How to Downgrade to Older or Previous Safari Version?

Safari is the default browser in the Apple ecosystem, and users seem satisfied with its offerings more often than not.

It comes with all the required feature set and handy cross-device support across all your linked devices. On top of that, it tends to get blessed with regular updates.

Getting regular updates straightaway translates to improved performance and security and welcoming new features aboard. However, there’s another side to this. Sometimes, the update might be buggy or accompany a few underlying bugs.

Along the same lines, the latest version might break a few extensions and even result in issues with older websites that aren’t yet optimized to adapt to this newer build. So one fix for this issue seems to be to roll back to an earlier version of Safari.

However, it is easier said than done. This browser is deeply integrated into the OS (well, it looks more like a system component than an app). As a result, to perform this rollback, you might have to interact with the operating system.

And this is where the hesitancy arises, as not everyone is comfortable dealing with the OS.

If you have any concerns, this guide helps you downgrade Safari to an older version in the simplest of ways possible. But, it’s recommended to proceed cautiously and ensure you’ve prerequisite and read through before starting the rollback.

Stop Automatic Mac Updates

We have listed two different methods to carry out the said task. Go through both of them, and then try the one you find more comfortable dealing with. But before starting, there are two essential prerequisites you need to check mark off the list — disable the Automatic Updates feature and backup all the data on your Mac.

If you don’t disable the auto-update feature, the OS will again install the latest version of Safari, thereby making the entire process futile.

So head over to >  System Preferences > Software Update, and disable the Automatically keep my Mac up to date option. Once that is done, you may proceed with the below steps to downgrade Safari to an older version.

Restore with Time Machine Backup

If you took a Time Machine backup before Safari automatically updated, you shouldn’t give it any second thought and restore that backup immediately.

For the unaware, The Time Machine progressively restores the data. It will only restore those data unchanged since the last snapshot.

Here are the steps to restore the Safari browser using Time Machine backup:

1. Head over to the Applications folder and select Utilities.
2. Select the Migration Assistant app.
3. Select From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk
4. Hit on the Continue button.
   
5. Select the Time Machine backup made before the Safari update, and click the Continue button.
   
6. Select the Applications checkbox under the Information to transfer dialog box, and hit the Continue button.
   

The restoration process shall now begin and could take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour, depending on the backup size.

Once done, you will have successfully downgraded to an older Safari version. To be safer, re-verify that the Auto-updates feature is still disabled after the restoration.

Note: The Time Machine method is straightforward; there’s a caveat involved. It would help if you created a Time machine snapshot before the Safari browser was updated.

However, many users wouldn’t have such a backup satisfying this requirement. If you are also part of this group, check out our following method.

Downgrade macOS

We will downgrade macOS to the earlier build that initially shipped with your device in this process. It will then automatically downgrade all the pre-installed apps to their earlier versions, including Safari. However, the process will wipe off all the data, so backup beforehand.

Here are the steps to downgrade the macOS on the computer:

1. Keypress the Cmd + R to boot your Mac to Recovery mode.
2. Select Reinstall macOS <version-name> from the Utilities menu.
   
3. Proceed with the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Moreover, if it asks whether you want to install Macintosh HD or Macintosh HD – Data, choose Macintosh HD.

As soon as the installation is complete, disable the auto-update feature under System Preferences. It will ensure that Safari isn’t automatically updated to the latest build. At the same time, don’t forget to install all the other updates manually.

The reinstall process is a more time-consuming method than previously and would also result in wiping off all the data from your Mac. So only proceed with this approach if you don’t have a Time Machine backup.

Bottom Line: Downgrade Safari Browser

So with this, we round off the guide on downgrading to an older Safari version. We have shared two different methods for the same. While both do their job effectively, it could be a bit complicated for the newcomers.

Making changes to the operating system just for the sake of downgrading to an earlier app build might not be a cup of tea for everyone. Apple should have provided a more straightforward approach to carrying out a rollback.

Talking about more accessible approaches, a couple of third-party apps do exist that claim to do this job. However, they tend to give varying degrees of success. So the above two methods seem to be the best route forward.