So, yous've decided to download an older version of Mac OS Ten. In that location are many reasons that could point you to this radical decision. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or merely crash) on newer operating systems. Also, you may have noticed your Mac'southward performance went down right after the last update. Finally, if you lot want to run a parallel copy of Mac OS Ten on a virtual machine, you too volition demand a working installation file of an older Mac Os 10. Further downwards nosotros'll explain where to get one and what problems you may face downward the road.

A list of all Mac OS X versions

Nosotros'll be repeatedly referring to these Apple Os versions beneath, so it'southward good to know the basic macOS timeline.

Cheetah 10.0 Puma 10.1 Jaguar 10.2
Panther 10.3 Tiger 10.4 Leopard 10.5
Snowfall Leopard ten.vi Lion 10.7 Mountain Lion x.eight
Mavericks 10.nine Yosemite 10.10 El Capitan 10.11
Sierra 10.12 High Sierra 10.xiii Mojave ten.14
Catalina 10.15

Step ane. Prepare your Mac for installation

Given your Mac isn't new and is filled with data, you will probably need enough free space on your Mac. This includes not just space for the OS itself but likewise space for other applications and your user information. I more than argument is that the gratis infinite on your disk translates into virtual memory so your apps have "fuel" to operate on. The chart beneath tells you how much complimentary space is needed.

Note, that it is recommended that you install OS on a clean bulldoze. Side by side, you lot volition need enough disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Segmentation. Hither are some ideas to complimentary upward 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 yous can move your infinite hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage.

If y'all aren't comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some prissy automatic "room cleaners". Our favorite isCleanMyMac as it's nigh elementary to use of all. Information technology deletes organization junk, old broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.

CleanMyMac X - Smart Scan complete

Download CleanMyMacfor Os 10.4 - 10.8 (free version)

Download CleanMyMac for Bone 10.9 (free version)

Download CleanMyMacfor OS 10.10 - 10.xiv (free version)

STEP 2. Get a copy of Mac OS X download

Normally, information technology is assumed that updating OS is a one-fashion road. That'due south 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 you succeed in downloading the OS installation, your next step is to create a bootable USB or DVD and so reinstall the Bone on your calculator.

How to download older Mac OS X versions via the App Store

Mac operating system download


If you lot in one case had purchased an old version of Mac OS X from the App Shop, open it and go to the Purchased tab. There yous'll find all the installers y'all can download. Withal, it doesn't always work that style. The purchased section lists only those operating systems that yous had downloaded in the past. Only here is the path to check information technology:

  1. Click the App Store icon.
  2. Click Purchases in the top menu.
  3. Scroll down to find the preferred Os X version.
  4. Click Download.

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

Without App Shop: Download Mac Os version as Apple Developer

If you are signed with an Apple tree Developer account, you tin get admission to products that are no longer listed on the App Store. If yous desperately need a lower Bone Ten version build, consider creating a new Programmer account amongst other options. The membership toll is $99/year and provides a bunch of perks unavailable to ordinary users.

Nevertheless, go on in heed that if you visit programmer.apple.com/downloads, you can only find x.three-x.6 OS Ten operating systems in that location. Newer versions are not available because starting Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.7, the App Shop has become the only source of updating Apple tree OS versions.

Purchase an older version of Mac operating arrangement

Apple OS Versions

You tin can purchase a boxed or email version of by Mac OS X directly from Apple. Both will cost yous around $twenty. For the reason of being rather antiquated, Snow Leopard and before Apple versions can only exist installed from DVD.

Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard ten.6
Get an email re-create of King of beasts x.7
Get an email copy of Mount Lion x.viii

The e-mail edition comes with a special download code you can utilize for the Mac App Store. Note, that to install the Panthera leo or Mountain Lion, your Mac needs to exist running Snow Leopard and so yous can install the newer Os on top of it.

How to get macOS El Capitan download

If you are wondering if you lot can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as it's possible too. Merely before your Mac can run El Capitan it has to be updated to Os Ten 10.vi.8. So, hither are principal steps y'all should accept:

1. Install Snow Leopard from install DVD.
ii. Update to 10.half-dozen.8 using Software Update.
3. Download El Capitan hither.

"I can't download an former version of Mac Bone X"

If you accept a newer Mac, there is no physical pick to install Mac Bone versions older than your current Mac model. For instance, if your MacBook was released in 2014, don't expect it to run whatever Bone released prior of that time, considering older Apple OS versions simply do not include hardware drivers for your Mac.

Mac os x download

Simply equally it often happens, workarounds are possible. At that place 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 King of beasts, you may ask a friend who has King of beasts-operated Mac or, one time once more, fix a virtual car running Panthera leo. Then you volition need to fix an external drive to download the installation file using Os X Utilities.

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

Step 3. Install older Bone X onto an external drive

The following method allows you to download Mac OS 10 King of beasts, Mountain King of beasts, and Mavericks.

  1. Start your Mac holding downwardly Control + R.
  2. Set a clean external drive (at least 10 GB of storage).
  3. Inside OS Ten Utilities, choose Reinstall OS X.
  4. Select external drive as a source.
  5. Enter your Apple tree ID.
How to download old Mac OS X versions

Now the Bone should beginning downloading automatically onto the external drive. Later on the download is complete, your Mac will prompt y'all to practise a restart, merely at this signal, you lot should completely shut it down. At present that the installation file is "captured" onto your external drive, you lot can reinstall the Os, this time running the file on your Mac.

  1. Kick your Mac from your standard drive.
  2. Connect the external drive.
  3. Go to external drive > Os Ten Install Information.

Locate InstallESD.dmg disk image file — this is the file you need to reinstall Panthera leo OS X. The same steps are valid for Mountain King of beasts and Mavericks.

How to downgrade a Mac running later macOS versions

If your Mac runs macOS Sierra x.12 or macOS High Sierra 10.13, information technology is possible to revert information technology to the previous organization if yous are not satisfied with the experience. You tin can do it either with Time Machine or by creating a bootable USB or external drive.

Instruction todowngrade from macOS Sierra

Instruction todowngrade from macOS Loftier Sierra

Instruction todowngrade from macOS Mojave

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina

Before yous do it, the best communication is to back your Mac upward so your most important files stay intact. In improver to that, it makes sense to clean upwardly your Mac from old system junk files and application leftovers. The easiest way to practice it is to run CleanMyMac X on your machine (download information technology for free hither).

Visit your local Apple Store to download older Os X version

If none of the options to get older Bone X worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple tree Shop. They should accept paradigm installations going dorsum to OS Leopard and earlier. You can too ask their help to create a bootable USB bulldoze with the installation file. And then hither you are. We hope this article has helped you to download an one-time version of Mac Bone X. Below are a few more links yous may find interesting.