Please help me get rid of Tahoe!

MusicMom9600 wrote:

OH! Another thing I forgot - If I left the computer for even a few minutes and the screen went black, I would come back to a notice that I had no more storage space (or something like that) and that I had to force quit everything. Usually I ended up having to restart in order to get control again.

That sounds like you have too many apps & documents open at one time & using up the memory. This has become a more common problem with Tahoe, but those same changes have been backported to previous versions of macOS all the way to 13.x as I have experienced the issue there as well, but only after the Aug. 2025 update patches.

If you do get the "Application out of memory" pop-up error with a Force Quit window showing paused apps, then the only way out is to Force Quit all paused apps, then reboot. Otherwise you may encounter system instability.

It seems that when applications/documents use too much memory, the macOS memory management just goes big on Swap until the system hits a wall. The system will give no outward signs with spinning wheels like it did just a few years ago.....instead now all of a sudden apps are frozen & out of memory. The problem is even worse if your system is also running low on Free storage space.

The solution is to better manage your open apps & documents. Close any which are not currently needed. Web browsers can be one of the worse offenders depending on the number of open tabs & windows. I have noticed one Swap goes over 5GB in size, but especially around 10GB that this issue is most likely to occur. You can monitor memory usage in Activity Monitor's memory tab. The memory pressure graph should be green with the Swap used value next to it less than 10GB (better yet 5GB). If you see lots of yellow or worse red in the graph, then you are definitely going beyond your system's resources with the current workload.

If you cannot close enough open apps & documents to better manage the memory usage, then you may need to look into another computer with much more physical memory in order to perform those workloads.

Going back to Sequoia probably won't help you with this since Sequoia's later patches seem to have inherited some of this new memory/storage management behavior. It has actually been a while since I've encountered this issue myself even with macOS Tahoe. Maybe one of the later updates improved things again.

Downgrade Apple Silicon Mac from macOS Tahoe to Sequoia

Important Warnings

Downgrading from macOS 26 Tahoe to macOS 15 Sequoia may require erasing your Mac and performing a clean installation. Existing data, applications, and settings may not be preserved.

Before starting:

• Confirm your exact Mac model supports Sequoia.
• Create and verify a complete backup.
• Download a genuine Sequoia installer.
• Check application compatibility and prepare a recovery plan.

Apple silicon Macs generally cannot run macOS versions older than those supported by their hardware.

1. Back Up Your Mac

Use Time Machine or another reliable backup method. Keep an additional copy of critical files if possible. Verify that your data can be recovered before proceeding.

A backup created under Tahoe may not support full-system restoration to Sequoia. You may need to restore files and compatible application data selectively.

Never erase your Mac before verifying your backup.

2. Create a Bootable Installer

Download the full Install macOS Sequoia application using Apple's supported methods. Connect a suitable USB drive, typically 32 GB.

Warning: This process erases the selected USB volume.

If the installer is in /Applications and your USB volume is named MyVolume, run this command in Terminal:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sequoia.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

Replace MyVolume with your USB volume's actual name. Enter your administrator password and follow the prompts.

Apple instructions: Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support (CA)

3. Start Up and Erase the Mac

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Press and hold the power button until startup options appear.
3. Select the Sequoia installer if available, or choose Options > Continue for macOS Recovery.
4. Open Disk Utility if needed.
5. Identify the correct internal disk and volume group.

Critical: Erasing the internal storage permanently deletes its data. Do not select the USB installer or another external drive.

Follow Apple's instructions for erasing the startup disk. APFS is normally appropriate, but follow the guidance for your specific Mac. If the available options differ, stop and consult Apple's model-specific instructions.

Apple instructions: Use Disk Utility to erase a Mac with Apple silicon - Apple Support (CA)

4. Install Sequoia

After erasing the appropriate internal storage:

1. Return to the installer.
2. Select macOS Sequoia and the intended installation destination.
3. Connect to the internet if prompted.
4. Follow the instructions and allow restarts to complete.

Confirm that you are installing macOS 15 Sequoia, not Tahoe.

If installation fails because of incompatibility or firmware errors, stop and investigate. A bootable installer does not bypass hardware compatibility requirements. Never force an unsupported installation.

5. Restore and Verify

After installation:

• Complete setup and confirm Sequoia is running.
• Restore essential files from your verified backup.
• Reinstall compatible applications and restore their data.
• Test peripherals, networking, and essential services.

Not all Tahoe applications, settings, or system components can necessarily be transferred to Sequoia.

Recovery and Final Advice

Files changed since your last backup may be lost. Check photo libraries, email archives, and application-specific data.

If your Mac cannot start and standard troubleshooting fails, firmware recovery may be necessary. Apple documents DFU-mode revive and restore procedures for supported Macs using a compatible host Mac.

Apple recovery instructions: How to revive or restore Mac firmware - Apple Support (CA)

Proceed only after verifying compatibility, backup integrity, installer availability, and recovery options. If this is your only computer, arrange alternative access to essential files first.

Running Tahoe does not guarantee that your specific Mac supports Sequoia. Verify compatibility before erasing anything.

MusicMom9600 wrote:

Anyway, after reading the helpful messages here, I checked, and there was yet another update.

Yes. Once you get on the update train, there will always be another update. Operating system updates are a modern addiction. Everyone installs them the minute they are available, hoping to get that next "fix".

I am still wondering, considering the age of my computer, if I should try to return to Sequoia. Are there other things I can try before I resort to that?

Your computer's not old. It should be fine.

Whenever you consider rolling back to a previous version, you have to stop and evaluate your options. Rolling back is a major undertaking and requires careful planning and execution. In many cases, you will get a better experience by identifying what is causing the problems you are currently having and trying to fix those. You haven't said anything about any 3rd party system modifications. Those are extremely popular. The more problems they cause, the more popular they are. How do we know you aren't running 2 different "security" apps, some "network filters", and "clean up" apps?

Unfortunately, removing those individual software packages can also be complicated. A complete erase and reinstall of the operating system is an easy way to do that. But you have to be careful restoring your data. You can only restore your user files and documents. If you restore any apps, software, or "other files", you could simply restore all the same old problems.

My recommendation for resetting a computer these days is to use iCloud. Turn on any and every iCloud option you can find, include iCloud Drive, Desktop & Documents, Photos, Music, the works. You may have to pay for that. After you complete the reset, you can consider downgrading your iCloud service.

But the idea is that iCloud is designed to setup all of your data and settings on a new device. So you can erase your current computer and set it up as a new device. Then, as soon as you sign in to iCloud, it will be populated with all of your data and settings, or at least the most portable ones.

In the past, I would have recommended Time Machine. But Time Machine tempts one to restore all files, which may include the problems that started you down this path in the first place. Plus, people (including me) sometimes report corrupted data after restoring from Time Machine.

Plus, iCloud supports most modern versions of macOS. So if you do an iCloud reset, you can choose to roll back to an earlier version and seamlessly restore your data in ways that would be impossible via other means. And if worse comes to worse and you find out that you need to upgrade the operating system anyway, at least now you're starting with a clean slate, that's less likely to be bugged up.

You just need to be careful with your data. Not all data is in iCloud. I strongly recommend taking an inventory (with pen and paper) of all your data, where it is stored, and how you would restore it via iCloud. You may need to manually restore some data from a copy on an external drive or from Time Machine. You'll find that data is always easier to restore when you realized ahead of time that you would need to back it up.

I'm a bit surprised that neither I nor anyone else has thought to mention EtreCheck.

MusicMom9600, download and run the linked app. It's free to use for a basic reading of what's installed on your Mac. All personal information is automatically redacted.

When the app has completed examining your system, copy/paste the report here. Make sure to use the Additional text button as the reports are normally too big to fit into one reply window.

From there, your fellow users may be able to see why Tahoe isn't working well. The usual reason is lots of garbage software. Namely, VPNs, cleaners, AV software and other similar junk.

Ha! I am sure that both things are very true - I am doing something wrong and my Mac is not set up for Tahoe. I apologize for venting instead of just asking for assistance. That was not helpful. I was just thinking that I wanted to go back to the last thing that mostly worked. You have all so quickly come through, and I appreciate every one of you. I am carefully reading everything and am going to be cautious. It's harder to undo something than it is to wait to do it in the first place.

My Mac mini is a 2020 with an M1 chip, 16GB RAM, and 1T SSD. My first thought, after thinking I had done something wrong, was that perhaps my Mac is too old for all the bells and whistles. Hence, I thought I should return to Sequoia, which I actually liked okay.

Issues: Safari began to be unresponsive some time ago. It was slow to start up, slow to respond, and would not quit. I had to force quit every time. I switched to Firefox, which was fine for a while, then it began to have the same issues. Mail will sometimes not load messages. Sometimes I quit and restart and it will, and sometimes it won't. If I let it sit for a while and come back it will eventually load them.

I stopped being able to attach anything to an email unless I dragged the item directly into the email. I could not upload anything to a website unless I dragged it. Some websites do not allow this. I discovered a couple of updates ago that Opera (not Safari or Firefox) would allow me to access ONLY my Downloads folder. So, if I needed to upload a document I had to move it to the Downloads folder, upload it, then move it back where it came from. Most recently, I am unable to search. I just get the spinning wheel and a "loading" text. This is true on Spotlight and in the Finder.

I have looked online for various solutions, and have found quite a few posts where others had the same issue. I tried starting up in Safe Boot, and that seemed to let things load a bit faster, but when I tried it yesterday it did not improve things at all. I cannot remember all the things I have tried, as I am not a techie, but I did the best I could with what I could find.

Anyway, after reading the helpful messages here, I checked, and there was yet another update. Safari was included, so I was hopeful. I installed the update, and am now running Tahoe 26.7.1. Amazingly, my search feature works again! Safari is still very sluggish, but it is opening. I sent a test email and was able to attach something. I have not tried to upload anything, but am keeping my fingers crossed.

I am still wondering, considering the age of my computer, if I should try to return to Sequoia. Are there other things I can try before I resort to that?

I don't think any of those things you mentioned can be attributed to Tahoe, so the task now is to find the real culprit or culprits.

The first easy thing to check is that you have plenty of free space on your SSD.

Although it supposedly holds 1 TB you should never let it get more than 90% full or 900 GB as SSDs need plenty of elbow room to move things around.

Wouldn't this work better if that backup was one from the Sequoia system days?

If the OP has one, yes. Then the only things you really need to pull from the Tahoe install are documents and such that were created after the last Sequoia backup.

That's also why I don't recommend an erase, install Tahoe, then restore a backup that may only be from Tahoe. With both installs on the drive at the same time, you can test to see what does or doesn't work in Sequoia before eliminating Tahoe.

The note made here by Katana-San about a Photos library is a concern trying to directly move it from Tahoe to Sequoia. Something that didn't occur to me since I never use it. In fact, I don't use very many of the OS included apps. Maybe a dozen total between the Apps and Utilities folders.

Most, if not all third party apps should work. They worked in Sequoia before, so restoring them shouldn't change anything. Those apps installed with the OS are irrelevant since Tahoe and Sequoia will each have their own set of OS installed apps. Third party is what you need to test, more than anything else. In particular, the few oddballs that are a blend of OS installed apps and your personal documents. Such as Photos. That may also include Pages. Will an older version of that open those created in Tahoe with a newer version of Pages?

Lots to think about and test.

Still, a very good question has been asked: Why not figure out why things are so bad under Tahoe? At least first try to fix it there instead of going through all of this backsliding.

In addition to what Kurt Lang has suggested....

The Opera Browser software is using a lot of CPU and RAM resources.

If Opera is a must have, I would check for an updated version.

If not, I would dump it and run with Safari for awhile.

https://www.opera.com/help

1. Use Time Machine or other backup utility to save your current personal and third party data to an external drive.
2. Use Disk Utility to create a new Volume on your drive.
3. Use the App Store to download Sequoia.
4. When the download is complete, install Sequoia to the empty volume.
5. When the Sequoia installer gets to the point where it asks if you have a backup to restore, point it to the external drive where your backup data is.

When done, all of your third party apps and personal data will be installed along with Sequoia, which the Mac will startup to after the Sequoia install is complete.

If there are any apps you have that require activation, boot back to the Tahoe volume so you can deauthorize any such apps. Boot back to Sequoia to activate those same apps there.

When you are certain everything is working in Sequoia, open Disk Utility and delete the Tahoe volume.

Wouldn't this work better if that backup was one from the Sequoia system days?

The reason I mention this is that file or data base formats or indexing details might have changed between Sequoia and Tahoe for apps such as Photos, Mail, Music, Messages. Will those data bases still work when rolling back? Will all apps installed under Tahoe also work under Sequoia?

Also, there may be firmware updates for some models that are implemented during the upgrade from Sequoia to Tahoe. When reverting back to Sequoia, can the firmware different version clash with Sequoia?

steve626 wrote:

Also, there may be firmware updates for some models that are implemented during the upgrade from Sequoia to Tahoe. When reverting back to Sequoia, can the firmware different version clash with Sequoia?

FWIW when testing things, I have been going back and forth between Mojave <-> Sequoia and all macOS versions in between on my Mac mini 2018 and have never experienced any firmware related clashes although the firmware has been upgraded numerous times up to what Sequoia wants.

But to the OP: I'd not downgrade unless some mission critical app needs it. Instead, I'd suggest:

Backup with Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper

Erase All Content and settings...

Use Migration Assistant to restore only user data files (or manually via the Finder from CCC backup)

Re-install only known-good essential 3rd party apps

Avoid installing any 3rd party virus apps, "cleaners", VPN

"Wouldn't this work better if that backup was one from the Sequoia system days?"

That is especially true for the Photo Library. If MusicMom9600 has invested a lot of work into organizing a photo library, she will need a backup copy of the Sequoia of the library, because the Tahoe version is not compatible with Sequoia. Alternately, she could start over with a new, empty photo library and sync the photos back from iCloud Photos, if she has been using iCloud Photos. Downloading the documents and data back from iCloud is the easiest way to downgrade to an older system version, if everything is kept in iCloud.

One caution for Photos: not all named faces are syncing properly with iCloud, and the projects (slideshows, photo books) will be missing. So keeping a Tahoe versioning second partition will definitely help.

Everything works fine for most people, which suggests either you are doing something wrong or your Mac is not set up ideally.

There is probably something quite simple that is giving you trouble.

Rather than reverting to Sequoia, which may well display the same problems, it would be better if you detailed each irritation and we could work through them with a view to getting your Mac functioning faultlessly.

Incidentally we are all users just like you . . . there is nobody from Apple on these forums.

Why don't you try actually explaining what's wrong and troubleshooting the problem(s) instead of simply ranting.

You haven't given us any information at all to work with.

Of course, based on the tone of your post, you have no real interest in troubleshooting anything at all.

Oh, I replied after Ian's posts - his and all the ones above it were very helpful and I appreciate them. I had a response drafted from last night and submitted it just now after I proofread it. Now I see there were other posts below it. I fractured my foot a couple of weeks ago, so am just now getting where I can get to the computer and have my foot down for a bit. I can't stay for long. I realize I am under no obligation to explain, but I do want the people who were helpful to know why I did not have an immediate response. I guess I didn't realize that I was timed. Plus, I like to think before just spitting out a response. I can't blame Tahoe for how long that takes! Again, thank you to everyone who was so kind.

Something I forgot to mention, my Time Machine backup has been wonky since Tahoe arrived. If I am not active on the computer the backup will fail. It never did that before. I have just been checking periodically and backing up manually if needed. If I am on the computer and the screen is active, it will automatically back up as it always has. Is there a setting that I need to change?

Are there others who have older computers, again I have a 2020 Mac mini with an M1 chip, who are having success with Tahoe? I have tried troubleshooting on my own for quite some time, and I was thinking that perhaps it would just be better to go back to the last successful point.

Adding to the topic - I see that Golden Gate just popped up as available, and I am thinking that it is a good idea to avoid it. Am I on the right path here? Or is it possible the bugs have been ironed out and it would work better than Tahoe?

MusicMom9600 wrote:

Something I forgot to mention, my Time Machine backup has been wonky since Tahoe arrived. If I am not active on the computer the backup will fail. It never did that before. I have just been checking periodically and backing up manually if needed. If I am on the computer and the screen is active, it will automatically back up as it always has. Is there a setting that I need to change?

Sorry to read about your injury, sometimes life interferes!

Your Time Machine issue might be worth a separate thread. Usually these things can be traced to other older things installed or running in the background that have been carried along after many updates/upgrades and might no longer be compatible with the current OS.

I think you should post an Etrecheck report.

Instructions here: How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community

This will help all these users and readers here to diagnose issues for you.

Are there others who have older computers, again I have a 2020 Mac mini with an M1 chip, who are having success with Tahoe? I have tried troubleshooting on my own for quite some time, and I was thinking that perhaps it would just be better to go back to the last successful point.

I am writing this from a 2019 Macbook Pro, older than yours and also an older Intel configuration. It is on Tahoe and is running very smoothly and seems more nimble (to me) than it was on Sequoia. I have had two Time Machine drives connected since 2021 and they have been backing up routinely since then. These backups are very fast and many (most) of them occur when I am not using the Mac. We also have 2015 and 2013 Macs that still run well and both have ongoing Time Machine backups as well.

Adding to the topic - I see that Golden Gate just popped up as available, and I am thinking that it is a good idea to avoid it. Am I on the right path here? Or is it possible the bugs have been ironed out and it would work better than Tahoe?

As for Golden Gate, we have a new M5 Macbook Air running Golden Gate and it seems very smooth and fast (also with two Time Machine backups active). No issues or problems noted so far.

That said, I strongly recommend first eliminating existing problems you have noticed before upgrading the operating system. Usually this involves eliminating or uninstalling problematic extensions or software that is no longer compatible. Leaving them in there won't be helpful when you go to Golden Gate.

No, there's no amount of time expected for a response. It's more just unusual for that much time to go by without a response to numerous posts.

One thing I have noticed over the years is installing one major OS release over another (especially multiple upgrades) never works as well as Apple, or Microsoft would have you believe. I don't know the technical reasons behind it, but years ago I started installing a new OS on its own volume and reinstalling all of my third party apps from scratch. Without exception, my Mac always runs far better doing this than dropping one OS over another. Time consuming? Yes, but the results are worth it to me. I quite literally never see 1% of the issues users report here. It's also a good way to rid your computer of leftover junk from apps you tried and removed.

Anyway, yes, I'd try to first fix what you have installed. It's the quickest thing to try, and my idea of troubleshooting is to always start with the easiest option and work your way to hardest/most time consuming.

OH! Another thing I forgot - If I left the computer for even a few minutes and the screen went black, I would come back to a notice that I had no more storage space (or something like that) and that I had to force quit everything. Usually I ended up having to restart in order to get control again. I found troubleshooting information online - perhaps here? - and opening up in Safe Boot helped for a while, until it happened again and I had to rinse and repeat. It has finally stopped, and hasn't happened in several weeks. Of course, I still start up in Safe Boot off and on when things hang up and aren't functioning. I believe the post I found said that resets something.

The report is finished and it appears I have high CPU usage. That doesn't really surprise me, but I don't even know what half those items are. I do frequently work with several apps open at the same time, as I go back and forth between them, accessing and using information, e.g. Mail, a browser, Pages, Numbers, Preview, Print Center. I have always been able to easily do that until my computer became so sluggish with Tahoe.

My daughter has her own user desktop, and does not have the issues that I do. Except that since the upgrade before the last one she suddenly is unable to take screenshots. Ironically, I don't have any issue with screenshots. I'm guessing my issue has to be something that I am doing that just doesn't gel with Tahoe. On the other hand, I am sure I have windows and tabs that I can clean up and eliminate. I've been working on that, and will continue the next time I am at the computer. I tend to keep frequently used pages up instead of opening them every time. I have quite a few of them pinned; perhaps I should pin more of them. Maybe there is a page that is overloading things? Do the pinned tabs draw a lot of power?

(As an aside, I had an iMac some years ago that was wonderful until I installed Mountain Lion. I had so many issues that I finally went back to Leopard and then it worked fine again. Eventually a computer is just not able to keep up with the times. Hence my considering going back to Sequoia.)

Back to the report. Thank you to everyone who is trying to help. It says:

Major Issues:

    Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention. 

    Heavy CPU usage - Some processes are using an unusually high amount of CPU.

Minor Issues:

    These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems or opportunities for improvement. 

    Heavy RAM usage - Apps are using a large amount of RAM.

    Apps crashing - There have been numerous app crashes.

    Apps with heavy CPU usage - There have been numerous cases of apps with heavy CPU usage.

    Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed. These files could be old, incompatible, and cause problems. They should be reviewed.

    Runaway user process - A user process is using a large percentage of your CPU.

    Sharing enabled - This computer has sharing services enabled that could be a security risk.

I included Additional Text - thanks for the heads up!

I would come back to a notice that I had no more storage space (or something like that) and that I had to force quit everything.

That is very, very concerning, and if correct, would be the cause of all of your problems. With any computer, a drive that is nearly full is a disaster in the making. You should have a bare minimum of 10% free space at all times.

Please post the entire EtreCheck output. You posted only a very small portion of it.

On the response time, I am relieved to know there isn't a set time. I posted yesterday after opening in Safe Boot again, worked for about six hours, finished up the evening, went to bed, and went to work this morning. (That was interesting with a boot and a cane! I am just happy to be able to go.) I came back and was stunned to find that I had "disappeared." I was even more amazed to find that I didn't really want help. It wasn't even a full day. Oh well. Moving on.

I have spent months researching, troubleshooting, and trying to fix things on my own. Asking for help is not usually first on my list because if I can figure it out I like to, and I like to learn how to do new things; plus you never know what kind of responses you will get. I figured here everyone else knows what they are doing, and I have used information in other posts and responses as I have been trying to work things out, so this is where I finally came.

I am a far cry from a techie, and maybe I should be able to figure this out, but since you were so kind to mention it, can you tell me how you do the installation? Do you create a partition on your hard drive or do everything on an external then move it? What about all the things you have saved - documents, pdfs, etc. Do you have to transfer those too? Or maybe there is a website you can point me to that details the process? I am not even averse to taking it in and having someone else do it. I'm not proud. :-)

My first computer was a Performa, and when the hard drive bit the dust, I had the OS on an external HD, and started up from that. The Performa basically became a monitor/storage device, and the external HD became my CPU. It worked fine. My children then used it for a long time after I bought my original iMac (which I incidentally still have). I'm guessing that is not the process you are talking about, but do you use an external hard drive at all when upgrading?

Just a note - things seem to be working much better since the latest upgrade. Let's hope it continues.

I read, on this forum, I think, that starting in Safe Boot fixed whatever the issue was. I don't remember what it was. It did seem to work, though I had to do it several times.

I will repost the etrecheck report, I seem to have missed some when I copied it. Sorry!

In spite of what looks like a lot of entires, your system is actually fairly clean.

But, without question, what needs to be removed immediately is all of the WD (Western Digital) garbage. The OS does not need the help of any third party software to read/write its own file system. Software like this only adds unnecessary complexity.

Per your question about my steps, it's all in my first post. When moving to a new major OS release, I build it from scratch on a new volume along with all of my third party software. Why? Mainly because it virtually never fails that there are bugs in the .0 OS release, and you almost always find some third party apps that don't work quite right under the initial OS release. Having both the previous and new OS installed, each with their own set of the same software allows me to use the previous OS where I know things work, and still keep an eye on updates to the new OS until everything functions as it should. Once it reaches that point, I can just remove the old OS volume.

Overall, Golden Gate/macOS 27 is the cleanest OS release I have ever seen. I think it's the first time I moved to a .0 release as my day-to-day OS without waiting for even a minor update.

Edit: And just to note, this habit came about from running an in-home business for quite a few years. The last thing you should ever do is jump on a new OS without testing every single piece of software you use before moving to the new OS full time. I can't tell you how many times over the years I've seen users screaming that Apple ruined, or is ruining their business because critical software they used didn't work. Well, if the software is/was that critical to your business, why did you install a new OS the day it was released with no plan to easily go back?

Thank you for checking the report. The WD software came with our backup hard drive. I don't think I've ever done anything with it; I have always used Time Machine. Do you know if the hard drive work without the WD software? I would love to dump it; it is annoying at startup, and I keep getting notices that it won't work with Intel much longer.

I appreciate so much your patience with me!

Done! I uninstalled both WD applications. I am going to restart the computer and see what happens.

As for Tahoe, I thought I had my system set so that I had to manually install updates, but I must have done something to change that because I ended up with Tahoe. I'm going to double check to make sure that doesn't happen again.

I appreciate all the help. Thanks to you, and to everyone else who helped.

Done! I uninstalled both WD applications.

Good deal! Per your previous post, no, the software they dump on their drives does not in any way prevent you from accessing the external drive. I really, truly, do not understand why they (not just WD) bother to write this type of software, or include it. None of it is useful.

Getting rid of it should help at least some.

As for Tahoe, I thought I had my system set so that I had to manually install updates, but I must have done something to change that because I ended up with Tahoe. I'm going to double check to make sure that doesn't happen again.

I couldn't agree more. It's one of the very first things I turn off when setting up a new OS. I don't care how great Apple, MS or whoever thinks that upgrade/update is, it should never be installed without my knowledge.

My software update settings are always like the following. Security updates? Sure. Anything else? Keep your mitts off of my computer until I say so.

Somehow my system was on automatic updates. I really thought I had fixed that. I've fixed it now, and the image was very helpful. You have been beyond great, and I am grateful for all the help and your kindness.

You very likely did turn it off. But someone at Apple decided that upgrades and updates will oh-so-helpfully turn it back on for you. The user now has to remember after every such upgrade/update to check that setting.

Is your Mac working better now? There hasn't been a lot of changes to suggest making, so we'd all like to know if anything helped. If for no other reason users coming here with a similar issue can find the solution in a topic like this.

Kurt Lang wrote:

You very likely did turn it off. But someone at Apple decided that upgrades and updates will oh-so-helpfully turn it back on for you. The user now has to remember after every such upgrade/update to check that setting.

Is your Mac working better now? There hasn't been a lot of changes to suggest making, so we'd all like to know if anything helped. If for no other reason users coming here with a similar issue can find the solution in a topic like this.

This past week I updated an Apple Watch and iPhone to 27.0.1 and also a Macbook Air to 27.0.1. All of them had been configured to ONLY DOWNLOAD updates but not install (install Security Updates is switched on). However after these devices were updated to 27.0.1, they all had settings changed to DOWNLOAD and INSTALL all system updates. So I had to change it back to the way I had it. I guess Apple believes we are better off having these things installed as fast as possible, but I prefer to manually start the updates so that they don't interrupt something underway on the Mac or watch or iPhone. Also, when updates are automatically installed (not just downloaded), sometimes it happens at night which I agree is less intrusive but I used to find messages in the morning indicating that the update did not complete. So I prefer to quit all programs, perhaps reboot, and have a clear view ahead and manually start the updates when I am present.

steve626 wrote:

This past week I updated an Apple Watch and iPhone to 27.0.1 and also a Macbook Air to 27.0.1. All of them had been configured to ONLY DOWNLOAD updates but not install (install Security Updates is switched on). However after these devices were updated to 27.0.1, they all had settings changed to DOWNLOAD and INSTALL all system updates.

Ha! They got you too, eh?

There's another trick you might have missed. You probably won't see it unless you are purposefully running an older version. Used to, the big flashy new version was at the top. Then, in fine print below, were "other" updates for apps like Safari Technology Preview or your old version of Sequoia. You could just click on the "other" updates, accept them, and be on your way.

Not anymore. Now, even the "other" options will include the flashy and buggy current version already checked off. So you have to remember to uncheck that and then check your old version update.

steve626 wrote:

This past week I updated an Apple Watch and iPhone to 27.0.1 and also a Macbook Air to 27.0.1. All of them had been configured to ONLY DOWNLOAD updates but not install (install Security Updates is switched on). However after these devices were updated to 27.0.1, they all had settings changed to DOWNLOAD and INSTALL all system updates.

Well, 27.2 is out now, so...

The toggle setup to only download is still there:

Having said that, I have noticed that after the last two major upgrades (Tahoe and Golden Gate), when you are taken beck through the partial setup process one of those screens concerns automatic updates and the default is to turn them on. I declined, but if you just click through them, that could be why you were on auto-update.

I am back online today. Thank you to everyone who has been so great. I haven't read everything yet, but after dumping WD things do seem better.

Ha! As I was typing that I suddenly got the crazy wheel. It does seem that happens with some websites when entering text.

Anyway, I haven't had a chance to read everything yet, but I did see the comment about Opera. It is the browser with the fastest response, but all my bookmarks are on Safari and Firefox. Firefox has all the history and things from a previous job, which I still use off and on, and Safari seems to be the only application where the pinned tabs are permanent, and not window-specific. I'll be working today with multiple programs open, so I will see how that goes.

But I did want to say thank you. THANK YOU! You have all been wonderful, and I appreciate you so much.

Opera is actually not a very good browser anymore. If you don't like Safari, but still want a really fast browser, use Helium. It's based on the open-source Chromium code. Ad blocking is built-in. Sites that insist you use Google's Chrome browser work just as well in Helium, but doesn't have Chrome's highly intrusive data harvesting.

I had that thought, but etrecheck doesn't do much good when one has no interest in doing anything bur ranting.

It's like amputating your leg to cure a corn on your toe! (Reverting to Sequoia).

Very true. Also noteworthy here is despite all of the responses, the OP seems to have already disappeared. Which pretty much supports the idea was to rant, not actually want help.

Give them what they ask for with the appropriate cautionary notations

Let them decide there after

Ian, I have never heard of this! I just downloaded it and it is running now. Thank you!

This was extremely helpful. Thank you so much!

I believe I got the entire report this time. Thank you all for your help!

You know you can copy bookmarks and browsing data from one browser to another.