Reinstall Mac El Capitan

The new OS X El Capitan features a new Split View, features in Safari, Mail, Notes, Maps, and Photos, and more. To get your hands on all this new stuff, you have to install the operating system on. Mac OS Installer retail Version of Yosemite, El Capitan or Mac OS Sierra, choose one you desire to make the bootable USB. To get Mac OS X InstallerApps you can ask help from a friend who has “ real Macintosh” to download it from the App Store. How To Reinstall Macos High Sierra From Usb; Reinstall Os X From Bootable Usb. How to reinstall macOS Start up from macOS Recovery. Turn on your Mac and continue to press and hold the power button until you see the startup. Reinstall macOS. Select Reinstall macOS from the utilities window in macOS Recovery, then click Continue and follow the. Other macOS installation. Apple recommends the Command-Option-R option as the only safe way to reinstall a Mac with El Capitan or earlier versions of macOS if you want to be sure your Apple ID doesn’t persist even after. Jun 07, 2017 Apple recommends the Command-Option-R option as the only safe way to reinstall a Mac with El Capitan or earlier versions of macOS if you want to be sure your Apple ID doesn’t persist even after.

These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install on multiple computers without downloading the installer each time.

What you need to create a bootable installer

  • A USB flash drive or other secondary volume formatted as Mac OS Extended, with at least 14GB of available storage
  • A downloaded installer for macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or El Capitan

Download macOS

  • Download: macOS Big Sur, macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, or macOS High Sierra
    These download to your Applications folder as an app named Install macOS [version name]. If the installer opens after downloading, quit it without continuing installation. To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server.
  • Download: OS X El Capitan
    This downloads as a disk image named InstallMacOSX.dmg. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.

Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal

  1. Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer.
  2. Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
  3. Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace MyVolume in these commands with the name of your volume.
How to install el capitan

Big Sur:*

Catalina:*

Mojave:*

Reinstall Mac El CapitanReinstall Mac El Capitan

High Sierra:*

El Capitan:

Install Mac Os El Capitan

* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the --applicationpath argument and installer path, similar to the way this is done in the command for El Capitan.


After typing the command:

  1. Press Return to enter the command.
  2. When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
  3. When prompted, type Y to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal shows the progress as the volume is erased.
  4. After the volume is erased, you may see an alert that Terminal would like to access files on a removable volume. Click OK to allow the copy to proceed.
  5. When Terminal says that it's done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Big Sur. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.

Use the bootable installer

Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:

Capitan

Apple silicon

  1. Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
  2. Turn on your Mac and continue to hold the power button until you see the startup options window, which shows your bootable volumes.
  3. Select the volume containing the bootable installer, then click Continue.
  4. When the macOS installer opens, follow the onscreen instructions.

Reinstall Mac Os El Capitan

Intel processor

  1. Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
  2. Press and hold the Option (Alt) ⌥ key immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac.
  3. Release the Option key when you see a dark screen showing your bootable volumes.
  4. Select the volume containing the bootable installer. Then click the up arrow or press Return.
    If you can't start up from the bootable installer, make sure that the External Boot setting in Startup Security Utility is set to allow booting from external media.
  5. Choose your language, if prompted.
  6. Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.

Learn more

A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the internet, but it does require an internet connection to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model.

For information about the createinstallmedia command and the arguments you can use with it, make sure that the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter the appropriate path in Terminal:

This content has been archived, and is no longer maintained by Indiana University. Information here may no longer be accurate, and links may no longer be available or reliable.

On this page:

Installing mac el capitan
  • Reinstall El Capitan on a computer alreadyrunning it

Upgrade from previous versions to OS X 10.11 (El Capitan)

  1. From the Apple menu, select App Store....
  2. When the App Store opens, search for and download El Capitan. If you don't already have an Apple ID, you'll need to create one. You can monitor the download process in the 'Purchased' section of the App Store.
  3. Once the download is complete, the installer should automatically open.

    If it doesn't, or you don't want to complete the installation at this time, you can come back later and double-click Install OS X El Capitan in your Applications folder.

    Within the installer, click Continue, agree to the license agreement, and then choose the disk where you want to install El Capitan.

    After you begin the installation, your computer may need to restart more than once before finishing, and then you may be asked to enter basic information.

  4. From the Apple menu, select App Store..., and then install any available updates.

Reinstall El Capitan on a computer already running it

To reinstall or recover El Capitan, you must have an active internet connection. If you are on campus at IU, UITS recommends the wired Ethernet network instead of wireless. However, if IUSecure is your only option, see Connect to an IU wireless network in macOS if booted from your Recovery HD.

Reinstall while keeping files, applications, and settings

Reinstall Mac Mail El Capitan

  1. Restart your computer, and immediately hold down command-r until the gray Apple logo appears.
  2. If prompted, select your main language and then click the arrow.
  3. Click Reinstall OS X, and then Continue. Follow the instructions on the screen, and then choose your hard disk. Click Install, and enter your Apple ID information if prompted.
  4. When the installation is complete, select App Store... from the Apple menu, and install any available updates.

Reinstall while erasing everything on your computer

  1. Restart your computer, and immediately hold down command-r until the gray Apple logo appears.

  2. If you see a screen asking you to select your main language, choose it, and then click the arrow.
  3. Click Disk Utility, and then Continue.
  4. In Disk Utility:
    1. Click your hard disk in the left column, and then click the Erase tab.
    2. Next to 'Format:', make sure OS X Extended (Journaled) is selected. In the 'Name:' field, give your disk a name. Click Erase.
    3. Once it's completed, quit Disk Utility.
  5. Click Reinstall OS X, and then Continue:
    1. Follow the instructions on the screen, and then choose your hard disk.
    2. Click Install. If prompted, enter your Apple ID information.
    3. Once the installation is complete, you'll be asked to enter basic information, and have the option to transfer data from another computer or backup.
  6. From the Apple menu, select App Store, and then install any available updates.