el capitain boot usb

[fountaineer]

i want to clean install my macbook pro currently running Yosemite. It's el captain compatible.

my main question is how do i download and save the el captain file from the app store? I see it in the app store and when i press "get" it prompts user password. I haven't done it yet because i don't actually want to start installing it on my computer right now i just want download it in order to make a bootable usb.

Any suggestions and tricks? Thank you and i know this is probably pretty basic problem for most.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

This article describes the method. https://support.apple.com/HT201372. As you'll see, the technique for getting the download is

Download the macOS installer from the Mac App Store. Quit the installer if it opens automatically after downloading. The installer will be in your Applications folder.

 

[Fishrrman]

To expand what Apfel said in the post above:

Once you download El Cap, the installer will be in the applications folder.
It won't run until you launch it, BUT…
… if you upgrade that way, the installer deletes itself once the update is done.

There's a better way:
Get a 16gb USB flash drive, then create a bootable USB flash installer.
This way, you boot from the flash drive, then do the install, and YOU STILL HAVE the installer on the flash drive for safekeeping.

There are at least 2 free utilities that will create the USB flash installer:
- DiskMaker X
- Install Disk Creator
You can also do it using the terminal.

It's always good to have a SECOND bootable drive around.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

The article I linked is the instructions for creating a bootable installer.

 

[fountaineer]

Well that was easy. Thanks for the help folks.