Where to download older versions of mac os

Best Apple Watch. Best iPad Cases. Best Portable Monitors. Best Gaming Keyboards. Best Drones. Best 4K TVs. Best iPhone 13 Cases.

Best Tech Gifts for Kids Aged Awesome PC Accessories. Best Linux Laptops. Best Bluetooth Trackers. Best eReaders. Best Gaming Monitors. Best Android Phones. Browse All News Articles. TikTok Samsung TV. Spotify Shuffle Play Button. Windows 11 Performance. Edge Shopping Features. Spotify Lyrics. Windows 11 Mute Keyboard Shortcut. Edge Buy Now Pay Later. The version of macOS that came with your Mac is the earliest version it can use.

For example, it might say that it's not compatible with this device or is too old to be opened on this version of macOS. To confirm compatibility before downloading, check the minimum hardware requirements:. Time Machine makes it simple, and other backup methods are also available. Safari uses these links to find the old installers in the App Store. On the face of it, running old versions of macOS on your Mac seems counterproductive.

After all, newer versions of the operating system have more features. They tend to get more updates too. And eventually, Apple stops supporting older editions of macOS — and that means no more security patches. But there are some good reasons to do it anyway. Older Macs often run better with earlier versions of macOS, for example. In situations like these, installing an old version of the operating system may be your best choice. In general, if you want to run an older version of macOS, it should work.

If your Mac appears in the list of supported models, then you should be able to downgrade macOS that version. Some of the newer macOS installers are available in the App store. To get versions before these, you need to download them without the App Store.

You might, for example, find people selling old installation discs on eBay. Also, be aware that some of these older downloads will come as a.

Then run the. But as it often happens, workarounds are possible. There is still a chance to download the installation file if you have an access to a Mac or virtual machine running that operating system. For example, to get an installer for Lion, you may ask a friend who has Lion-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 X Utilities.

Below is the detailed instruction how to do it. Now the OS should start downloading automatically onto the external drive. After the download is complete, your Mac will prompt you to do a restart, but at this point, you should completely shut it down.

Locate InstallESD. The same steps are valid for Mountain Lion and Mavericks. If your Mac runs macOS Sierra Instruction to downgrade from macOS Sierra. Instruction to downgrade from macOS High Sierra.

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Mojave. Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina. Before you do it, the best advice is to back your Mac up so your most important files stay intact. In addition to that, it makes sense to clean up your Mac from old system junk files and application leftovers.

The easiest way to do it is to run CleanMyMac X on your machine download it for free here.