How to opt out of the macOS Catalina beta program

Some of us may have been overly impatient for the release of macOS Catalina and instead opted into being part of the beta program to get a sneak peek at Apple's latest and greatest operating system. If you were one of these brave souls, when the Gold Master of macOS Catalina is released, you may want to stick with the stable version rather than keep on getting beta updates. Here's how to do just that.

Backup your device!

It's good practice to have an up-to-date backup of your computer devices. It will save you hours or even years of work for just a few minutes of your time. Please check out our important article on how to backup your Mac.

Unenroll from the beta

To unenroll from the beta program of macOS, follow the steps below from the beta of macOS. Don't try unenrolling from the current build of macOS or you won't see these steps.

Open System Preferences.
Click Software Update.
Click Details.
Click Restore Defaults.

Your Mac will now be unenrolled from the Apple Beta Software Program and will no longer receive beta updates.

Once you opt-out prior to the GM release you can update to the latest stable OS directly from the App Store.

Need to opt-out of the iOS beta program?

You can check out our awesome guide, detailing just how to do that! We explain how to opt-out via an iPhone or iPad or even whilst your iOS device is connected via a Mac.

Some things you may need for the public beta of macOS

Samsung T5 SSD (From $85 at Amazon)

Samsung's T5 SSD has super fast transfer rates with write speeds up to 540MB/s, which is great for backing up your Mac before installing a beta.

Belkin Thunderbolt 3 cable ($30 at Amazon)

For up to four times transfer speed, make sure you're using a Thunderbolt 3 cable. Belkin's brand supports up to 100W power delivery and measures 1.6-feet long for a little extra length.

SanDisk Dual Drive (From $25 at Apple)

If you want to make a bootable installer of a new macOS or just want to preserve an older macOS in case you want to downgrade, SanDisk's Dual drive is perfect. It has a reversible USB-C and USB-A connector, too!

Updated September 2019: Update for macOS Catalina.

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