Create a bootable installer for macOS

I use the free developer app MDS Version 4.0 Build 40106 to download full system installer and/or create bootable installer:

You'll need a flash drive that's at least 16GB or larger as I recall. Check that before you start.

The newer version, V 5, is not free but V4 is and works fine.

electrovalent wrote:

Let me help you understand the situation.

If you shut down your Mac and sent it to your country house with no internet connection , will you be able to remember your S/N? --NO

You don't need to because it's on the bottom of the iMac: How to find a Mac’s serial number

It might help to clarify what version of the macOS installer you are trying to download & create and the exact model of the computer. If the computer you want the installer for is not working, then we need to know the exact model of that computer as well which you can get by entering the system serial number here:

Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support

FYI, to download a macOS installer....you must be using a computer that is compatible with that OS (the computer can currently be running any version of macOS).

Make sure to carefully read the other Apple article included in the one you linked because it has instructions on how to download and extract some of the older installers which are available outside of the App Store. The installers for macOS 10.13+ are only available through the App Store and those links in the other Apple article.

First, I have no idea about your situation. I just know we need more specific details to properly assist you. You don't realize how critical it is to know the exact model of the Mac you are hoping to use to create the bootable macOS USB installer. A MBAir running Ventura can be anything from 2018+ including Intel or M1/M2 Apple Silicon.

A 2011 Mac can definitely have macOS 10.13 High Sierra installed onto it. That will be the easiest USB installer to create unless you have access to another Mac from 2008 to 2015.

If it is an Apple Silicon Mac, then even if you have the older macOS installer app, it will be impossible to utilize the instructions in the Apple article you originally linked unless you are creating a bootable macOS 11.x+ installer. Another respected contributor first alerted me to this restriction which I later confirmed myself.

The app @Old Toad mentioned should at least get you the macOS installer app, but whether you can do anything with it using an Apple Silicon Mac is hard to say. You should not have any problems if you are using an Intel Mac.

If you are using an Apple Silicon Mac, then I may be able to help you to extract a bootable image from the contents of a 10.13+ installer to have you transfer it to a USB stick if Apple hasn't changed anything from when I last tried it four years ago. I'm not even sure Ventura will allow us to do so anyway since I had issues doing something similar recently for making another boot drive (other methods become very difficult & risky). This is just going to allow you to boot the basic installer from USB to access the various tools....it would require downloading the whole OS from Apple. Sort of like Internet Recovery Mode but you are booting the base mode locally.

Unfortunately Apple does make this process way more complicated & difficult than it needs to be if you don't have access to another compatible Mac.

They should. You may have missed a step.

FWIW, the current version of Ventura is 13.4. You should update.

Just a thought, did you download the Ventura installer first?

If you are trying to downgrade from Ventura 13.4 or later, you have to run this command in the Terminal to get 13.3.1…

softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 13.3.1

You're welcome but you've lost me.

One creates a bootable installer to install macOS on their Mac. It has nothing to do with App Store apps previously downloaded.

Have you already sent it to your country home? If so then you're UACWAP.