How to remove macOS Sonoma beta

The first thing to do is remove yourself from Apple’s macOS Sonoma beta program as this will stop the beta updates from arriving on your Mac.

1. Open System Settings.
2. Click on General.
3. Click on Software Update.
4. Click the i beside Beta updates and make sure it is set to off.

This will stop any further Sonoma updates being installed on your Mac, but if you want to revert back to Ventura you will need to wipe your Mac, as per the instructions below.

Unfortunately, if you are moving from macOS Sonoma back to Ventura you will need to erase all the data from your Mac first. You cannot install Ventura on top of Sonoma.

Luckily there is an Erase All Content and Settings option in System Settings that makes it easy to return your Mac to factory settings.

To find the Erase All Content and Settings option open System Settings > General > click on Reset > click Erase All Contents and Settings.

Once you click on Erase All Content and Settings everything will be taken care of. We run through the process in more detail here: How to factory reset a MacBook or Mac.

Just note that during the process any Bluetooth keyboards or mice will be disconnected, so if you have wired options they will be helpful. If you don’t have a wired mouse or keyboard you should get an option to connect your Bluetooth peripherals when the Mac restarts.

If your Mac doesn’t have an M-series chip or a T2 chip the process to wipe it is a bit different (and described in the story linked to above).

Once your Mac has been wiped and reset to factory settings it should restart running the latest full version of macOS that is compatible with your Mac.

You will need to join your Wi-Fi network and connect your mouse and keyboard if they are Bluetooth.

Eventually, you will eventually see an Activate Mac screen. Click on Restart.

On restarting your Mac will guide you through steps to set it up as if it was the first time.

After your content and setting have been removed from your Mac you can either set it up as new, or you can recover a Time Machine backup with your data from before your beta adventure.

This backup has to be from before you installed the beta or you will just reinstall the beta.

If you have wiped your Mac and are setting it up as new, recovering your old settings and data via a Time Machine backup is really easy.

1. During the setup process you will be asked if you have a Time Machine backup. Just say yes.
2. Plug in your backup drive and leave the Mac as it recovers the data from the Time Machine backup.
3. Once it has done that your Mac will be as close to what it was before you installed the beta.

Alternatively, if you decide to recover your Time Machine backup later on, you can do so using macOS Recovery.

1. Plug in the hard drive on which your Time Machine backup is located.
2. Restart your Mac.
3. If you have an M1-Series Mac you need to press and hold the power button until you see the Loading startup options screen at which point click on Options and then Continue. See How to start a Mac in Recovery mode. (On an Intel-powered Mac hold down Command + R until the Apple logo appears.)
4. Now you are in macOS Recovery, you’ll see the option to Restore from your Time Machine Backup. Select that and click Continue.
5. Choose your Backup source and click on Continue again.
6. Choose the correct backup – the last one from before you installed the beta. (You can check this by looking at the macOS version column).

We have a guide to restoring from Time Machine here.

If you find that Ventura isn’t available to download via Software Update–perhaps because your Mac erroneously believes it’s already running the software–you can trick your Mac into downloading the full version of the software and installing it by using the Mac App Store.

1. Open the Mac App Store.
2. Click here for Ventura, this link for Monterey, this link for Big Sur, or this link to Catalina).
3. Click on Get and your Mac will offer to download the installers.
4. The Software Update window from System Settings/System Preferences will open. Confirm that you want to download the software, you’ll also see a warning that you are downloading an older version of the OS, ignore it. 
5. Wait while the macOS downloads – it may take a while, and if your internet connection drops you might have to start again.
6. Once it’s downloaded click on Open and wait while it installs. Expect this to take a while…

You may see a message that the software is already installed. Just confirm that you do want to go ahead with the download and once you have the installer you will be able to install the final version over the beta.