So, you’ve decided to download an older version of Mac OS X. There are many reasons that could point you to this radical decision. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or simply crash) on newer operating systems. Also, you may have noticed your Mac’s performance went down right after the last update. Finally, if you want to run a parallel copy of Mac OS X on a virtual machine, you too will need a working installation file of an older Mac OS X. Further down we’ll explain where to get one and what problems you may face down the road.

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A list of all Mac OS X versions

We’ll be repeatedly referring to these Apple OS versions below, so it’s good to know the basic macOS timeline.

The maximum version of Mac OS X, OS X, or macOS supported by each G3 and later Mac follows. For complete specs on a particular system, click the name of the Mac. For all Macs that are compatible with a specifc maximum supported version of Mac OS X - courtesy of EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Sort - click the OS of interest. The 'classic' Mac OS is the original Macintosh operating system that was introduced in 1984 alongside the first Macintosh and remained in primary use on Macs until the introduction of Mac OS X in 2001. Apple released the original Macintosh on January 24, 1984; its early system software was partially based on the Lisa OS and the Xerox PARC Alto computer, which former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The maximum version of Mac OS X, OS X, or macOS supported by each G3 and later Mac follows. For complete specs on a particular system, click the name of the Mac. For all Macs that are compatible with a specifc maximum supported version of Mac OS X - courtesy of EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Sort - click the OS of interest. It contains minimal booter files and kernel, and at /com.apple.recovery.boot/BaseSystem.dmg, a disk image with a stripped-down and tweaked copy of OS X. The booter mounts this volume (it attaches as /dev/disk1), and transfers to OS X running on it. This is the Mac OS X Base System.

STEP 1. 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 also space for other applications and your user data. One more argument is that the free space on your disk translates into virtual memory so your apps have “fuel” to operate on. The chart below tells you how much free space is needed.

Note, that it is recommended that you install OS on a clean drive. Next, you will need enough disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Partition. Here are some ideas to free up 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 you can move your space hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage.
If you aren’t comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic “room cleaners”. Our favorite is CleanMyMac as it’s most simple to use of all. It deletes system junk, old broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.4 - 10.8 (free version)

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.9 (free version)

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version)

STEP 2. Get a copy of Mac OS X download

Normally, it is assumed that updating OS is a one-way road. That’s 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 then reinstall the OS on your computer.

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

If you once had purchased an old version of Mac OS X from the App Store, open it and go to the Purchased tab. There you’ll find all the installers you can download. However, it doesn’t always work that way. The purchased section lists only 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. 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 — only if you previously downloaded them from the Mac App Store.

Without App Store: Download Mac OS version as 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 Store. If you 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 bunch of perks unavailable to ordinary users.

Nevertheless, keep in mind that if you visit developer.apple.com/downloads, you can only find 10.3-10.6 OS X operating systems there. Newer versions are not available because starting Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.7, the App Store has become the only source of updating Apple OS versions.

Purchase an older version of Mac operating system

You can purchase a boxed or email version of past Mac OS X directly from Apple. Both will cost you around $20. For the reason of being rather antiquated, Snow Leopard and earlier Apple versions can only be installed from DVD.

Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard 10.6
Get an email copy of Lion 10.7
Get an email copy of Mountain Lion 10.8

The email edition comes with a special download code you can use for the Mac App Store. Note, that to install the Lion or Mountain Lion, your Mac needs to be running Snow Leopard so you can install the newer OS on top of it.

How to get macOS El Capitan download

If you are wondering if you can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as it’s possible too. But before your Mac can run El Capitan it has to be updated to OS X 10.6.8. So, here are main steps you should take:

1. Install Snow Leopard from install DVD.
2. Update to 10.6.8 using Software Update.
3. Download El Capitan here.

“I can’t download an old version of Mac OS X”

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

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But as it often happens, workarounds are possible. There 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 Lion, you may ask a friend who has Lion-operated Mac or, once again, set up a virtual machine running Lion. Then you will need to prepare an external drive to download the installation file using OS X Utilities.

After you’ve completed the download, the installer should launch automatically, but you can click Cancel and copy the file you need. Below is the detailed instruction how to do it.

STEP 3. Install older OS X onto an external drive

The following method allows you to download Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks.

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

Now the OS should start downloading automatically onto the external drive. After the download is complete, your Mac will prompt you to do a restart, but at this point, you should completely shut it down. Now that the installation file is “captured” onto your external drive, you can reinstall the OS, this time 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 disk image file — this is the file you need to reinstall Lion OS X. 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 10.12 or macOS High Sierra 10.13, it is possible to revert it to the previous system if you are not satisfied with the experience. You can do it either with Time Machine or by creating a bootable USB or external drive.
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Sierra

Instruction to downgrade from macOS High Sierra

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Mojave

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina

Before you do it, the best advice is to back your Mac up so your most important files stay intact. In addition to that, it makes sense to clean up your Mac from old system junk files and application leftovers. The easiest way to do it is to run CleanMyMac X on your machine (download it for free here).

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Visit your local Apple Store to download older OS X version

If none of the options to get older OS X worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple Store. They should have image installations going back to OS Leopard and earlier. You can also ask their assistance to create a bootable USB drive with the installation file. So here you are. We hope this article has helped you to download an old version of Mac OS X. Below are a few more links you may find interesting.

It took some 30 months, but I’m finally also giving up on my MacBook Pro.
Of course, I’m hardly the first to come to this conclusion. This latest design has been roasted in the beginning for its useless Touch Bar and removal of a hardware Esc key and substantially inferior battery life, but the complaints really started flying once reports of an unreliable keyboard became commonplace, so much so that 2 years later Apple has had to issue a mea culpa on the problem and extend its warranties specifically for the fragile design; I had to take my laptop back to the Apple Store for repairs twice in 2 years for this problem. A couple weeks ago, the laptop started exhibiting another issue—an unreliable cable that’s bonded to the display—that Apple has not yet admitted to and thus would cost at least $500 to repair.
For the record, my 2011 17″ MacBook Pro still runs fine and has only needed one repair in its lifetime, a known GPU issue that Apple eventually admitted and paid to fix.
Like most Apple customers disillusioned by this generation of MacBook Pros, I considered switching to a Windows laptop1. To Microsoft’s credit, they have upped the game on both Windows hardware (via the Surface line) and software (via continuous and interesting Windows updates) in recent years, and the overall user experience of the operating system is mostly on par with Macs and MacOS. Hell, I was sorely tempted to make the trade only 10 months ago.
I ended up with replacing my MacBook Pro clunker with an iMac.
As I lamented in the past, MacOS can still lean on a soft lock-in via its software ecosystem. In some cases it’s enabled by Apple’s iOS <-> Mac connection, but even there Microsoft has done a great job of executing its current strategy of making its software available on all platforms. With desktop computing, web apps have become the de facto platform, and while Windows will have to support its legacy desktop APIs and tech stacks2, they are encouraging the use of web technologies for the OS and rewriting parts of the traditional Office suite in a similar vein. For the rest, Electron-powered apps and Progressive Web Apps make up a substantial chunk of modern Windows applications.
To be fair, web apps—wrapped or otherwise—also make up a lot of the MacOS app ecosystem. The difference, though, is that MacOS (and OSX, before the rebranding) has traditionally had a community of indie app developers who have and are continuing to build for the OS, in native Objective C and/or Swift, with an eye towards great aesthetics and fantastic user experiences. Tweetbot (Twitter client), Reeder (RSS Reader), Fantastical (Calendar), Things (to-do list), Airmail (email client) — there are plenty of web-based equivalents that feature the same set of functionality3, but few that can provide the same end-user experience polish.
The MacOS app ecosystem is also showing that the endgame for desktop apps is paying for software, via subscription or a modest one-time purchase4. While there are certainly a variety of business models possible with software—Software as a Service (SaaS); ad-supported; as a value-add to a customer bundle (e.g., Amazon Prime); to sell hardware; as a loss-leader to other profitable services—desktop apps have retreated to this singular method of monetization: the simple sale.
The lack of monetization options is largely due to the combination of the lack of reach of the desktop as a platform for apps coupled with the overall quality and complexity expected out of these apps, particularly on the Mac. The mobile ecosystem dwarfs any amount of users and usage on laptops and desktops, so most business models which benefit from scale will primarily focus on phones. Utility and productivity software better fit for keyboards and mice still benefit from being on as many platforms as possible, hence Electron and web apps that can span Windows, Macs and Linux workstations along with web browsers.
It leaves the space of quality Mac desktop software as a niche of an already niche corner of computing devices. Since the expected sales are so low anyway, indie app devs have concluded that they might as well just charge money; at least the accounting is easy. Even then, the number of copies sold is so low that the teams behind these apps can’t afford to hire huge teams of developers, which in turn affects how feature-rich these apps can be and their pace of evolution.
The upcoming Catalyst initiative—to cross-build iOS and MacOS apps—may very well close the book on native desktop app development. It’s still native code, but the UI paradigms are different enough between phones and PCs that much of the uniqueness of the Mac interface gets lost in translation5. And even if indie devs continue to invest in each platform separately, they’ll still face added competition from formerly iOS-only apps, which will be just good enough to entice some users, and likely drive down app prices, which in turn makes those businesses unviable.
A requiem, then.

1. I didn’t seriously think about Linux nor Chromebooks as possibilities, when the vast majority of PC desktop and web software assume a Windows or Mac OS.↩

2. They still let you tap the Win32 API directly if you really need that functionality!↩

3. In fact, Gmail is so complicated and UI/feature-rich that there is a subindustry of email clients that just wrap around the Gmail web interface and layer a couple of additional features on top.↩

4. Modest, at least compared to the rock-bottom pricing that plagues mobile app stores.↩

5. The new Reeder 4 app unified its iOS and Mac codebases, and while the app is still extremely beautiful and functional, there are concessions on the edges made on the desktop to accommodate its mobile cousin.↩