Want to leave the MacOS beta program and stop getting beta software updates on a Mac? This is a fairly common occurrence for many Mac users who either initially joined a beta and then later downgraded, Mac users who had beta software but now want to be on the regular stable software update channel, or even for those who were curious about installing macOS Mojave public beta but decided against it.
If you have run the MacOS beta access utility then a macOS beta profile is installed on the Mac, meaning the Mac will continue to get beta software updates pushed to it until that has been changed.
This guide will show you how to change your Mac settings so that the computer stops getting MacOS beta system software updates.
Note: this is for older Macs running earlier versions of Mac OS system software delivered through App Store. If you are using MacOS Catalina 10.15 or later, go here to opt out of macOS beta system software updates from System Preferences instead.
Note that stopping the MacOS beta software updates from appearing on the Mac is not the same as downgrading. Stopping beta software updates from appearing on the Mac does not remove any software, nor does it remove the beta software, or downgrade to a different operating system. If you’d like to downgrade from macOS Mojave beta you can learn how to do that here.
How to Leave the MacOS Beta & Stop Getting Beta Software Updates in Mac App Store
Decided you want to leave the MacOS beta and stop getting MacOS beta software updates? Here is what you need to do to change the software update settings:
- Go to the Apple menu and choose “System Preferences”
- Select “App Store” from the preference options
- Look for the section of App Store preferences that says “Your computer is set to receive beta software updates” and then click on the “Change” button
- At the pop-up screen, click on “Do Not Show Beta Software Updates”
- Quit out of System Preferences when finished
After you have made this change, future beta updates to MacOS system software will no longer appear on the Mac, and instead only final builds of MacOS system software will appear as software updates.
Note this setting option will not be visible by default on a Mac unless the beta profile was installed to begin with, either through the public beta or developer beta testing programs for Mac OS.
As mentioned before but it’s important to reiterate; stopping beta software from showing up on the Mac does not remove the beta software. It does not revert the software version or anything else, for that you would need to manually downgrade from macOS Mojave beta to revert to a prior MacOS release preserved from a backup.
How to Change Back to Receive Beta MacOS Software Updates Again
You can reverse course if you’d like and then opt to receive beta updates again if you decide to do so.
If you have already chose to stop receiving beta software updates, you will need to run through the MacOS Beta Software Access Utility again, either downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or the Apple Public Beta enrollment site.
Running the MacOS Beta Access Utility will reinstall the macOS beta profile and allow beta updates to arrive again, either through the Mac App Store, or the Software Update system preference panel, depending on the version of MacOS.
