Select the El Capitan (10.11) option in DiskMaker X. The software should then automatically attempt to detect the installer that is located in the /Application s folder on the Mac. The system will provide an alert to say that it has found the relevant installer file. If you try to restore that backup on your Mac with OS X Yosemite, Migration Assistant may change some apps and system files to the right version for OS X El Capitan, and may leave OS X Yosemite damaged and almost useless. In this case, I suggest you to restore your personal files manually from the backup (in other words, plug the external drive.

Are you trying to revert or downgrade your new macOS or Mac OS X to the previous version on the Mac computer? If yes, stay here. Just follow the provided guidance below to bring your previous macOS or Mac OS X back without losing any data:

Workable Solutions	Step-by-step Troubleshooting
Method 1. Use Time Machine	Start Mac and hold Command + R keys > Enter Recovery Mode > Insert Time Machine drive...Full steps
Method 2. Use USB Bootable Drive	Back up data first > Plug in USB and launch Disk Utility > Erase USB > Rename it as 'My Volume'...Full steps
Bonus Tip. Recover Data	After reverting macOS or Mac OS X, run EaseUS Mac file recovery software > Scan and recover lost data ...Full steps

Methods on this page can be applied to all Mac systems including the latest Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, and old Mac OS El Capitan, etc.

Tip: Backup Mac data before downgrading macOS or Mac OS X

It's highly recommended for you to back up all important Mac data first before you start downgrading Mac OS to an older system.

You can either choose third-party Mac backup software to back up Mac data to an external hard drive at once or choose Time Machine to back up all wanted data with ease.

Considering data security, it's also highly recommended for you to backup all important data into an external hard drive.

If you prefer to use Time Machine, here are the details:

• Click 'Finder' > 'Preference'> Check 'Hard disks box' underShow these items on the desktop.
• Open the backup disk and create a file folder and name it, for example, 'My Backup'.
• Open the Mac disk and click'Users' file folder > Select all files and data that you want to back up and drag to the My Backup file folder.

Wait for the process to finish. After backing up all data, then you can start to revert macOS with ease. Here, you'll find two methods for you to downgrade macOS without losing data and you can choose either one as a guide.

Method 1. Downgrade macOS or Mac OS X with Time Machine

So if you have created backups for your Mac data and macOS, follow the below steps for a guide. If you haven't created such a backup, please jump to Method 2 to downgrade Mac OS.

1. 1. Start or restart your Mac and hold command+ R keys to enter theRecovery Mode, or hold the Option/Alt and then choose the Recovery option.
2. 2. Insert the hard drive used for Time Machine and chooseto Restore from Time Machine Backup under OS X Utility, choose the inserted hard drive.

1. 3. Choose the most recent data and time when the Mac was still running the current macOS.
2. 4. Select the main disk drive where the backup was stored and it is usually named Macintosh HD. Click Restore.

Then all you need is to wait for the computer to restore and gain Yosemite again. It will usually take a few hours or all day long, depending on how much data need to be restored.

Method 2. Create USB Boot Drive and Revert Back to Old macOS or Mac OS X

This method is set for users who have no Time Machine backups. And if you have no backups of your current macOS or Mac OS, use Time Machine to back up your important data first and the system first.

Then follow the below steps to downgrade Mac OS now: (The ways to download new macOS and old Mac OS X are different. Make sure that you've followed the right guide for downgrading the Mac system.)

Downgrade macOS (e.g: Downgrade macOS Mojave to High Sierra)

1. 1. Plug an external USB drive (with 16GB min), launch Disk Utility, and select the USB drive, click Erase.
2. 2. Rename the USB drive as 'MyVolume' and choose APFS or Mac OS Extended as the format, click Erase. Quit Disk Utility when the process is done.

3. To to Finder and launch Terminal, type: -sudo /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app and hit Return.

1. 4. Enter your Admin Password as required, wait until the process is done.
2. 5. Restart the Mac, hold the Option key.
3. 6. When the option to select a boot disk appears, choose the installer disk (the external USB drive) you created.
4. 7. High Sierra will start the installing process. When it's finished, restart your Mac and the Startup Assistant will appear. Then go through the steps to set up your Mac.

If your Mac is shipped with Mojave, you can directly downgrade Catalina to Mojave with the below tips:

1. 1. Restart Mac, hold Command + Option + Shift + R keys to boot into Recovery Mode. You can also press Command + R to enter the Recovery Mode.
2. 2. Click on 'Disk Utility', select the disk with Mojave installed, and click 'Erase'.

Diskmaker X El Capitan Usb

1. 3. Rename the disk, select Mac OS Extended or APFS as the file format, click 'Erase'. Quick Disk Utility by then.
2. 4. Re-enter the Recovery Mode, and select 'Reinstall macOS' and press 'Continue'.

By doing so, the old High Sierra will be installed on your Mac automatically.

Downgrade Mac OS X (e.g: Downgrade Mac OS X Yosemite to El Capitan)

1. 1. Download the OS X Yosemite installer from Mac App Store.
2. 2. Download the Diskmaker X app to create a bootable USB drive for El Capitan's downgrade.
3. 3. Insert a USB drive into Mac, launch Diskmaker X, and choose OS X Yosemite 10.10. Then the Diskmaker X will do the rest jobs for you.
4. 4. Keep the USB drive inserted into the PC, restart Mac. Hole Option/Alt and chose USB drive in the menu while rebooting Mac.
5. 5. Go to Utilities and select Disk Utility at the Install OS X menu.
6. 6. Select Macintosh HD and choose Erase. Be sure that selected under the Format field is Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
7. 7. Return to Install OS X menu and select Continue to begin the installation of OS X Yosemite.
8. 8. After all these, all you need is to be patient in installing Yosemite on your Mac.

Bonus Tip: Restore Lost Data after Downgrading macOS/Mac OS X(without backups)

This method is for users who have forgotten to back up important data before downgrading Mac OS. And if you lost data after Mac OS reinstallation or downgrading, here is the solution - to restore lost data after Mac OS X downgrading or reinstallation with powerful Mac data recovery software.

EaseUS Mac data recovery software supports to restore whatever you lost in Mac and it's fully compatible with all Mac OS above 10.8

And if you happen to lost important data after Mac OS downgrading, let EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac help you out. Three steps will do all jobs.

Step 1. Select the disk location (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) where you lost data and files. Click the 'Scan' button.

Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display the scanning results on the left pane.

Step 3. In the scan results, select the file(s) and click the 'Recover' button to have them back.

Introduction

Apple officially released OS X 10.11 El Capitan operating system in September 2015 as an update through Apple App Store. This actualization will update core of your system and preserve your user data.

However, if you want to have a clean installation of El Capitan on your Mac you will need to create a special installation USB drive and in this article we will show you how.

Four ways how to create El Capitan USB installation flash drive:

Preparation - get OS X El Capitan installer and USB flash drive

Download El Capitan installer (Install OS X El Capitan.app in Applications folder) available in Mac App Store.

Prepare a flash drive with OS X Disk Utility. Format it with GUID Partition Table and name it as Untitled. The minimal capacity of flash drive must be 8 GB.

How to create El Capitan installation USB drive with createinstallmedia tool

The createinstallmedia is a command line tool distributed with OS X installer.

When you have prepared your USB flash drive and El Capitan installer is downloaded from App Store ► open Terminal and type command:

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

In our case 'Untitled' is the name of USB flash drive! Replace 'Untilled' by name of your flash drive.
Wait a few minutes and your El Capitan installation USB drive will be prepared.

To install OS X El Capitan ► restart computer ► hold the Option key and select Installation USB drive from the menu.

How to create El Capitan USB installation with Terminal commands

When your USB flash drive is ready and El Capitan installer downloaded from App Store ► Open Terminal and type the following sequence of commands:

sudo hdiutil attach /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg

sudo asr restore -source /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/BaseSystem.dmg -target /Volumes/Untitled -erase -format HFS+

sudo rm /Volumes/OS X Base System/System/Installation/Packages

sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages /Volumes/OS X Base System/System/Installation/Packages

sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/BaseSystem.chunklist /Volumes/OS X Base System

sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/BaseSystem.chunklist /Volumes/OS X Base System

sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/BaseSystem.dmg /Volumes/OS X Base System

hdiutil detach /Volumes/OS X Install ESD

Now wait until your bootable installation flash drive with OS X 10.11 El Capitan is made.

To install OS X El Capitan ► restart computer ► hold the Option key and select Installation USB drive from the menu.

How to create El Capitan USB installation with Disk Utility and Finder

When your USB flash drive is ready and El Capitan installer downloaded from App Store ► Open Terminal and type:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles 1 && killall Finder

This command allows you to view hidden files in Finder.

Now Open Finder ► Applications ► Install OS X El Capitan.app ► right click ► Select Show Package Contents option.

Navigate to Contents/SharedSupport ► Mount InstallESD.dmg file

Open OS X Install ESD archive in Finder and mount BaseSystem.dmg archive

Connect USB drive and open Disk Utility (/Applications/Utilities)

Select the USB drive from the list of disks, select Restore tab and pick Select OS X Base System archive as a source and USB flash drive as the destination. When ready click on Restore button.

After the Restore process is finished, open Finder ► open USB drive (OS X Base System) ► go to the System/Installation folder and select Packages file and delete it.

Diskmaker X For El Capitan Mac

Open OS X Install ESD volume in Finder, select Packages folder and copy them to System/Installation folder on USB drive.

Also copy BaseSystem.chunklist and BaseSystem.dmg files from InstallESD.dmg volume to root of USB flash drive (OS X Base System).

Now your El Capitan installation USB drive is prepared and ready for use.

To install OS X El Capitan ► restart computer ► hold the Option key and select Installation USB drive from the menu.

Diskmaker X For El Capitan Software

How to create El Capitan USB installation disk with DiskMaker X

DiskMaker X tool is Wizard like tool that allows you create OS X installation disk. Download DiskMaker X to your Mac and copy it to Applications folder.

When you have prepared your USB flash drive and El Capitan installer is downloaded from App Store ► open DiskMaker X.

Select version of OS X (in our case El Capitan)

Select copy of OS X installation app

Select USB drive that will be used for USB installation

Diskmaker X For Catalina

And wait a few minutes till the the DiskMaker X finish creating process.

Diskmaker X Pro

To install OS X El Capitan ► restart computer ► hold the Option key and select Installation USB drive from the menu.