Reinstall El Capitan

  1. El Capitan Won't Install
  2. El Capitan Download
  3. How To Reinstall El Capitan From Usb
  4. El Capitan Install Not Available

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 your Mac.

OS X El Capitan Installer. Official OS X El Capitan Installer from the Mac App Store. Un-archive the zip archive and you will get the app Installer. A bootable ISO or bootable USB can be made from this installer. Instructions on how to do that are on the Internet/Youtube. Plug-in your USB key on a turned-off computer. Start your Mac, press immediately OPTION (aka ALT) Select the Orange icon (aka a USB stick) labelled El Capitan. If it does not detect it after 10 sec and you only see your hard-drive.

If you want to perform a typical OS upgrade, it’s easy. You download it through the App Store. Here, we’ll go through the steps of installing EL Capitan from Yosemite.

It’s about preparation

Before you install the upgrade, there’s a little bit of prep work you should do. Our article on how to get your Mac ready for OS X 10.11 El Capitan is what you should read before you proceed. It covers:

  • Compatible hardware and older versions of OS X
  • Verifying the health of your Mac
  • Installing updates
  • Backups
  • Encryption issues

Go read that article and come back here when you’re ready to go.

How to download El Capitan

Apple provides the El Capitan upgrade through its App Store. The download is a bit over 6GB, so you may want to download it at a time when you have other things to do—how long the download takes depends on your Internet connection and the amount of activity at the App Store. Or you can use your Mac while you wait, but be ready to save your work and quit when the download is done.

To download El Capitan, launch the App Store app in your Applications folder (or go to Apple menu > App Store). You’ll probably find El Capitan right away, especially if go to the App Store soon after the official release. Apple will probably have a banner at the top promoting El Capitan, but if you don’t see one, you can probably find it in the Free section in the far right column (you might have to scroll down to see it). And you can always do a search on El Capitan.

When you get to the El Capitan page in the App Store, click on the Download button. You may have to enter your Apple ID name and password, and after you do, the installer will download.

Copy the installer

When the download finishes, the installer automatically launches. Don’t click Continue in the installer just yet. What you may not know is that the installer is downloaded to your Applications folder and then deleted after the installation is done.

Reinstall El Capitan

If you ever need the installer again, you can get it in the App Store. But I like to make a copy of the installer. I often have to perform OS installations, so I make a bootable flash drive that I can use; it’s a lot faster than waiting for the download.

To copy the installer, you need to hold down the Option key as you drag the Install OS X El Capitan app in your Applications folder to the copy destination. If you don’t hold down Option, you’ll create an alias, not a copy.

Install El Capitan

OK, now you can click that Continue button in the installer window. (If the installer isn’t running, go to your Applications folder and double click the Install OS X El Capitan app.) You’ll be asked to agree and then confirm that you agree to the license agreement.

The next screen will ask you to select the disk for the El Capitan installation. If you have one storage device with one partition, you’ll see it in the installer window. But if you have multiple storage devices and/or multiple partitions, you can select the one you want by clicking the Show All Disks button. Make your selection and click Install.

To continue, you must enter your username and password. The install will prepare to install, restart your Mac, and perform the installation. The Mac may restart again during the installation process. The install will take several minutes, so you may want to go for a walk, call your mom, take a nap, or catch up on chores while the software does its thing.

When the installation is finished, the Mac will restart and you’ll need to log in with your username and password. You may be asked if you want to send diagnostic data to Apple and that you need to log in with your Apple ID, and then a setting up screen will appear and go away. You’re done.

Want to do a clean install of El Capitan?

A clean installation is when you install the operating system on a blank storage device. You can do this by creating a bootable El Capitan installer, and then use it as the boot drive for your Mac. You run Disk Utility to erase your drive and then proceed with the El Capitan installation.

Once the installation is done, you use Migration Assistant to transfer your data from a Time Machine backup.

Why should you do a clean install? Maybe you partitioned your storage device and want to change the scheme. Or maybe you’ve installed and removed lots of apps over time and want to get right of any lingering software components—if this is the case, don’t restore your data from a Time Machine backup. Manually copy your files and reinstall your software.

'Can I still upgrade to El Capitan though the official update is outdated?' 'How do I upgrade to El Capitan? I'm using Yosemite, is there a way that can upgrade Yosemite to El Capitan?'

On this page, we collected the complete process of how to upgrade to Mac OX S El Capitain 10.11.6 without losing any data. Follow this guide, you can download and install Mac OS X 10.11.6 on your computer with ease:

PAGE CONTENT:
Check If Your Mac Is Available for El Capitan Update
Prepare Mac Ready Before El Capitan Update
Update Mac OS X to El Capitan (Download OS X 10.11.6)
Bonus Tip: Restore lost data after El Capitan update (without backups)

Tips on this page also work to upgrade macOS Mojave, High Sierra to the latest macOS Big Sur. You may also interest in: update and install macOS.

What Is Mac OS X El Capitan

El Capitan, the last edition known as Mac OS X 10.11.6, is an operating system between Yosemite and macOS Sierra, released on July 18, 2015.

Here is a list of new features that Mac OS X 10.11.6 brings to most old Mac OS X users. And you may feel like downloading and installing the system on your Macs:

  • Support multitask
  • Better performance
  • Better user experience
  • Free download

So how to download or upgrade your Mac computer to El Capitan? Follow through the guides, any one of Mac users can make it.

1. Check If Your Mac Is Available for El Capitan Update

Before you take steps to update your present Mac OS X to El Capitan 10.11.6/10.11.2, check whether your Mac computer is available to download and install the new El Capitan. Check the below list and see whether your device or OS X can get the new update:

Supported Mac devices:

  • iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
  • MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, Early 2009, or newer)
  • MacBook Pro (Mid 2007 or newer)
  • MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
  • Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
  • Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
  • Xserve (Early 2009)

Available OS X for El Capitan:

  • OS X Yosemite v10.10
  • OS X Mavericks v10.9
  • OS X Mountain Lion v10.8
  • OS X Lion v10.7
  • Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.8

If your Mac OS X and devices are just right on the list, read on and follow tips to prepare your Mac OS ready for El Capitan update.

2. Prepare Mac Ready Before El Capitan Update

Let's see what you should do to prepare your Mac devices fully ready for the new El Capitan 10.11.6, etc. update. And if this is your first time updating Mac OS X, follow the tips below carefully:

#1. Hardware Requirement

  • Leave at least 2GB memory and 8.8 GB of storage space on Mac
  • Leave at least 45% battery on Mac
  • Connect Mac to the internet or WiFi
  • Update your Mac Apps to the latest versions

#2. Back Up All Important Mac Data (to An External Disk)

It's vitally important to back up important data on Mac to external storage devices, which will certainly help to avoid data loss issues due to Mac OS X update.

To do so, you have two options:

  • Option 1. Back up all your data via Time Machine
  1. 1. Connect an external hard drive to Mac.
  2. 2. Click the Apple menu icon, click 'System Preference', and click 'Time machine'.
  3. 3. Click 'Select Backup Disk...' and choose the external drive as a backup disk.
  • Option 2. Fully back up your Mac data via reliable Mac backup software

For a step-by-step guide, please follow: How to Back Up Mac without Time Machine for help.

El Capitan Won't Install

If you have forgotten to backup data, reliable Mac data recovery software like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is the best tool to help you restore lost data.

So now, you can follow the next tutorial tips to update your present Mac OS X into El Capitan.

3. Update Mac OS X to El Capitan (Download OS X 10.11.6)

You can update your Mac OS X to El Capitan now. Follow the below guide to update to El Capitan with ease:

#1. Download and Install Mac OS X from Mac App Store

Step 1. Go to Mac App Store and search El Capitan.

Step 2. Click the Download button for El Capitan.

Step 3. Click Continue and follow the instructions to install El Capitan on your Mac.

#2. Manually Download El Capitan 10.11.6 from Apple

Here you can also download El Capitan or other new versions of macOS from the Apple support page, and install on your Mac:

When the downloading process is finished, the El Capitan installer will launch automatically. All you just need to follow the onscreen guide to install the Mac OS X 10.11.6 on your Mac computer.

Note that the El Capitan upgrade process will not take long. Just wait patiently to let the El Capitan installation process accomplish on your Mac.

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Capitan

Don't worry if you meet some problems during the Mac OS X or macOS update process. Click the below troubleshooting guide and follow to resolve the respective issue on your own.

When you encounter macOS update stuck, macOS or Mac OS X update failed, stay calm. Follow this guide to install the desired macOS or Mac OS X on your Mac.

Bonus Tip: Restore Lost Data after Upgrading Mac to El Capitan 10.11.6

El Capitan Download

If you didn't create backups before the Mac OS X El Capitan update, and you lost some important Mac files after the update process, your last chance is to turn to reliable Mac data recovery software for help.

Here, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is available for you to download and restore all lost files after macOS or Mac OS X update.

This software is fully compatible with all Mac OS X such as El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks, and the latest new macOS Mojave, High Sierra, etc.

Reinstall

Download it and follows to restore lost data due to the El Capitan update now:

Step 1. Where was data lost after operating system update? Choose the location and click Scan.

Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display the scanning results on the left pane.

How To Reinstall El Capitan From Usb

Step 3. After the scan, select the target files that were unknowingly lost during or after the update and click Recover button to get them all back.

El Capitan Install Not Available

What Else Can EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Do for You?

Besides macOS update file recovery, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard dedicates to restoring lost data for Mac users under complex circumstances, such as:

  • Data deletion
  • Mac hard drives formatting
  • Storage device corruption
  • Mac system crash
  • Mac OS X reinstallation

El Capitan Still Works on Old Macs, Go and Get It Now

Don't worry if your Mac computer is not available for updating to Mac OS X El Capitan. Follow this page, you'll see if your computer can install this operating system.

If yes, follow to download and install this excellent system and renew your Mac computer now. Don't worry if you lost some files during the process, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can bring your files back.

Now, it's your turn. Go and get it now.