Getting rid of macOS Tahoe update nagging

I have no interest in updating my MacBook Air to macOS Tahoe. But my Mac continues to pester me with notifications to update. I get them every day, popping up in the upper right corner of my screen: Update now | Update tonight. Neither, please. I said please .

Rob Griffith’s guide to setting up a device management profile to turn off Tahoe notifications has garnered considerable attention among Mac users. I find the directions daunting: anything that begins (note: begins ) with “Clone the repo and switch to its directory in Terminal” sounds to me like DANGER KEEP OUT.

But there’s a much simpler way to block Tahoe upgrade notifications: this video from Mr. Macintosh (yes, really) shows how to use a free app, iMazing Profile Editor (yes, really), to create a device management profile. It took me less than five minutes to follow Mr. M’s directions and shut down update notifications. It would have taken much less time if Mr. M‘s directions weren’t so painstakingly clear. And now, no notifications. And no red dot next to Software Update in System Settings. And I can keep the System Settings icon in my Dock without having to see a red update badge. The only downside: the profile expires after ninety days (the maximum possible), so I’ll have to renew it while I hold out for macOS 27.

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March 26: I upgraded to macOS 15.7.5 and found that the device management profile no longer works. Other Mac users report the same. And I found a page from Apple that I think I understand. The relevant part:

If your Mac has macOS Sequoia 15 installed and you are using a device management service to defer major operating system updates, macOS Tahoe 26 updates may not be available after the deferral period expires.

That sentence sounds like a more decorous version of an infomercial pitch: Don’t delay! Order today! I think they’re trying to scare people into upgrading to Tahoe.

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April 17: There’s another way to stop Tahoe nags on the Mac: by signing up for macOS Sequoia public beta updates. A new beta would be extremely unlikely, given that Apple is all in on Tahoe. But the point of signing up for Sequoia public betas is not to get Sequoia public betas. It’s to stop Apple from insisting that a Mac user move to Tahoe.

[I grant that “iMazing” sounds at least slightly sketchy, but the app is legitimate. One review calls it “the Swiss Army knife app for Apple IT admins.” For system administrators: that’s why I’d never heard of it.]