So, you've decided to download an older version of Mac Os Ten. There are many reasons that could betoken you to this radical determination. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or but crash) on newer operating systems. Also, y'all may have noticed your Mac's performance went downwardly correct after the last update. Finally, if yous want to run a parallel copy of Mac OS X on a virtual machine, you too will need a working installation file of an older Mac OS X. Farther down nosotros'll explain where to become 1 and what problems you lot may face downward the route.

A list of all Mac Bone X versions

We'll be repeatedly referring to these Apple tree OS versions below, so it'southward good to know the basic macOS timeline.

Cheetah 10.0 Puma 10.1 Jaguar x.ii
Panther 10.3 Tiger 10.4 Leopard 10.5
Snow Leopard 10.half-dozen Lion 10.7 Mountain Panthera leo 10.8
Mavericks 10.9 Yosemite 10.ten El Capitan x.11
Sierra 10.12 High Sierra 10.xiii Mojave 10.fourteen
Catalina x.15

STEP 1. Ready your Mac for installation

Given your Mac isn't new and is filled with data, you lot volition probably demand plenty gratis infinite on your Mac. This includes not just space for the Os itself but also space for other applications and your user information. Ane more argument is that the free space on your disk translates into virtual memory so your apps have "fuel" to operate on. The chart below tells you how much costless space is needed.

Annotation, that it is recommended that you install OS on a clean drive. Adjacent, yous volition demand enough disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Partition. Here are some ideas to free up infinite on your drive:

  • Uninstall large unused apps
  • Empty Trash Bin and Downloads
  • Locate the biggest files on your figurer:

Go to Finder > All My Files > Arrange by size

Then you can move your space hoggers onto an external drive or a deject storage.

If y'all aren't comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, in that location are some nice automatic "room cleaners". Our favorite isCleanMyMac as information technology's most simple to utilise of all. It deletes system junk, old broken apps, and the residuum of subconscious junk on your drive.

CleanMyMac X - Smart Scan complete

Download CleanMyMacfor OS 10.4 - 10.eight (complimentary version)

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.nine (complimentary version)

Download CleanMyMacfor OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version)

STEP 2. Get a copy of Mac Bone X download

Normally, information technology is assumed that updating Os is a one-way road. That's why going back to a past Apple OS version is problematic. The main challenge is to download the Os installation file itself, because your Mac may already be running a newer version. If y'all succeed in downloading the Os installation, your next stride is to create a bootable USB or DVD then reinstall the Bone on your computer.

How to download older Mac Os 10 versions via the App Store

Mac operating system download


If you once had purchased an old version of Mac OS Ten from the App Store, open it and go to the Purchased tab. In that location you'll find all the installers you can download. However, it doesn't always piece of work that way. The purchased department lists simply those operating systems that yous had downloaded in the past. Merely here is the path to bank check it:

  1. Click the App Store icon.
  2. Click Purchases in the pinnacle carte.
  3. Scroll down to discover the preferred Bone 10 version.
  4. Click Download.

This method allows y'all to download Mavericks and Yosemite by logging with your Apple ID — only if you previously downloaded them from the Mac App Store.

Without App Store: Download Mac Os version as Apple Developer

If you are signed with an Apple Developer account, you tin get access to products that are no longer listed on the App Shop. If you lot desperately need a lower Bone Ten version build, consider creating a new Developer account amidst other options. The membership cost is $99/twelvemonth and provides a bunch of perks unavailable to ordinary users.

Nevertheless, proceed in mind that if you visit developer.apple tree.com/downloads, you tin merely find 10.3-x.half-dozen Os X operating systems there. Newer versions are not bachelor because starting Mac OS Ten Snow Leopard x.vii, the App Store has become the just source of updating Apple OS versions.

Purchase an older version of Mac operating system

Apple OS Versions

You can purchase a boxed or email version of past Mac OS X direct from Apple. Both will price you around $xx. For the reason of being rather antiquated, Snow Leopard and earlier Apple versions can just be installed from DVD.

Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard ten.6
Go an electronic mail copy of Lion 10.seven
Go an e-mail copy of Mount Lion 10.8

The electronic mail edition comes with a special download code y'all tin utilise for the Mac App Store. Notation, that to install the Panthera leo or Mountain Panthera leo, your Mac needs to be running Snow Leopard and so you can install the newer Bone on pinnacle of information technology.

How to get macOS El Capitan download

If you are wondering if you can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as it's possible also. But before your Mac can run El Capitan it has to be updated to OS 10 10.6.8. So, here are main steps you should accept:

1. Install Snowfall Leopard from install DVD.
2. Update to x.6.viii using Software Update.
3. Download El Capitan hither.

"I can't download an old version of Mac Os 10"

If you have a newer Mac, there is no physical selection to install Mac OS versions older than your current Mac model. For instance, if your MacBook was released in 2014, don't look it to run whatsoever OS released prior of that time, because older Apple Bone versions simply practise not include hardware drivers for your Mac.

Mac os x download

But equally information technology oft happens, workarounds are possible. At that place is withal a hazard to download the installation file if you take an access to a Mac (or virtual machine) running that operating system. For case, to go an installer for Lion, you may ask a friend who has King of beasts-operated Mac or, once again, set up a virtual machine running Lion. Then you will need to prepare an external drive to download the installation file using OS Ten Utilities.

After you've completed the download, the installer should launch automatically, but you lot tin can click Abolish and copy the file you lot need. Below is the detailed teaching how to do it.

STEP 3. Install older Bone Ten onto an external drive

The following method allows y'all to download Mac Os X Lion, Mount Lion, and Mavericks.

  1. Start your Mac holding down Command + R.
  2. Gear up a clean external drive (at least ten GB of storage).
  3. Within OS 10 Utilities, choose Reinstall Bone 10.
  4. Select external bulldoze every bit a source.
  5. Enter your Apple ID.
How to download old Mac OS X versions

Now the OS should beginning downloading automatically onto the external bulldoze. After the download is complete, your Mac volition prompt y'all to do a restart, simply at this point, yous should completely shut information technology downwards. Now that the installation file is "captured" onto your external drive, you can reinstall the Bone, this time running the file on your Mac.

  1. Boot your Mac from your standard bulldoze.
  2. Connect the external drive.
  3. Go to external bulldoze > Bone X Install Information.

Locate InstallESD.dmg disk image file — this is the file you lot need to reinstall Lion Bone X. The same steps are valid for Mountain Lion and Mavericks.

How to downgrade a Mac running afterwards macOS versions

If your Mac runs macOS Sierra x.12 or macOS High Sierra 10.xiii, it is possible to revert it to the previous organisation if you are not satisfied with the experience. Yous tin can exercise it either with Time Machine or by creating a bootable USB or external drive.

Teaching todowngrade from macOS Sierra

Instruction todowngrade from macOS High Sierra

Education todowngrade from macOS Mojave

Teaching to downgrade from macOS Catalina

Earlier you do it, the best advice is to back your Mac upward so your virtually important files stay intact. In addition to that, it makes sense to clean up your Mac from old arrangement junk files and awarding leftovers. The easiest way to do it is to run CleanMyMac X on your machine (download it for costless here).

Visit your local Apple Store to download older Bone 10 version

If none of the options to become older OS X worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple Shop. They should accept epitome installations going back to OS Leopard and earlier. You tin can also ask their assistance to create a bootable USB bulldoze with the installation file. And so here yous are. We hope this article has helped you to download an old version of Mac Os X. Below are a few more links you lot may discover interesting.