Mac’s performance and highlighting files you can safely remove, potentially freeing up several gigabytes of space.
Big Sur vs. Catalina: user interface
In Big Sur, Apple redesigned the interface for its built-in apps like Photos and Mail. They now have sidebars that stretch the full height of the window and toolbars with sleeker, simplified icons.
Finder windows now have more curved corners and plain white (or dark) backgrounds on title bars and toolbars.
The Dock has also been redesigned. The corners of the Dock are more rounded, and app icons are all the same shape, giving it a tidier look. Icons also have enhanced shading and shadows that make them appear less flat than in Catalina.
Control Center appears on the Mac for the first time in Big Sur, accessible from a menu bar item. Like on iOS, it allows you to control things like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AirDrop and volume and display brightness. You can drag your favorite items to the menu bar.
The Notification Center in Big Sur now puts notifications and widgets in a single view and it groups notifications by app. Some notifications are interactive, so, for example, you can play a podcast episode directly from Notification Center.
Sheets, the alerts that dropdown from the top of windows to request you take action, now scale to the center of the window, are accompanied by the rest of the screen dimming, but also are less obtrusive than previously.
Symbols for things like Share or Undo are now more consistent, all taken from one library of symbols.
macOS Big Sur vs. macOS Catalina: Safari
Apple says that the update to Safari in Big Sur is the biggest ever. It boosts performance, reduces energy consumption, and adds features to improve privacy. Big Sur Safari also allows you to customize your homepage by adding a background image. Then you can add elements like your reading list, iCloud tabs, and even a Privacy Report.
Tabs have been re-designed to allow you to see more of them at once, and hovering over a tab brings up a preview of the page. Safari can also translate pages between seven languages with one click, tell you if any of your saved passwords have been compromised, and show a report of all the cross-site trackers it is blocking to protect your privacy.
macOS Catalina vs. Big Sur: Messages
Messages in Big Sur gets lots of new features, many of them similar to those that have been in other messaging apps for years, but better late than never. In Big Sur Messages, you can pin up to nine conversations to the top of the message list, reply directly to messages in group conversations and “mention” others, and add an image to identify a conversation.
Messages also allow you to search for and add GIFs and trending images, create and add Memoji on the Mac, and search messages more quickly. Early reports from Big Sur users suggest that searching in Big Sur is much faster than in Catalina and that Messages on the Mac is finally on a par with the iOS version, which is great news.
macOS Big Sur vs Catalina: Maps
Maps is another app that has lagged behind its iOS version. However, in Big Sur, that looks to have changed. Maps now allows you to create guides to locations, as well as access guides created by others.
It also has cycling routes, charging points for electric vehicles, and indoor maps for some locations. And then there’s Look Around, Apple’s version of Google Street View, also in Big Sur Maps. Look Around allows you to get a street-level 3D view of locations. Apple hasn’t yet said which areas will be covered, but it’s likely to be very limited initially.
Big Sur vs. Catalina: App Store
Privacy has been a key theme of the last couple of macOS releases, and Big Sur is no different. As well as the privacy report in Safari, Apple now displays privacy information in the App Store. For each app, types of data collected by the app are split into three categories: data used to track you, data linked to you, and data not linked to you. That makes it very easy to see at a glance how a specific app is using, say, your location data, or your financial information.
Big Sur vs. Catalina: More changes
There are lots of smaller improvements in Big Sur. Photos gets a refreshed interface, improved retouch tool that is driven by a machine-learning algorithm, new editing options, and better Memories with new soundtracks.
- The Music and Podcasts apps, which replaced iTunes in Catalina, have new For You recommendations and new layouts. Podcasts also gets a Listen Now feature and a more focused Up Next to make it easier to find the next episode of the podcasts you’re listening to. There’s a new section to help you find the latest episodes of podcasts you subscribe to, and there are hand-picked episode recommendations. The startup chime that disappeared from some Macs has been restored. And system sounds have been updated to make them easier on the ear. Apparently, this has been done using snippets of the original sounds. So the new sounds should be familiar, yet more pleasing to listen to.
- Spotlight has been beefed up in Big Sur and is now faster than ever. And it presents results in a more streamlined format to make them easier to browse. It also has Quick Look features that allow you to preview the whole of a document or web page by scrolling through it. It has the same markup tools that were added to the Finder in Catalina, allowing you to do things like rotating an image, cropping it, or signing a PDF, all within Spotlight. Spotlight also powers Find in Safari, Keynote, Pages, and other Apple apps.
- Siri can now answer questions you ask by searching the web then telling you what it has found.
- Voice memos, introduced in Catalina, gets the ability to organize recordings in folders and smart folders. It can also remove background noise automatically and room reverb with a click. And you can mark recordings as favorites.
- The weather widget in Notification Center gets some of the features Apple acquired when it bought Dark Sky. In the US, it will display a minute-by-minute chart showing the intensity of rain or snow over the coming hour. In the US, Europe, Japan, Canada, and Australia, it will display government alerts about severe weather. And all users will be able to see when the weather will be much warmer, colder, or wetter the next day.
How to improve your Mac’s performance with Big Sur
- Download CleanMyMac X if you haven’t done so already, and follow the instructions to install it.
- Launch it from your Applications folder.
- Choose the Optimization module and click View All Items.
- Review each category and check the boxes next to those you want to remove.
- Press Perform.
- If an item can’t be removed independently of its host app, click ‘Enabled’ next to its name to disable it.
There are many differences between the macOS Big Sur and Catalina. Some of the most obvious ones are the addition of Control Center, the change to Notifications, and the improvements in Safari. But there are many other changes too. Before you upgrade, it’s worth running CleanMyMac X to optimize the performance of your Mac and clear space.
macOS Big Sur vs. Catalina: The sumup
How Do I Install Macos Catalina From Big Sur
Big Sur | Catalina |
Compatibility: | |
MacBook models from early 2015 or later MacBook Air models from 2013 or later MacBook Pro models from 2013 or later Mac mini models from 2014 or later iMac models from 2014 or later iMac Pro (all models) Mac Pro models from 2013 or later | 2012 and Early 2013 MacBook Pro 2012 MacBook Air 2012 and 2013 iMac 2012 Mac mini MacBook models from early 2015 or later MacBook Air models from 2013 or later MacBook Pro models from 2013 or later Mac mini models from 2014 or later iMac models from 2014 or later iMac Pro (all models) Mac Pro models from 2013 or later |
Control Center: | |
Yes | No |
Notification Center: | |
One tab | Two tabs |
Designed for: | |
Intel and ARM-powered Macs | Intel Macs |