So, you've decided to download an older version of Mac Os X. At that place are many reasons that could indicate you lot to this radical determination. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or merely crash) on newer operating systems. Also, y'all may have noticed your Mac'due south functioning went down correct after the final update. Finally, if you want to run a parallel copy of Mac Os X on a virtual machine, you also will demand a working installation file of an older Mac Os X. Further down we'll explain where to get i and what issues y'all may face downwardly the road.

A list of all Mac OS 10 versions

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

Cheetah 10.0 Puma 10.ane Jaguar x.2
Panther 10.3 Tiger 10.four Leopard 10.v
Snow Leopard 10.half-dozen Lion 10.7 Mountain Lion 10.8
Mavericks ten.9 Yosemite ten.10 El Capitan 10.11
Sierra 10.12 High Sierra 10.13 Mojave 10.fourteen
Catalina 10.xv

Pace 1. Gear up your Mac for installation

Given your Mac isn't new and is filled with data, y'all will probably need plenty free space on your Mac. This includes not just space for the Os itself but too infinite for other applications and your user data. One more statement is that the complimentary space on your disk translates into virtual retention so your apps have "fuel" to operate on. The chart below tells yous how much free space is needed.

Note, that it is recommended that you install Bone on a clean drive. Adjacent, you will need plenty disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Sectionalization. Here are some ideas to free up space on your bulldoze:

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

Go to Finder > All My Files > Arrange past size

Then yous tin motility your space hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage.

If yous aren't comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic "room cleaners". Our favorite isCleanMyMac as information technology's most unproblematic to use of all. It deletes system junk, former broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.

CleanMyMac X - Smart Scan complete

Download CleanMyMacfor Os ten.iv - 10.viii (gratis version)

Download CleanMyMac for Os 10.ix (free version)

Download CleanMyMacfor Os 10.10 - ten.14 (gratuitous version)

STEP 2. Get a copy of Mac Bone Ten download

Ordinarily, it is assumed that updating Os is a one-style road. That'southward why going dorsum to a past Apple OS version is problematic. The main challenge is to download the OS installation file itself, considering your Mac may already be running a newer version. If you succeed in downloading the Bone installation, your next step is to create a bootable USB or DVD and so reinstall the OS on your computer.

How to download older Mac OS 10 versions via the App Shop

Mac operating system download


If y'all once had purchased an old version of Mac Os X from the App Store, open it and go to the Purchased tab. There you'll find all the installers you lot can download. Even so, information technology doesn't ever work that way. The purchased section lists only those operating systems that you had downloaded in the past. But here is the path to bank check it:

  1. Click the App Store icon.
  2. Click Purchases in the top menu.
  3. Scroll downwardly to discover the preferred OS X version.
  4. Click Download.

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

Without App Shop: Download Mac OS version every bit Apple Developer

If yous are signed with an Apple Developer business relationship, you lot can get admission to products that are no longer listed on the App Store. If you desperately need a lower Bone 10 version build, consider creating a new Developer account among other options. The membership price is $99/year and provides a bunch of perks unavailable to ordinary users.

Yet, keep in heed that if y'all visit developer.apple.com/downloads, you can but discover ten.3-ten.half-dozen Bone 10 operating systems there. Newer versions are non available because starting Mac Os X Snow Leopard x.seven, the App Store has become the only source of updating Apple OS versions.

Purchase an older version of Mac operating system

Apple OS Versions

Y'all tin can purchase a boxed or email version of by Mac OS X directly from Apple. Both volition cost you around $20. For the reason of being rather blowsy, Snow Leopard and earlier Apple versions can but be installed from DVD.

Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard 10.six
Become an e-mail re-create of Panthera leo 10.7
Get an email copy of Mountain Panthera leo 10.8

The electronic mail edition comes with a special download code you can employ for the Mac App Store. Note, that to install the Lion or Mount Lion, your Mac needs to be running Snowfall Leopard and then yous tin install the newer Bone on meridian of information technology.

How to become macOS El Capitan download

If yous are wondering if you can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as it'south possible too. Merely earlier your Mac can run El Capitan information technology has to be updated to OS X 10.vi.eight. So, here are chief steps yous should take:

1. Install Snowfall Leopard from install DVD.
2. Update to 10.6.viii using Software Update.
3. Download El Capitan here.

"I can't download an old version of Mac Bone Ten"

If yous accept a newer Mac, there is no concrete option to install Mac Bone versions older than your electric current Mac model. For case, if your MacBook was released in 2014, don't expect information technology to run whatever Bone released prior of that time, considering older Apple Os versions simply practise not include hardware drivers for your Mac.

Mac os x download

But as it often happens, workarounds are possible. There is withal a gamble to download the installation file if you have an access to a Mac (or virtual machine) running that operating system. For case, to become an installer for Panthera leo, y'all may ask a friend who has Lion-operated Mac or, once again, gear up a virtual automobile running Panthera leo. Then you will need to prepare an external drive to download the installation file using Bone Ten Utilities.

Afterward you've completed the download, the installer should launch automatically, merely you can click Cancel and copy the file you lot need. Below is the detailed instruction how to do it.

Stride 3. Install older OS 10 onto an external drive

The following method allows yous to download Mac Os 10 Lion, Mount Lion, and Mavericks.

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

At present the Os should start downloading automatically onto the external bulldoze. After the download is complete, your Mac will prompt yous to do a restart, but at this point, you should completely shut it downwardly. Now that the installation file is "captured" onto your external drive, you lot tin reinstall the Os, this time running the file on your Mac.

  1. Kicking your Mac from your standard bulldoze.
  2. Connect the external bulldoze.
  3. Get to external drive > OS X Install Data.

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

How to downgrade a Mac running later macOS versions

If your Mac runs macOS Sierra 10.12 or macOS High Sierra x.13, it is possible to revert it to the previous system if you are not satisfied with the experience. You tin practice it either with Time Machine or by creating a bootable USB or external drive.

Instruction todowngrade from macOS Sierra

Instruction todowngrade from macOS High Sierra

Instruction todowngrade from macOS Mojave

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina

Before you do it, the best communication is to dorsum your Mac up so your near important files stay intact. In addition to that, information technology makes sense to clean up your Mac from old arrangement junk files and application leftovers. The easiest way to do information technology is to run CleanMyMac Ten on your motorcar (download information technology for free here).

Visit your local Apple Shop to download older Os 10 version

If none of the options to get older Os X worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple tree Store. They should have epitome installations going back to Os Leopard and earlier. You can as well ask their assistance to create a bootable USB drive with the installation file. So hither yous are. Nosotros hope this commodity has helped you to download an old version of Mac Os 10. Beneath are a few more links you may find interesting.