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I am using big sur and want to run Catalina on an external hard dri

I have an iMac running Big Sur but I want to install Catalina on an external drive so that I can use software that is not compatible with Big Sur. Catalina installer is "too old" to run on Big Sur.

iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 11.1

Posted on Mar 2, 2021 7:46 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 2, 2021 8:09 AM

Howdy,


How new is your iMac? If your iMac came with Big Sur you won't be able to install and run an earlier macOS.

If your iMac came with Catalina or earlier, please check out:

How to get old versions of macOS

which has information on checking compatibility, backing up, downloading and installing the earlier OS.

example:

Safari uses these links to find the old installers in the App Store. After downloading from the App Store, the installer opens automatically.


Take care,

ivan

8 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 2, 2021 8:09 AM in response to collinfromthatcham

Howdy,


How new is your iMac? If your iMac came with Big Sur you won't be able to install and run an earlier macOS.

If your iMac came with Catalina or earlier, please check out:

How to get old versions of macOS

which has information on checking compatibility, backing up, downloading and installing the earlier OS.

example:

Safari uses these links to find the old installers in the App Store. After downloading from the App Store, the installer opens automatically.


Take care,

ivan

Mar 2, 2021 9:01 AM in response to collinfromthatcham

Which iMac are you using?


Try booting into macOS Recovery and installing your original macOS from there (to your external drive). Then if needed, you could update to Catalina.

See How to reinstall macOS

  • On an Intel-based Mac that previously used macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later, you can use Shift-Option-Command-R at startup to install the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available. 


ivan


I am using big sur and want to run Catalina on an external hard dri

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