Macos El Capitan Installer
Dixie Schlatter
If your mac came with it pre-installed you may have to go the internet recovery or Recovery HD route, but that would entail wiping your hard drive in order to do the install. You could then migrate your user data from a Time Machine backup or similar.
More specific answers will require more specific information from you (it's generally a good idea/helpful to provide more information so that answers can be geared towards your situation and others in the same situation can benefit).
I tried the link a few times but my App Store did not open. Maybe it was a server issue on Apples side or maybe it helped already having opened the App Store. Anyway today the link lead me correctly to the El Capitan download in the App Store.
Update: After that I tried the link a few more times by directly clicking or by copy paste it into the URL-bar. Sometimes it worked but sometimes not. So it seems a matter of retrying until success. Just reloading the page with Cmd+R did not have the same success rate as clicking into the URL-bar and resubmit the request by hitting Return.
If you Mac is compatible with Sierra, then you cannot install El Capitan unless you had previously downloaded it. The version you tried to install is for those with Macs that cannot run Sierra or still have Snow Leopard installed. Since your Mac cannot run Snow Leopard either, there isn't a way for you to get El Capitan.
So one idea left would be to get an older Mac of a friend. Log in the App Store with your account. Download El Capitan. And finally have access to it via your purchases tab in your account from your newer Mac.
El Capitan will not come up in a keyword search. You need to switch to the Purchased tab and then manually scroll down the list and find it that way. In my case, I had installers in there going back to Lion.
Also note that once you you've downloaded it, you may still be unable to run it, since Apple doesn't let you revert directly to an older OS. You will need to create a bootable installer USB using Terminal:
the correct methods to obtain El Capitan are outlined in the above answers, via the Purchased tab. if however they are not working, you could find a public source, such as torrent and verify the Sha1 of the InstallESD.dmg against the link.
I just installed Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan on a Mac with Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite, despite the app store offering me only macOS 10.12 Sierra. My method was a variation on Pete's answer as edited from 1 Jan 2017.
I ran iTunes, confirmed that I was logged out there. (OK, this is a simplification. The first time through I didn't do this, but didn't have the OS install in my purchase history. I went through these steps a second time. The App Store refused to let me download again. I logged out of iTunes, which was logged in as a different user, and then the App Store let me download.)
On the Snow Leopard computer, I used Safari to visit the URL from Pete's answer, -x-el-capitan/id1147835434?mt=12 . The App Store appeared. It offered OS X El Capitan, release Sep 20, 2016, version 10.11.6. The description says, "this version of OS X El Capitan is for users running OS X Snow Leopard who would like to upgrade to macOS Sierra."
I clicked the download button. This finished up as an application, /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app. However, I did not have OS X El Capitan in my app store purchase history. (Clarification: after the second download started, I did have an "OS X El Capitan" entry in my purchase history on the Snow Leopard computer.)
Given the information in the question, the information Apple provides means currently that on Sierra and High Sierra accessing the link given will provide you the opportunity to download the El Capitan installer from the App Store.
The fact that this currently gives the error "not possible because your current system is newer" can only mean three things: 1. that there is a bug in recent versions of the App Store on Sierra or High Sierra, 2. that this policy has changed recently but the KB article doesn't reflect that change 3. that Apple simply lies on the above page which is quoted accurately here.
I am not allowed to comment yet, I cannot even up-vote, so I will reiterate Pwdr's first solution - "If you purchased it previously it will be in the App Store under the Purchased tab." Consider this an up-vote.
I also needed the El Capitan installer, and based on Pwdr's answer, I went to my App Store Purchased tab and found the installers for El Capitan, Mavericks, and Mountain Lion. I am downloading all of them.
This issue is a sore spot with me because I wanted to upgrade from Leopard to Lion years ago, but I had to first upgrade to Snow Leopard. The Apple store did not have Snow Leopard anymore, just Lion, and referred me instead to one of their "partners". Why does Apple expect a partner, like B.Buy, to provide better service than themselves? I ended up paying a premium at a Mac store for Snow Leopard ($50) that I used long enough to upgrade to Lion, and then to Mountain Lion.
Was trying to instal el capitan on my macbook , the installation starts and after a few minutes stops and a messaging saying the os x could'nt be install on the computer, please contact the software editor to get help.
hi ,iv tried updating to el capitan and i seem to be stuck on the install screen ,every time i turn the computer off i can't seem to get many options,how do i get out of it to change the date so it will hopefully install,thanks
The only solution that worked was complicated and klutzy: 1. find a computer with installed MacOS 10.11. 2. Clone the other Mac's HD on a USB disk with CarbonCopyCloner, making sure the clone is bootable (include a working copy of CCC in the process). 3. Clone the USB disk with CCC to the Mac you're trying to upgrade. 4. erase the original user's data and put in your own info.
Apple's response to the problem was highly unsatisfactory. I called their support number (I live in Italy), a representative answered from Greece. I explained the problem, they gave me a telephone appointment for the next day, and never called back. Baaaad, guys.
If you allow the system to loose the date & time it will revert to the default setting that's in its ROM. At that point you won't be able to install the OS as the installer is expecting the certificate it has and the systems date to be equal or newer than its date (not expired, just predated the window it is valid for). The certificate has a window it is valid for (a start and end date) if the systems date is outside of this window you can encounter problems.
When that message appears, go under disk utilities, click "terminal," and once that pops up, type "date" and hit enter. The date will probably appear as incorrect (mine was set at the year 2000). Type date again and then type in the correct date in the format MMDDHHYYYY (month, day, hour, year) and hit enter. Then try installing again. It worked for me!
@Samari Curbelo - This is not the correct answer! But, its close! Apple messed up the certificates on the newer macOS releases Sierra to Mojave. If you are trying to install something older you do need to mess with the data setting! But its not putting it to today 2020 You need to back date to the time point the OS was released. So that could be back in 2011 for Lion!
I fixed it by setting the system clock in terminal to 12-31-2015 using terminal once it was stuck in its upgrade loop, which allowed it to continue despite its expired certificate in the upgrade image. It resync'd the clock back to the normal time during the upgrade process.
Yes, Apple messed up the certificates on the newer macOS's. Here's the full story you've got an old macOS install image, it will probably stop working today Apple often lets the certificates expire to prod people to newer versions and/or newer hardware. Here the patched OS's:
Courtney click on the date and time in your task bar.> open date & time preferences > unlock it > turn off the automatic Apple time > roll the date back to a couple for months after the installer date. Now do your install, then reset your date and time.
I did my back up on an external drive. Wasn't getting any beach ball before and I got the el capitan on the apple website. My computer worked completly well before trying the installation.. I doubt it's a hard drive/IR problem
If you have a friend with a Mac you could try connecting it to yours via a FireWire cable and put your system in Target Mode. That way you can salvage your important files just to be on the safe side here onto an external HD.
I keep getting errors, so I set the time and date to today..... or in 2015, 2016... still getting errors... o seconds remaining.... error try again.... driving me nuts, I made a new post regarding this Installing El Capitan on a stubborn 2008 MacBook in 2024 and I am still struggling.... help.
This script reaches out directly to Apple and downloads all the pieces that form the macOS install app. At the end it will install to a blank dmg image. In the end you have a fresh macOS Install app in a .dmg!
After clicking Open I am presented with this message above. As you can see the App Store first searched my system and found that I already have macOS Mojave installer.app. Notice that it searches all locations, not just the Applications folder where the installer app normally is stored. It found the macOS Mojave Installer.app in a folder called test.
After checking the version number, I now know the macOS version is 10.14.0. We can find the build number inside the actual installer.app but knowing the version number is usually good enough unless you need a specific hardware build.
How do I download macOS High Serra 10.13? If searching High Sierra in the App Store comes up empty how can I download it? You have to visit the Apple Upgrading to High Sierra Support Page for the direct App Store link.
We are off to the races now! The first thing you will notice is that instead of downloading macOS Mojave Installer inside the App Store it opens Software Update. Software Update will search for the Installer and ask if you are sure you want to download the 6gb Mojave Installer. After clicking download you will get a new prompt for admin credentials to start the download (not to actually install yet). After the download completes you will finally have the latest macOS installer.app.
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