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High Sierra installer still available?

I needed to re-install a clean copy of High Sierra on an older Mac that does not have internet access.  I didn't try the recover volume because I thought it required networking.  (Probably should have tried it anyway.)  But I still have a copy of the "Install macOS High Sierra" app but running it gave me the "application is damage and can't be used to install" error.  It's my understanding that this is caused by an expired certificate.


I tried searching for High Sierra in the app store (on my Catalina Mac) but nothing showed up.  So I found a direct link which ended up opening the High Sierra page in the App Store app.  I clicked the "GET" button which then then runs Software Update and I get an alert saying "Update not found - The requested version of macOS is not available."  I seem to recall the "GET" button changing to "Download" when pressing the option key or something but that doesn't seem to work anymore.


Anyway, I went with the "set the clock back to 2014" kludge and was able to install High Sierra.


But my question is: Are older *working* macOS installers for older Macs actually no longer available?  Or can you just not download them with a Mac running Catalina?  (I have High Sierra in a VM, so I guess I could try that at some point...)  Or am I just looking in the wrong place?

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Feb 6, 2020 12:27 PM

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12 replies

Feb 6, 2020 1:16 PM in response to Ackmo

Ackmo wrote:

The link took me to the same High Sierra App Store "page" but clicking the "GET" button opens Software Update which gives me the "Update not found" error alert.

I don't know what to tell you. I just did the same thing but I get are you sure you want to download High Sierra message. I suppose you could try while in Safe Mode.

Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support

Feb 6, 2020 12:51 PM in response to dialabrain

It does not work. I just tried it - twice. Each time I get a box that says, "This copy of the 'Install macOS' application is too old to be opened on this version of macOS.


I presume this may be situational. I have two Macs, a 2011 MacBook Pro, and a 2012 MacMini. The MBP is currently "down" because of the GPU issue that is common with late 2011 MacBook Pro computers. The Mini is running Mojave. I have an external SSD that I am attempting to set up with two partitions, one which is set up with Catalina (for the Mini) and one on which I am attempting to install High Sierra for the MBP.


It appears that I'm not able to download the High Sierra installer, because I'm running Mojave. I'm not sure how to proceed at this point.

Feb 6, 2020 1:08 PM in response to NHBulldog

NHBulldog wrote:

It does not work. I just tried it - twice. Each time I get a box that says, "This copy of the 'Install macOS' application is too old to be opened on this version of macOS.

That's the message you get once the installer is downloaded and tries to open. Once you cancel/quit the dialog window, "Install macOS High Sierra" will be in your Applications folder.

Feb 6, 2020 5:14 PM in response to dialabrain

OK, I copied the "Install macOS High Sierra" file to the SSD partition that I want to make a High Sierra bootable drive. I click the installer and I get that same message. It seems to see Mojave and halt. Any idea how to get this older OS to install on this partition? My current boot options are the Mini's onboard drive, which is Mojave, or the other SSD partition, which is Catalina.

Feb 7, 2020 3:25 PM in response to dialabrain

I was able to download a working High Sierra installer app using the link you provided on my Mac at home. (I'll mark your post as "solved my question"...) But I still can't download it on my Mac at work. I thought that perhaps our IT dept had set up something to disallow downloading of macOS so that folks wouldn't/couldn't reinstall over the "standard system" image. But they said that's not the case. Odd.


When you download it on your system via the App Store page, does it switch to Software Update for the actual download or does it do it in the app store window itself?

High Sierra installer still available?

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