Now there are a lot of options that can be found through here, especially with the releases of 10.15 “Catalina” and OS 12 “Big Sur”.

But what happens if you can’t seem to get that to work? Is there another way to check, download, and install updates? There is in fact! It comes through our friend the Mac Terminal. Earlier versions of Mac OS would have you download updates through the “Updates” panel in the Mac App Store, and still even older versions had a dedicated app for that. You go to the System Preferences app (now Settings on Mac OS Ventura) and hit “Software Update” and see what you’ve got. Do not close the lid or power off your Mac until installation is complete.Most of us are pretty familiar with updating Mac OS. During installation, your Mac may restart, or display a blank screen for a short time.In the Updates window, locate the line that says Catalina.In the App Store, on the left side of the window, select Updates.In the menu bar, click the Apple icon to open the Apple menu.Do not close the lid or power off your Mac until installation is complete.Īfter you've gone through the preparation steps, you need to download and install the latest version of macOS. During installation, your Mac may restart, or display a blank screen short time.When this process is complete, an installer application named Install OS X El Capitan is placed in your Applications folder.Follow the on-screen instructions to perform a compatibility check, and prepare for installation.

In the archive, double-click InstallMacOSX.pkg.

Double-click the downloaded archive, InstallMacOSX.dmg, to view its contents.

The file size is 5.8 GB, so the download may take a while, depending on the speed of your Internet connection.

Download the El Capitan installer from Apple.

If your Mac is running OS X Lion or Mountain Lion, follow these steps to upgrade to El Capitan. If your Mac is running Mavericks or newer, you can proceed to upgrade to Catalina. * If your Mac is running OS X Lion or Mountain Lion, you must upgrade to El Capitan before you can upgrade to Catalina. The following versions of OS X and macOS can be upgraded to macOS Catalina. If anything goes wrong, you can restore your Mac to its previous state. Back up your dataĪlthough not required, we strongly recommend you back up your Mac before proceeding with an upgrade. However, you can still try to upgrade to El Capitan. If your Mac is not on this list, you cannot upgrade to Catalina.

How do mac update