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How to install the final version of MacOS Mojave if you're using the beta

Get the official release and leave the beta program.

Matt Elliott Senior Editor
Matt Elliott is a senior editor at CNET with a focus on laptops and streaming services. Matt has more than 20 years of experience testing and reviewing laptops. He has worked for CNET in New York and San Francisco and now lives in New Hampshire. When he's not writing about laptops, Matt likes to play and watch sports. He loves to play tennis and hates the number of streaming services he has to subscribe to in order to watch the various sports he wants to watch.
Expertise Laptops, desktops, all-in-one PCs, streaming devices, streaming platforms
Matt Elliott
2 min read
Apple

MacOS Mojave is out, but if you've been using the beta and grown accustomed to Mojave's new spot for system updates, then you may have missed the memo. 

You won't find the update if you check System Preferences. Nor will you find it listed on the Updates tab of the Mac App Store. Where does a beta user go to get the update, leave the beta program and get rid of the Feedback Assistant app? You've got questions, I've got answers.

Watch this: Apple MacOS Mojave is here, but we're still waiting for one killer feature

Go from beta to official release

To upgrade to the final version of MacOS Mojave, open the Mac App Store and search for "Mojave." Open the MacOS Mojave page and click the Get button.

mojave-app-store
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

The Software Update panel in System Preferences will open, asking if you're sure you want to download MacOS Mojave 10.14. If you are certain, click the Download button.

download-mojave
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

After the download is complete, the MacOS Mojave installer will open. Just follow the instructions to install the update.

mojave-installer
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

Buh-bye beta program

After you install the final version, you will likely want to unenroll your Mac from the beta program so that future system updates come in the form of final builds instead of beta updates. To leave the beta program, open System Preferences and click Software Update. On the left, you'll see that your Mac is enrolled in the Apple Beta Software Program. Click Details and then Restore Defaults to unenroll your Mac from receiving beta updates.

leave-apple-beta-program
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

Ditch the Feedback Assistant

The Feedback Assistant app gets installed with a MacOS beta so that you can report bugs to Apple. It does not get uninstalled when you install the final version of a MacOS and leave the beta program. Because MacOS makes it more difficult than need be to uninstall apps, I just removed it from my Dock and let it hang out in the Utilities folder where it occupies a minuscule 64 bytes of space. To remove the purple Feedback Assistant icon from your Dock, right click on the icon, mouse over Options and click Remove from Dock.

For nonbeta users moving from MacOS High Sierra to Mojave, here's how you install the Mojave update.

And here are the best new features of MacOS Mojave.