To get the latest features and maintain the security, stability, compatibility and performance of your Mac, it's important to keep your software up to date. Apple recommends that you always use the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac.
The OS X El Capitan v10.11.6 Update improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, and is recommended for all users. This update: Resolves an issue that may prevent settings from being saved in accounts with parental controls enabled.
Download Apple Mac OS X El Capitan for Mac to oS X El Capitan features new options for managing windows, smarter Spotlight search, app enhancements, and faster performance. Select the location of Mac OS 10.11 image file, that you have downloaded previously. It is not necessary to expand the drive, with Mac OS, 40GB is enough to install iOS programming tools. Here I expand to 100GB. Jul 18, 2016 The OS X El Capitan v10.11.6 Update improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, and is recommended for all users. This update: Resolves an issue that may prevent settings from being saved in accounts with parental controls enabled.
Find out how to upgrade to macOS Big Sur, the latest version of macOS.
Check compatibility
The version of macOS that came with your Mac is the earliest version it can use. For example, if your Mac came with macOS Big Sur, it will not accept installation of macOS Catalina or earlier.
If a macOS can't be used on your Mac, the App Store or installer will let you know. For example, it may say that it's not compatible with this device or it's too old to be opened on this version of macOS. To confirm compatibility before downloading, check the minimum hardware requirements:
- macOS Catalina 10.15 hardware requirements
- macOS Mojave 10.14 hardware requirements
- macOS High Sierra 10.13 hardware requirements
- macOS Sierra 10.12 hardware requirements
- OS X El Capitan 10.11 hardware requirements
- OS X Yosemite 10.10 hardware requirements
Download macOS using Safari on your Mac
Safari uses these links to find the old installers in the App Store. After being downloaded from the App Store, the installer will open automatically.
- macOS Catalina 10.15 can upgrade Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite or Mavericks
- macOS Mojave 10.14 can upgrade High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks or Mountain Lion
- macOS High Sierra 10.13 can upgrade Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks or Mountain Lion
Safari will download the following older installers as a disk image named InstallOS.dmg or InstallMacOSX.dmg. Open the disk image, then open the .pkg installer inside the disk image. It will install an app named Install [Version Name]. Open that app from your Applications folder to start installing the operating system.
Download Mac Os X El Capitan 10.11.0
- macOS Sierra 10.12 can upgrade El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion or Lion
- OS X El Capitan 10.11 can upgrade Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion, Lion or Snow Leopard
- OS X Yosemite 10.10can upgrade Mavericks, Mountain Lion, Lion or Snow Leopard