Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

canyonlight

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 3, 2011
67
11
Arizona
Is there a way to go back to Apple and download a fresh copy of macOS 10.15.7 Catalina? Any suggestions on how/where would be appreciated.

Thanks
 

Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,922
3,807
What version of macOS did your Mac ship with? If it shipped with anything higher than Catalina then it won’t install.
 

canyonlight

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 3, 2011
67
11
Arizona
Thanks for your reply. The MacBook Pro in question had shipped with macOS Mojave and upgraded to macOS Catalina. The issue you posed should not be a problem.
 

Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,922
3,807
That’s good, the not so good news is that Apple has made it tougher to get other releases from the App store. I assume you launched the App Store, clicked on your account and looked under purchases? Did you check in the update section of the App Store? If you can’t find it in either of those two spots, then go to the Catalina Unsupported thread. They should have a link to the App Store so you can download it again.

If you can’t find it there then ask. I was able to get it for my 2012 Mini but unfortunately I forget how. I don’t remember if I did it via an internet restore. You want to try that first and see if Catalina defaults on an internet restore. And you will know right away because you will see the Catalina icon when attempting an internet restore. Don’t worry as you can always back out but as is always the case make a backup just in case.

Edit: I found this link. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683

Double Edit: Yup I just tried it and it works. Scroll down the page and click on the Catalina Link and it will open the App Store and you can then download Catalina.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: canyonlight

Hombre53

macrumors regular
Feb 27, 2018
246
263
Once you download Catalina, create a bootable USB recovery drive: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372
Use the following command in terminal to create it (name your USB device "MyVolume")
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
Make sure you save the Catalina app to the applications folder for this command to work...
 
Last edited:

elbert

Suspended
Jun 17, 2018
131
71
That’s good, the not so good news is that Apple has made it tougher to get other releases from the App store. I assume you launched the App Store, clicked on your account and looked under purchases? Did you check in the update section of the App Store? If you can’t find it in either of those two spots, then go to the Catalina Unsupported thread. They should have a link to the App Store so you can download it again.

If you can’t find it there then ask. I was able to get it for my 2012 Mini but unfortunately I forget how. I don’t remember if I did it via an internet restore. You want to try that first and see if Catalina defaults on an internet restore. And you will know right away because you will see the Catalina icon when attempting an internet restore. Don’t worry as you can always back out but as is always the case make a backup just in case.

Edit: I found this link. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683

Double Edit: Yup I just tried it and it works. Scroll down the page and click on the Catalina Link and it will open the App Store and you can then download Catalina.
Thank you for the link.

Will this download include

Name and information linkRelease date
Safari 15.3 (v. 16612.4.9.1.8 and 15612.4.9.1.8)10 Feb 2022
Security Update 2022-001 Catalina26 Jan 2022


Edit:
I guess not. You still need to download and update manually.
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.