The main challenge is to download the OS installation file itself, because your Mac may already be running a newer version. That’s why going back to a past Apple OS version is problematic. Normally, it is assumed that updating OS is a one-way road. It deletes system junk, old broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.ĭownload CleanMyMac for OS 10.4 - 10.8 (free version)ĭownload CleanMyMac for OS 10.9 (free version)ĭownload CleanMyMac for OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version)

Our favorite is CleanMyMac as it’s most simple to use of all. If you aren’t comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic “room cleaners”. Then you can move your space hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage. Go to Finder > All My Files > Arrange by size Locate the biggest files on your computer:.Here are some ideas to free up space on your drive: Next, you will need enough disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Partition. Note, that it is recommended that you install OS on a clean drive. The chart below tells you how much free space is needed. One more argument is that the free space on your disk translates into virtual memory so your apps have “fuel” to operate on. This includes not just space for the OS itself but also space for other applications and your user data. Given your Mac isn’t new and is filled with data, you will probably need enough free space on your Mac. We’ll be repeatedly referring to these Apple OS versions below, so it’s good to know the basic macOS timeline.

Its latest version 10.11.6 (15G22010) was released on 9th July 2018, almost 7 months ago. Mac OS El Capitan was released to manufacturing on 20th September 2015, almost three and a half years ago. Further down we’ll explain where to get one and what problems you may face down the road. 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. Also, you may have noticed your Mac’s performance went down right after the last update. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or simply crash) on newer operating systems. There are many reasons that could point you to this radical decision. So, you’ve decided to download an older version of Mac OS X.

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