How to Roll Back Drivers on MacBook iMac - MacOS

How to Roll Back Drivers on MacBook iMac - MacOS


Here are the measures you may take to restore previously installed drivers on MacOS:

  1. Launch the Mac's System Preferences panel.
  2. Select the "Update Software" button.
  3. Select the "Advanced" tab or menu item.
  4. You may see a log of all the software updates your Mac has received under the "History" tab.
  5. Identify the driver update you want to undo and choose the "More details" button situated next to it.
  6. When an update is installed, a new window will open showing the updated files.
  7. The driver may be removed by erasing its associated files. You may do this by checking the boxes next to the files you wish to get rid of and then hitting the Delete button.
  8. To finish reverting to an earlier version, restart your Mac.

Reverting to an older driver version may be dangerous if the driver isn't entirely compatible with your Mac, which is a possibility if you're trying to solve an issue. You should probably hire an expert if you are uncomfortable with this job.

How do you restore previously installed Mac drivers?

These steps will show you how to revert a driver on a Mac:

  • Access the Preferences menu. To access these settings, choose "System Preferences" from the Apple menu (found in the upper left corner of the screen).
  • Select "Software Update" from the list of options in System Preferences.
  • Locate the "Advanced" button in the Software Update window's lower right-hand corner and click it.
  • A complete inventory of your Mac's drivers is shown in the window labelled "Advanced." You may revert to a previous driver version by selecting the driver in question and then clicking the "Revert" option.
  • If asked to confirm that you wish to revert the driver, click "Revert" again.
  • Currently, we're reverting the driver to an earlier version. Depending on the severity of the modifications you made, you may need to restart your Mac. In the event of a serious issue, you may put your Mac into recovery mode by restarting it.

It is important to use caution while rolling back drivers since doing so may render previously working features or capabilities inoperable. The only time you should revert to a previous driver version is if you are having problems with the current one and you are certain that doing so will solve the issue.

Where can I see the driver version that is presently set up on my Mac?

Here's how to determine which driver version is presently loaded on your Mac:

  1. Select "About This Mac" from the Apple menu located in the upper left of the screen.
  2. To generate a system report, choose the "System Report" tab in the new window that opens.
  3. Select "Software" from the left menu of the System Report box.
  4. Select "Extensions" from the drop-down menu under "Software."
  5. Simply locate the driver's extension in the list and click on it to see its version. In the "Version" column, you'll get the driver's version number.

Similar to how a printer device driver is required, you must ensure that you have the correct hardware and software versions installed. Driver versions may also be determined using the Terminal. Here's how to do that:

To access the Terminal, launch it from the Utilities folder (/Applications/Utilities).

To execute, enter the following command:

In order to see which drivers are installed, use. 

kextstat | grep -i "name of driver."

Simply replace out "name of driver" with the name of the driver whose version you want to learn. To determine the release of the "AppleUSBFTDI" driver, for instance, you would enter:

kextstat | grep -i "AppleUSBFTDI"

The output will show the driver's version number.

Can I restore a driver from an earlier version on my Mac? So, how do I go about doing that, if that is really the case?

The answer is yes; you can restore a driver to an earlier version on a Mac. Here are the measures you should take:

  • Launch the Mac's System Preferences panel. A drop-down option will appear; from there, pick "System Preferences." You'll find the Apple symbol in the upper left corner of your screen.
  • Select "Software Update" from the System Preferences menu.
  • In the Software Update box, choose the "Advanced" tab.
  • You may see the history of your changes in the "Advanced" tab of your settings. If you wish to revert to an earlier version of a certain driver, you'll need to locate that update and click on it.
  • To undo your changes, choose "Revert." This will undo the driver upgrade and restore the old version.

It's crucial to remember that reverting a driver's version might potentially break your system, so you should only do it as a last option if you're having serious troubles with the newly installed driver. Instead, then reverting to a previous driver version, consider troubleshooting any problems with the upgraded one first.

Could there be any negative consequences to reverting a driver on a Mac?

There is always the chance of anything going wrong whenever you roll back a driver on your Mac, or any other machine. Take into account the following:

Problems with other programmes or hardware, such as the Mac's Wi-Fi driver, might arise if you revert to a previous version of that driver. This may lead to malfunctions like crashes and errors.

Inadequate security measures: several recent driver upgrades address security flaws. Reverting to a previous driver might leave your Mac vulnerable to previously fixed flaws.

Problems with performance: Most recently released drivers are designed specifically for the most recent versions of popular operating systems and hardware. It's possible that newer graphics drivers will provide a performance boost over their predecessors. There are a risk of performance drops and other complications if you revert to an outdated driver.

Support may be restricted if problems arise after a driver rollback has been performed. It's possible that the driver's developer has stopped supporting previous versions of the software.

When encountering issues with a newer driver, it's preferable to try troubleshooting with an older driver version before resorting to rolling back. If you're considering reverting a driver's changes, you should weigh the benefits and drawbacks thoroughly before making a final decision. When troubleshooting Mac sound drivers, a rollback is often the most effective solution.

On a Mac, can I undo changes to numerous drivers at once, or do I have to undo them one by one?

It is possible to revert numerous drivers at once on a Mac by following these instructions:

  1. Launch the app that manages your system's settings.
  2. To update the programme, choose "Software Update."
  3. Select the "Advanced" tab or menu item.
  4. You may see the history of your software updates in the "Advanced" tab.
  5. Make a list of the drivers you wish to restore, and then hit the "Revert" button.

By doing so, your system will return to an earlier state in which the specified drivers were not present. Keep in mind that this will also erase temporary cache and roll back any updates or modifications the drivers may have done, so you may need to reinstall any software or reconfigure any settings that were impacted.

You may also use the "kextunload" command in the Terminal app to restore specific drivers. This approach, however, is more complex and is not suggested unless you have experience with the Terminal and command line.

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