I know that in the past if I've previously downloaded OS X El Capitan from the App Store I could download it again from the Purchased tab in the App Store, however now that macOS Sierra is out I'm not able to download it as it says INSTALLED (and grayed out) even on a system running OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5. Pressing any key combination, e.g control, option, etc. doesn't change the button to DOWNLOAD. All other previous versions of OS X can still be downloaded from my Purchased tab in App Store as they still say DOWNLOAD and are not grayed out, thus active.
Download El Capitan from the Mac App Store. Head over to your existing OS X environment running 10.9 or later and open the Mac App Store. Search for 'El Capitan' and click Download. The download is completely free if you're running OS X 10.9+. Wait for the download to finish (this could take some time). Format the USB Drive. MacOS Big Sur 11 (App Store link) macOS Catalina 10.15 (App Store link) macOS Mojave 10.14 (App Store link) macOS High Sierra 10.13 (App Store link) macOS Sierra 10.12 (Direct DMG download link) OS X El Capitan 10.11 (Direct dmg download link) OS X Yosemite 10.10 (Direct download link) Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.8; Mac OS X Lion 10.7. In case you have OS X Snow Leopard or Lion, but want to upgrade to macOS High Sierra, follow the steps below: To download Mac OS X El Capitan from the App Store, follow the link: Download OS X El Capitan. On the El Capitan, click the Download button. Next, a file Install OS X El Capitan will download into the Applications folder. Download Mac OS X El Capitan DMG File – (Direct Links) However, for downloading macOS X El Capitan, if you’ve an old version of macOS X, you can probably download macOS X El Capitan from the App Store. Otherwise, you can’t download macOS X El Capitan from the Store since it’s not available there. @katemor Its not true that App Store no longer has El Capitan as download. It does not have it as download, if your Apple-ID has never registered a machine with El Capitan. Otherwise they are still there. And your link points to a place, which charges $20 for Apple software. Not quite legal.
The image below is from a system running OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5, does not have OS X El Capitan installed on it or even the Install OS X El Capitan.app on its filesystem, yet it says it's installed and grayed out.
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Instructions for making an external drive that you can use to install macOSSierra.
Roman Loyola By Roman Loyola
Senior Editor, Macworld | Jul 3, 2017 1:32 PM PT
macos sierra installer iconMore like this* macos high sierra iconHow to create a bootable macOS High Sierra installer drive* imac blank screen stockInstalling macOS or OS X: What to do when ‘the installer payloadfailed...* Mavericks installer iconHow to make a bootable Mavericks install drive* Macworld Podcast Episode 586VideoiMac Pro, Apple and Shazam, holiday wish lists, 2018 predictions:Macworld...
Apple uses its App Store to distribute its software, like new Macoperating systems. It’s convenient, but sometimes it can take a while fora download to finish. And if you have multiple Macs, it’s inefficient todownload the new OS to each and every Mac.
sierra external icon
That’s why I like to make a bootable external drive for the sole purposeof installing the Mac operating system. When I need to tend to a bunch ofMacs, it’s much faster to use a bootable drive instead of going to eachMac, launching the App Store, searching for the operating system,downloading it (after entering my Apple ID), and then running theinstaller.
You can create a bootable USB flash drive with the macOS Sierra installerthat’s now available. The installer software will take up nearly 5GB ofstorage space. Here’s how to create a bootable macOS Sierra installerdrive.
Download the macOS Sierra installer
Launch the App Store app, then look for macOS Sierra in the store. (Here’sa link.) Click on the Download button, and your Mac will download theinstaller to your Applications folder. If it automatically launches afterdownload, quit the installer.
sierra beta installer app folder sierra gmKeep the installer in theApplications folder.
If you’ve already upgraded your Mac to Sierra, the installer is removedfrom the Applications folder. You can download it again if you go toPurchased in the App Store. Look for macOS Sierra in the list of apps thatyou’ve bought, and click on the Download button. If it automaticallylaunches after download, quit the installer.
Get an external drive
You can use a USB flash drive or a hard drive with room for the installersoftware. I’ve used different drives with success, including a VisionTek120GB USB 3.0 Pocket Solid State Drive ($83 on Amazon) and an old 8GBIomega Micro Mini Hard Drive.
Don’t worry if the drive isn’t formatted for the Mac. The drive will bereformatted automatically as part of the process. Change the name of yourdrive to Untitled; you need to do this for the steps below.
The quick and easy way
The process detailed below involves the Terminal. If your really don’twant to use Terminal, there are a couple of free apps you can use.
Use the Terminal to create a boot disk
terminal mac el capitan icon
So you have your external drive, and the Sierra beta installer is inplace. Now you’re going to use Terminal to create a boot drive. If you’venever used Terminal before, don’t worry. This is pretty easy.
Here are the steps to create a macOS Sierra beta boot disk. (Apple alsohas these instructions.)
How to boot from the installer drive
sierra installstartup option
To comment on this article and other Macworld content, visit our Facebookpage or our Twitter feed.Related:* Macs* Operating Systems* MacOS Hints* MacBooks* Mac Desktops* macOS* MacOS Sierra
Roman has covered technology since the early 1990s. His career started atMacUser, and he's worked for MacAddict, Mac|Life, and TechTV. He's alsowritten for MacRumors and Realtor.com.
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