If you want to equip your old Apple Mac, iMac or MacBook with its original operating system or if you want to get an old collector's item back up and running after repairs, you need an appropriate installer. The installation file for the Mac OS X system or the macOS version is of course available on the Internet. From a recent dialogue with a reader, however, I know that some users end up looking for an installer on dubious sites or fall for fraudsters on eBay. That's why I've put together a reputable download list for installers for old macOS and Mac OS X versions in this post.
Update 20.05.2023: I came across Apple's own page listing downloads from OS X 10.7 Lion to macOS 13 Ventura. Here you can find the download overview: https://support.apple.com/de-de/HT211683 (End of update)
Chapter in this post:
Background to the Mac OS X Installer Download List
A reader recently asked me about a macOS High Sierra installer. I still had the El Capitan and the Sierra Installer on the disk, but of all things High Sierra no longer. He then made an attempt to download it from a shady website, which turned out to be a virus thrower. A second attempt was to order a DVD on eBay, but here was only a self-burned DVD that was not even bootable for nine euros. Now I have told him that I am him with DiskMakerX make a bootable medium and one of it ISO generate. I'll send it to him and he can then burn a bootable DVD for his Mac on his PC.
Download installers from old macOS and OS X versions
If you are also looking for old macOS versions, you will find a list of downloads here. It takes you directly to Apple's Mac App Store, the Apple online shop or the developer area. Because in addition to more recent macOS versions, which are available free of charge in the App Store, others are only available for face value in the store and others only as beta builds for developers. But you get the security that no viruses or Trojans, ransomware, or other malware is included in the download.
Here is the Mac OS X and macOS Installer download list:
- 10.14 Mojave: https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/macos-mojave/id1398502828?mt=12
- 10.13 High Sierra: https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/macos-high-sierra/id1246284741?mt=12
- 10.12 Sierras: https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/macos-sierra/id1127487414?mt=12
- 10.11 El Capitan: https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/os-x-el-capitan/id1147835434?mt=12
- 10.10:XNUMX Yosemite: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id675248567?mt=12 ("This app is currently not available in your country or region.")
10.9 Mavericks (beta versions):https://developer.apple.com/download/more/(unavailable)- 10.8 Mountain Lion: https://www.apple.com/de/shop/product/D6377ZM/A/os-x-mountain-lion
- 10.7 Lions: https://www.apple.com/de/shop/product/D6106ZM/A/os-x-lion
- 10.6 Snow Leopard: https://www.apple.com/de/shop/product/MC573D/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard
- 10.5 Leopard (beta versions): https://developer.apple.com/download/more/
- 10.4 Tiger: no longer available
- 10.3 Panther: no longer available
- 10.2 Jaguar: no longer available
- 10.1 Puma: no longer available
- 10.0 Cheetah: no longer available
(As of March 14, 2019; iTunes links can independently open the App Store on Apple Mac, iMac and MacBook)
Your questions and problems with Apple products
You are welcome to send me your questions about and problems with your Apple products. I will then try to help you solve the problem. If the topic - like the installers for old Mac OS X and macOS versions - could also affect other readers, then I'll make a public contribution in addition to personal advice. So everyone benefits from your request. A win-win situation that also brings more serious and tested Apple knowledge to the Internet;)
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Jens has been running the blog since 2012. He appears as Sir Apfelot for his readers and helps them with problems of a technical nature. In his free time he drives electric unicycles, takes photos (preferably with his iPhone, of course), climbs around in the Hessian mountains or hikes with the family. His articles deal with Apple products, news from the world of drones or solutions for current bugs.
I always keep the latest versions.
Any newer hardware (at least from 2012) can pull the original OS over WLAN. It even worked on my old Air. I didn't feel like creating a boot medium. It worked well with WiFi.
When installing very old versions, you have to make sure that the certificate is still valid. I've had to set the date on the calculator to an older date a few times.
Yes, that's right! Thanks for the hint. An acquaintance once said this to me who had problems installing macOS. He then simply put the date in the area in which the installer was created (Call file info via CMD + I!) and then set it back to the "normal" date after the installation. It worked for him too!
Thanks for the list of links, very helpful. What have I been looking for installer ...
I recently bought an old iBook G3, unfortunately without any installation media.
Is there a way to get Mac OS Tiger (10.4) somehow? Neither EBey nor Amazon have what I need.
It would be a shame to just give the device away, otherwise it would run perfectly ...
Sorry Miro if I read the first one now, but I was looking for a solution for El Capitan and now I see your message.
If it's still up to date, I still have a version of Tiger left.
Hello Alex, I might need a tiger version
how can i download el capitain on a mojave macbook? need it for an old imac to install it on an ssd, when i go to mojave to load el captain it only looks for updates for mojave ...
Hello Chris! I just tried it. You just go to the link above and download the system there. At least it works for me (on the MacBook Pro 2017 with Mojave).
Hello, unfortunately he always calls up the system settings here and says I'm up to date, it used to be done by pressing the ALT key ..
Is there anything new today?
no longer works with mac, you can also read it online ... apple has slowly become a joke too
Hi Chris! I can not confirm. Just two weeks ago I downloaded an El Capitan installer to a reader with my MacBook Pro 2017 and macOS Mojave. It works without any problems ... if it doesn't work for you, you have to look for the error. It definitely works for me and others ...
Unfortunately I have to confirm Chris' message. I too can't download the "old installers" with Mojave (10.14.4 nor) and Catalina.
And for an old iMac I would actually need Yosemite, or at least El Capitan.
Hello Thorsten! Yes, it's a shame... Apple seems to be taking them off the net one by one. I'll email you directly to "solve" the problem. ;-)
Unfortunately, you can no longer find Mavericks under the developer downloads. I can't find any other source for it either.
Right. I just checked it again and it's no longer there. I've changed the entry at the top of the article accordingly. Thanks for the hint!
Hi, I'm looking for an installer file for MAC OS X Lion (on a MacBook Pro 13,3″ late 2011), the link has now become a paid one. Unfortunately, the AppleStore etc no longer recognizes my MacBook, which is now probably in the "vintage" status. I could still access my parents' early 15,5 MacBook Pro 2011″. But I can't create a bootable stick here. The question now is how I can get the installer file or create a stick to get the 13,3″ running again. Can someone help me?
Hallo,
does your problem still exist or how did you get it solved? I have exactly the same problem.
Can't you just get mountain Lion from the boot menu? It works for me if no answer again then I'll send you a link with mountain lion :)
Beware, pirated copy! Mountain Lion still has to be bought. This works out here via the App Store.
Hi,
are there also left for the server extension from Lion?
Sorry, I have nothing to offer. Unfortunately, Apple is also gradually removing the other files.
Unfortunately I have the following problem. With a Mojave installation, my system runs very unevenly - it tugs and tugs everywhere.
I would like to switch back to my captain, I am currently writing about an El Capitan 10.11.6 - unfortunately I cannot download the file that is called up in the app store above.
The error message is "Your purchase could not be completed" and this version of OSX 10.11 cannot be installed on this computer. But I need exactly this file :(
Hi Peter! Don't you have a backup of your old system? Or do you maybe know someone who could drag the El Capitan installation onto a USB stick? You could then boot with that and flatten the Mojave. Otherwise it will probably not work ...
@ Peter: with which operating system did you buy your Mac? This is the oldest possible system for the computer. The computer can pull this for itself when it is set up again. I've done this twice already. It's been too long, however, that I could remember details.
What exactly is your “tweak and tweak”?
Yes, that's right ... you could try the recovery partition: hold down CMD + R when restarting. Then it would have to boot in recovery mode. But I think you can only reinstall the currently installed system, right?!? Well, Peter should try it out.
This installs the original system. A strange error message appears if the WLAN password has not been entered. Then it takes quite a while for the system to download.
I even tried that tonight, the installation of Mountain Lion should take 7 hours - after about half the installation simply stopped and I could only restart. I could even make the installation DVD myself using another Mac, but I need the file and I can't get it downloaded from the link above :(
Ok I understand! I'm sure someone still has an El Capitan installer file flying around somewhere. : D
Is your problem still current? I came across this page through a search in connection with El Capitan and only now read your message. I would have El Capitan available!
hey sir appleot,
it's great that you are trying so hard for us. Has become really rare ... people who do good without financial interest.
Thanks a lot for this :-)
My Macbook Pro from 2012 no longer wanted to recognize the original hard drive and I thought, I'll buy an SSD right away and now I've been playing around with it for a week :-)
I practice a little more and if I am about to despair, I would be happy if I could get in touch with you too ...
Greetings from the Allgäu
Gerrit
Hello Gerrit! Thanks for the kind words, but financially I'm not completely without interest. I'm trying to gradually blog enough about affiliate stuff that I can devote more time to the blog and less to my "real" work. The advice is of course free of charge. And if the hard drives don't work for you, please let us know. I try to help if I can! :D
… Unfortunately all download links seem to be offline, not only in the German store but also in the us store. Does anyone know any alternatives?
Hello Stefan! In that case I would recommend the article that explains how to load the old images via terminal at Apple.
Hi Jens,
thanks for the tip.
Unfortunately, only 10.13.6, 10.14.6 and 10.15.4 can currently be loaded this way. (do not copy the $ character into the terminal)
Older versions now only work with the recovery function.
The disadvantage is, of course, that you need a recovery partition with the desired system because you only have to reinstall the same system.
Is there an easy way to collect different recovery partitions on one disk?
I will also try the trick of reactivating old installation images that have already been saved by falsifying the computer date. Is there any way I can safely make my saved installation images available to others?
Hello Stefan! Ok, I didn't know that… of course, it's not that practical. I also have a collection of installation images, but I wouldn't make them publicly available. Apple certainly doesn't like that because you still had to buy old versions. But if a friend needs a DMG file, you can safely give it to them.
Oh my god apple
HELLO SIR APPLE,
I STILL HAVE AN OLD IMAC THAT NO LONGER HAS AN OS AND I CANNOT UPLOAD OS THROUGH THE MAC. CAN I PLAY AN OS (SIERRA…) ON THE BUILT-IN DVD DRIVE AND WHERE CAN I GET IT. IF I FOLLOW YOUR LINKS AND TRY TO LOAD THE OLD OS (WITH TODAY'S MACBOOKS), I ONLY GET INFO THAT THE OS IS NOT AVAILABLE AND CANNOT BE LOADED. HOW CAN I GET AN OS DVD AND WHERE?
Hello Leo! Do you have any idea what kind of iMac you have? Sometimes you can find a serial number on the back or when you look at the bottom of the screen. With this I could determine which model you have and which macOS is still running. Please do not post the serial number publicly as a comment. You can find my email address in the legal notice. LG
Hello dear community, I have the problem with a used iMac 27 inch, end of 2009. I then wanted to set it up again because I had mistakenly deleted the disk. Apple support couldn't help me. Luckily I still took pictures of the system. It had Mavericks 10.9.5 on it, but unfortunately that is no longer available in the App Store and I can no longer load it on the deleted iMac. (Folder with a question mark) Now I only had the option to create a bootable stick with El Capitan on my company Mac. I tried to install this on my Mac at home, but I got an error message. "OS X could not be installed on your computer" No suitable packages found for installation. Contact the manufacturer of the software. LG
Hello Heinrich! Yes, the message is a known problem. The following procedure usually helps:
1. Disconnect the Mac from the Internet (WLAN / LAN)
2. Set an older system time via the terminal, for example with this command: date 0907164312 (to a date of 2012)
If you like to read more about it, I have here the right contribution for you.
Feel free to get in touch if you have had success / failure.
Good day,
Is it really the case that you cannot download Mojave under Catalina?
MacBook Pro 16 ″ 2019, MacOS 10.15.7
The message: Update not found. The required Mac OS version is not available.
Greetings, Fritz
Hello Fritz! As I understand it, this is not related to the system, but to your Mac. The 16-inch MacBook Pro never came with Mojave, but with Catalina as the lowest macOS. Accordingly, you can no longer install anything lower on this Mac. That is the statement from various readers and Apple Support. One of my readers did it with a trick, but unfortunately I forgot how he did it. :(
Thanks Jens.
I just wanted to create a “bootable” USB stick. For no reason, just like that.
Greetings, Fritz
Ah, ok ... but if you can't load it, it's hard to get it on a stick. I think from Big Sur on, bootable sticks are always heavier anyway. I would rather do a 1: 1 backup on an external hard drive and, if necessary, you can then boot from it.
1: 1 backup. So what is that? I do TimeMachine-
Greetings, Fritz
Hello Fritz! This is basically an exact copy of your hard drive. Time Machine makes an incremental backup of files. This means that you have different old versions of all your data available to restore them. But you cannot boot from it. For this you make a backup every now and then, which is also bootable. And you can use software like Carbon Copy Cloner or superduper! use. How that works exactly - I have to write an article about that. : D
Hallo,
I bought a used iMac a year ago.
It worked wonderfully until an OS update came up and I made the mistake of clicking on it. After the installation, the screen only showed green stripes.
Now I only have Windows computers because it was my first attempt in the Mac world and couldn't download the operating system with it.
Unfortunately, I can't find a type designation or serial number anywhere on the iMac either. I only know that the High Sierra was installed.
Now the iMac has been unused in the corner for a year and I'm annoyed because it cost more than a current Windows computer when used.
I let myself be infected by enthusiastic Apple users and then it was a flop. Does anyone have any advice on what I can do?
Best regards,
Markus
Hi Markus! But you were really unlucky. I've been using Apple computers for two decades and have never had a case where the update paralyzed the Mac. But well, it can happen ... I'm sorry it hit you. My first attempt would be to see if the Mac can boot from Internet Recovery. To do this, switch it on at the back and then press the CMD + OPTION + SHIFT + R buttons immediately after the switch on. Then it should take a while (hold the buttons down until something happens on the screen!) And a globe appears. This means that it will now get the system from the Internet with which it was delivered. Now you can follow the installation and hopefully you will have a working iMac again afterwards. If you managed to do that, please contact me again. Then we can try the update again and we'll find out what kind of model you have and how you can get it faster. LG, Jens
Hi Jens,
does OPTION mean the ctrl key?
I tried the combination, but then the screen errors came anyway and I could only weakly see the Mac character in the middle and a bar that ran up to halfway and then stopped.
LG Markus
Hi Markus! Option is the ALT key as well ... with this symbol: ⌥ Do you have one?
Hello Jens, key found. Hooray, picture ok. But no globe, immediately Apple sign and the bar ran through and now I have the "Password" window.
Looked good at first. After entering the password it looks normal. The screen freezes after about a minute.
No more reaction to mouse or keyboard.
LG Markus
Hi Markus! Then you probably got into the login as normal. Did you press and hold the buttons immediately after switching on?
Hi Jens,
now I've tried it 3 times. The third time I even pressed the buttons and then let them turn on. It always runs into the normal login and hangs up shortly afterwards.
to despair. Keyboard works but then tried the password.
LG Markus
Hi Markus! Is it a pretty old Mac? So 7-8 years and older? Then he may not yet know Internet Recovery ... What happens if you hold down CMD + R after switching on? Please do not press before you switch it on. Then he doesn't get that. : D
Hello Jens, it is quite possible that he is so old. With the key combination he starts the MAC utilities. LG Markus
Hi Markus! But you're in the right place with the utilities. There is also “Reinstall macOS” in the list. You'd have to let that go through ... maybe it'll work again.
Hello Jens, I tried. However, nothing has improved. Still the same graphics problems.
Hi Markus! Then I would only have the idea to delete SMC RAM and so on. You can find the instructions for this here . I would delete them all. But if that doesn't help, I'm also overwhelmed. Then you could at most times the guys from Sadagian ask. Some of them help quite well on the phone, because they know all the error symptoms by heart.
Hello Jens, the SMC RAM delete did not work either.
I was advised to reinstall the original operating system using a USB stick or DVD. I just don't know where to get it and how to find out which version to look for.
Do you have a tip for me?
LG Markus
Hi Markus! I don't know how old your Mac is, but if it knows Internetrecovery, then you can do this: right after restarting, hold these keys down: CMD + ALT + R (the keys can also be Apple + Option + R) . The Mac will then install the system with which it was delivered.
Mac OS Catalina: https://support.apple.com/de-de/HT201372
Thanks for the addition!
Good evening Jens :)
I read through all the comments, but didn't find anything suitable -
I bought a used MBA a1237 without HDD a few days ago, I have already ordered an SSD drive.
Now I have read in several forums that the Mac OS X Lion should not run well, and am now looking for the installation file for Snow Leopard, since it is said to have been the original operating system from the early 2008s.
Unfortunately I can't find it anywhere! It's desperate, and I don't have a second Mac, just a netbook with Windows 7.
Or does the Macbook possibly have a flash memory with which the operating system can be loaded again? Unfortunately the a1237 has no internet recovery and no drive, how can I solve this? I just don't look through it anymore and try to muddle through there, I'm grateful for every tip
Best regards,
Sabine
Hello Sabine! Unfortunately, I don't have a system older than macOS El Capitan. The maximum OS X for your MacBook Air 2008 (it's the very first model!) Is unfortunately OS X Lion 10.7.5. So I would leave it on.
Nothing more is available from this list, unfortunately you have to rely on Apple Itunes. That is really a shame.
lg. Christian
If anyone knows how to get to High Sierra, then I would ask for a hint. It's a pity that Apple just lets things like that die. Well .. it’s for sales. They want us to buy new equipment. Brutally
Hello Chris! I would AnymacOS recommend. The software downloads all macOS versions from High Sierra including and then even builds a boot stick for you. Should actually solve your problem. : D
Hi,
is there any reputable source for jaguar 10.2.8? I want to use it to install and run Linotype scanning software on an old G4.
Regards
Gerhard
Look here at archive.org there seems to be an ISO that can be used to create the CD.
Hi all,
I have a Mac with Mac OS X Catania 10.15.4 installed. Now I have Adobe CSS4 which only works on Leopard 10.5.4. runs. Does anyone have an idea how I can get the CSS4 to work again?
Greetings and thank you!