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I'm currently running Sierra, trying to download the El Capitan installer from the App Store, but am unable to due to the message in the title. Is there any way around this, or am I forced to erase my HDD and download an OS from internet recovery mode? Am I able to pick a specific OS to download from recovery mode if that was the case? To note: I don't have a back up system to restore to. I have a drive to load the installer on to. Thank you.

  • what model and year is your mac? – Natsfan Dec 16 '17 at 04:44
  • @jmh MacBook Pro Retina 13" Early 2015 –  Dec 16 '17 at 04:45
  • See https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/271104/revert-to-el-capitan for how difficult this is, without losing data - even with multiple backups. – Tetsujin Dec 16 '17 at 07:43
  • @Tetsujin I don't mind losing all my date, I've backed most of my important things up. I'm just curious to know if there is a quicker way to download the installer directly, rather than having to completely wipe my HDD and downloading having to download my OS from internet recovery mode, and then download El Capitan from that one. –  Dec 16 '17 at 13:24
  • You can try downloading it from your purchased list, but I'm pretty sure you'll have to boot it from USB & nuke/pave. I ended up going back to a clone made just before update, though I tried so many variations before doing that, that I've lost track now. – Tetsujin Dec 16 '17 at 14:11
  • @Tetsujin I don't have it in my purchase list unfortunately, Never downloaded it before. Think the only option is to complete wipe, download an old OS from internet recovery and then download El Capitan from there. Might as well get the trek started haha.thank you for your time and help –  Dec 16 '17 at 14:25
  • If you don't have it in Purchased, you won't be able to get it from Apple. You can only get 'the original OS' or 'the latest OS your machine can run'. Nothing else. ...& don't be fooled by the El Capitan you can find on the main App Store - it will only install if your machine cannot run Sierra or later. – Tetsujin Dec 16 '17 at 14:44
  • @Tetsujin Wow... thank you for that last bit of information. You may have just saved me a hell of a lot of time. I'm currently on Sierra, so even if I reverted back to an older OS and then tried to download El Capitan from that OS, it would not allow me to as I have the ability to download a newer OS. That is so ridiculous, nobody at Apple warned me about this, I would have lost so much time for nothing. Guess I'm going to have to find an installer from somewhere, a torrent or something. Do you have any recommendations by chance? –  Dec 16 '17 at 15:12
  • Well, for in future, always download the current major OS, even if you never intend to install it - then you can always get it at any time. As to where to acquire it now, sorry, no idea. I do have them all in my purchase list, right back to Lion, so never needed to. ..Having said that, things seems to have changed since High Sierra - Sierra now seems to have gone entirely from the App Store. Apple are changing the policy but I'm not certain exactly how. – Tetsujin Dec 16 '17 at 15:16
  • @Tetsujin This is really forward, and I'd completely understand if you weren't able to do this, but... Would you be able to upload the installer to a Google Drive or weTransfer for example to allow me to download it? Assuming you still have the installer in your App Store under purchased. I could send you $5 as a thanks. –  Dec 16 '17 at 17:03
  • I've got a 10.11.1 installer right here, throwing it to Google drive at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZzNXRzb1qwJWeocTEQFlNEEcyqOhVb9l You'll have to get the combo updater afterwards to update it. Tag me when you've got it. I don't need the 5 bucks but I'd like the space back as soon as I can. – Tetsujin Dec 16 '17 at 19:00
  • @Tetsujin I cannot thank you enough for your help and kindness, downloading it right now and will let you know as soon as it is done. Thank you so much. –  Dec 16 '17 at 19:10
  • @Tetsujin I've competed the download, thank you. I have the file InstallESD-002.dmg, just wondering how do I go about making this a bootable installer? I've only ever done it with the official Installer Application. –  Dec 16 '17 at 23:42
  • @Tetsujin I figured it out, no worries. I opened it, made invisible files visible and then restored the Basesystem.dmg to my USB and moved the package folder and Base system chunk list to the installer folder (followed a tutorial). Thank you so much for everything, I really appreciate it. Best wishes and Merry Christmas! Hope you have a great one –  Dec 17 '17 at 06:08
  • @Tetsujin Could you please extend the time for the shared link please? Currently I'm on High Sierra but I would like to downgrade back to El Capitan (I haven't downloaded it before) and I still couldn't find any working solution to get the ElCap installer. – Bálint Babics Dec 27 '17 at 23:31
  • Sorry, I can't; otherwise this will turn into a request stream pretty rapidly - see https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/309399/how-can-i-download-an-older-version-of-os-x-macos – Tetsujin Dec 28 '17 at 07:39

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