Install Macos High Sierra App

How to create a bootable macOS High Sierra installer drive Put the macOS High Sierra installer on an external USB thumb drive or hard drive and use it to install the operating system on a Mac.

Copy (or move) the downloaded files from /macOS Install Data to a new SharedSupport folder inside /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/. You can do that with: sudo cp -Rv '/macOS Install Data' '/Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/SharedSupport'. Apple does NOT push new macOS version down automatically. At some point the OP must have downloaded it. Apple WILL push updates to your current version (if you're running Sierra and Apple releases an update, it will download and depending on your settings either install it or wait for you to approve the update). But if you're running Sierra, Apple will NOT push the High Sierra version down. Edit: The full installer is an app that will be downloaded from the App Store It will be a 'Install macOS High Sierra' app (around 5.25 GB) in the Applications folder and it will automatically launch after it is downloaded. If you do not want to install then Quit the installer app when it first launches.

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
Macos high sierra installer download

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.

Big Sur:*

Catalina:*

Mojave:*

High Sierra:*

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:

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 and a gear icon labled Options.
  3. Select the volume containing the bootable installer, then click Continue.
  4. When the macOS installer opens, follow the onscreen instructions.

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

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

  • Big Sur: /Applications/Install macOS Big Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
  • Catalina: /Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
  • Mojave: /Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
  • High Sierra: /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
  • El Capitan: /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia

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.

Recently my sister asked me to reinstall the macOS High Sierra on her iMac because it stopped working correctly. I thought that it would be easy to do but I was mistaken. I successfully installed the macOS Mountain Lion (when using the NetBoot it automatically selects the version of macOS with which the iMac was shipped with). But then I was facing multiple issues trying to update macOS from Mountain Lion to High Sierra via the Mac App Store.

After downloading a copy of macOS High Sierra from the Mac App Store, I started installing the update. The Mac rebooted, and it seemed that everything was going well, but it was not. The progress bar did not move at all, or moved very slowly. I waited a few hours…

I began to figure out what was going on and found out the following. Attempting to download macOS High Sierra from the Mac App Store I found that a small 19 MB version of the “Install macOS High Sierra.app” file downloads to the “Applications” folder, rather than the complete 5.2 GB installer file. That’s the problem.

The tiny 19 MB incomplete installer requires an internet connection during usage to download the rest of the High Sierra update files. Additionally, it does not allow me to create a macOS High Sierra USB installer drive for use on multiple computers.

I’ve found a new workaround, and in this tutorial, I’ll show you how to download the complete “Install macOS High Sierra.app” file from Apple server using the “macOS High Sierra Patcher” app instead of via the Mac App Store.

About the app

In this workaround, we’re going to use the macOS High Sierra Patcher app from the dosdude1.com. This app is intended for those with unsupported Macs and Hackintosh users, but any Mac user can use the app to be able to download the complete macOS Mojave installer file from Apple server. For our purposes in this particular walkthrough, we will use the app only to download the complete installer file.

Note! This method relies on a third party app from an unverified third party source. If you are not comfortable with using unvetted and unverified software, do not follow this process.

Let’s begin

Downloading the complete “Install macOS High Sierra.app” file from Apple server using the “macOS High Sierra Patcher” app is a really easy process. Now, step by step guide.

Go to the official website of the “macOS High Sierra Patcher” app here and download the app.

Launch the “macOS High Sierra Patcher” app.

Install Mac Os High Sierra App

Note! By default, macOS preventing apps from unidentified developers or sources from being launched. So you most likely will get an alert message that says: “macOS High Sierra Patcher.app can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer”. To allow just one specific app to run do the following:

  1. Hold down the Control key and click the app icon. From the contextual menu choose Open.
  2. A popup will appear asking you to confirm this action. Click the Open button.

Ignore everything about patching, instead pull down the “Tools” menu and choose “Download macOS High Sierra…”.

Confirm that you want to download the “Install macOS High Sierra.app” file, and then point it to a location to save on the hard drive.

Close the “macOS High Sierra Patcher” app when the download is complete and locate the “Install macOS High Sierra.app” file you downloaded.

Conclusion

That’s it, you’re done. Now you have the complete “Install macOS High Sierra.app” file downloaded. So simple isn’t it?

You can confirm that you have the complete “Install macOS High Sierra.app” file by getting info on the file. For this simply select the file and click the Spacebar key (or right-click on the file and choose “Get Info”). The complete installer should be around 5.2 GB rather than the tiny 19 MB incomplete installer that requires additional downloads.

Note! Remember, the “Install macOS High Sierra.app” file deletes itself automatically after macOS High Sierra has successfully installed. Therefore, you may want to make a backup by having previously copied it to external storage.

Let me know in the comments section if you know another way to download the complete “Install macOS High Sierra.app” file rather than the tiny incomplete installer.

I hope this article has helped you learn how to downloaded the complete “Install macOS High Sierra.app” file from Apple server. If this article has helped you then please leave a comment

Thanks for reading!

Install Macos High Sierra Application

Arthur is a designer and full stack software engineer. He is the founder of Space X-Chimp and the blog My Cyber Universe. His personal website can be found at arthurgareginyan.com.

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