So, you've decided to download an older version of Mac OS Ten. There are many reasons that could point y'all to this radical conclusion. To begin with, some of your apps may non be working properly (or simply crash) on newer operating systems. Too, you may take noticed your Mac'due south performance went down right afterward the terminal update. Finally, if y'all desire to run a parallel copy of Mac Bone X on a virtual motorcar, y'all likewise will need a working installation file of an older Mac OS X. Farther down nosotros'll explain where to go one and what problems you may face down the road.

A listing of all Mac OS X versions

We'll be repeatedly referring to these Apple Bone versions below, then it's good to know the bones macOS timeline.

Cheetah 10.0 Puma 10.1 Jaguar x.2
Panther x.3 Tiger 10.4 Leopard 10.v
Snow Leopard 10.6 Lion 10.7 Mount Panthera leo 10.8
Mavericks x.9 Yosemite 10.x El Capitan 10.11
Sierra 10.12 High Sierra 10.13 Mojave 10.fourteen
Catalina ten.fifteen

STEP 1. Prepare your Mac for installation

Given your Mac isn't new and is filled with data, yous volition probably demand enough free space on your Mac. This includes not merely space for the OS itself merely also infinite for other applications and your user information. One more statement is that the free space on your deejay translates into virtual memory so your apps take "fuel" to operate on. The chart below tells you how much gratis space is needed.

Note, that information technology is recommended that you install OS on a clean drive. Next, y'all will need enough disk infinite bachelor, for example, to create Recovery Partition. Here are some ideas to complimentary upwards space on your drive:

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

Go to Finder > All My Files > Arrange by size

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

If you aren't comfy with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic "room cleaners". Our favorite isCleanMyMac as information technology's nigh simple to use of all. It deletes system junk, erstwhile broken apps, and the residue of hidden junk on your drive.

CleanMyMac X - Smart Scan complete

Download CleanMyMacfor OS 10.iv - 10.8 (gratuitous version)

Download CleanMyMac for Bone 10.9 (gratis version)

Download CleanMyMacfor OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version)

Stride 2. Get a copy of Mac OS X download

Usually, it is assumed that updating Os is a one-style route. That's why going back to a by Apple OS version is problematic. The chief claiming is to download the Bone installation file itself, because your Mac may already be running a newer version. If you succeed in downloading the OS installation, your side by side stride is to create a bootable USB or DVD and then reinstall the Bone on your estimator.

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

Mac operating system download


If you once had purchased an old version of Mac OS 10 from the App Store, open information technology and become to the Purchased tab. There you'll notice all the installers you can download. However, information technology doesn't always work that way. The purchased department lists just those operating systems that you had downloaded in the past. But here is the path to check it:

  1. Click the App Store icon.
  2. Click Purchases in the top menu.
  3. Roll down to find the preferred Bone 10 version.
  4. Click Download.

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

Without App Store: Download Mac Bone version equally Apple Developer

If you are signed with an Apple Developer account, you can get access to products that are no longer listed on the App Shop. If yous desperately need a lower Os X version build, consider creating a new Developer account among other options. The membership cost is $99/year and provides a agglomeration of perks unavailable to ordinary users.

Nevertheless, keep in mind that if you lot visit developer.apple.com/downloads, you lot can only discover 10.three-ten.vi Bone X operating systems there. Newer versions are not available because starting Mac OS Ten Snow Leopard 10.7, the App Store has go the merely source of updating Apple OS versions.

Buy an older version of Mac operating system

Apple OS Versions

You can purchase a boxed or email version of past Mac OS X directly from Apple. Both will price yous effectually $20. For the reason of being rather blowsy, Snowfall Leopard and before Apple versions can but exist installed from DVD.

Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard 10.6
Become an email copy of Lion 10.seven
Get an electronic mail re-create of Mountain Lion x.8

The email edition comes with a special download lawmaking you can use for the Mac App Store. Note, that to install the Lion or Mountain Panthera leo, your Mac needs to exist running Snow Leopard then you can install the newer OS on top of information technology.

How to go macOS El Capitan download

If you are wondering if you can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as information technology'due south possible too. But before your Mac can run El Capitan it has to be updated to Os X ten.6.8. And then, hither are main steps you should accept:

1. Install Snowfall Leopard from install DVD.
two. Update to 10.6.8 using Software Update.
iii. Download El Capitan here.

"I can't download an sometime version of Mac OS X"

If you accept a newer Mac, in that location is no concrete option to install Mac OS versions older than your electric current Mac model. For example, if your MacBook was released in 2014, don't await information technology to run any OS released prior of that fourth dimension, considering older Apple Os versions just practice not include hardware drivers for your Mac.

Mac os x download

But as it oftentimes 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 organization. For example, to go an installer for Lion, you may inquire a friend who has Panthera leo-operated Mac or, once once again, set a virtual auto running Lion. And so you will need to set an external bulldoze to download the installation file using Os X Utilities.

After y'all've completed the download, the installer should launch automatically, but y'all can click Abolish and re-create the file you demand. Below is the detailed didactics how to exercise it.

Footstep 3. Install older Os X onto an external bulldoze

The post-obit method allows you to download Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks.

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

Now the Os should get-go downloading automatically onto the external drive. After the download is consummate, your Mac will prompt y'all to exercise a restart, but at this point, you should completely shut it down. Now that the installation file is "captured" onto your external drive, yous can reinstall the OS, this fourth dimension running the file on your Mac.

  1. Boot your Mac from your standard drive.
  2. Connect the external drive.
  3. Go to external drive > Os X Install Data.

Locate InstallESD.dmg deejay image file — this is the file you need to reinstall King of beasts OS 10. 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 x.12 or macOS High Sierra ten.13, it is possible to revert it to the previous organization if you are not satisfied with the feel. You can do information technology either with Fourth dimension Motorcar or past creating a bootable USB or external bulldoze.

Instruction todowngrade from macOS Sierra

Instruction todowngrade from macOS High Sierra

Instruction todowngrade from macOS Mojave

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina

Before y'all exercise it, the best advice is to dorsum your Mac up and so your nearly important files stay intact. In addition to that, information technology makes sense to clean up your Mac from old system junk files and application leftovers. The easiest style to do it is to run CleanMyMac Ten on your machine (download it for free here).

Visit your local Apple Store to download older OS X version

If none of the options to go older Bone Ten worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple Shop. They should have image installations going back to Os Leopard and earlier. You tin likewise inquire their aid to create a bootable USB drive with the installation file. So hither you are. We promise this article has helped you to download an old version of Mac OS X. Below are a few more links you may observe interesting.