why can't i download El Capitan from the App Store on my brand new Mac Mini?

Hi! Click on the Apple logo at the top left hand corner of the screen and select 'About This Mac'.

What operating system does this menu show?

Your profile says you have El Capitan 10.11.3, is that correct.

To quote your first post. note the bottom line. And my post was posted before your screenshot.

I have been trying to download El Capitan from the App Store for 2 days with no success. The wheel at the top of the App Store window just spins and spins but nothing happens. Anyone know what's going on?

Mac mini (Late 2014), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

If you want help don't be rude.

If you have been attempting to download or connect via the App Store to get

the latest full OS X upgrade, try using Ethernet and not Wi-Fi because the

download duration should be less; because Ethernet is much faster...

Also, if you cannot get the download upgrade 10.11 full system, contact an

Apple Store or if none are in your region or country, contact an authorized

Apple service provider or authorized Apple reseller. Independent reseller or

service providers may charge a fee for tech and shop time.

• Make an appointment at an Apple Retail Store Genius Bar
• Find an Apple Authorized Service Provider
• See all worldwide support telephone numbers

An official Apple Store with Genius staff usually has much faster internet

access and can help you download and install the large OS X upgrades.

And other technical questions. Not sure where you are, or local availability.

{Usually, posts that include product Serial Numbers are removed so their info

cannot be used for unauthorized persons who may attempt to gain access or

to take advantage of any information they could use for illicit purpose. That is

to say, your image of the About This Mac likely will disappear. And, is why the

question was asked to clarify text line in first post, where latest OS X is listed.}

In any event...

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

Please launch the Console application in any one of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Click the Clear Display icon in the toolbar. Then take an action that isn't working the way you expect. Select any lines that appear in the Console window. Copy them to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of which is irrelevant to solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

Some private information, such as your name or email address, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

If you have an account on Pastebin, please don't select Private from the Paste Exposure menu on the page, because then no one but you will be able to see it.

First can you check that to see if you have Install Mac OS X El Capitan.app in your Applications folder, if so delete it.

Also check Launchpad for OS X icon, if you see it press and hold the cursor over the icon till it wiggles, click the x

to delete. Restart and relaunch the App Store and see if you can download. If not try the procedure below.

Above is the path to the folder that needs to be removed.

The folder is normally hidden by default, to make it visible follow instructions below.

In Finder use the Go To Folder item under Go and type in /private/var/folders in the text box

and from there navigate to zz and then the folder zyxvp........ ending in 68, control-click and then Move To Trash, don't delete

you could also drag it to the desktop before for extra safety.

Restart the Mac and relaunch the App Store and see if you are able to download now. The folder and files within it are regenerated on Restart.

If you are happy you can then empty the Trash and delete the one on the desktop if you did that.

If you are successful and the download completes, do this before you install it.

Look in your Applications folder for Install Mac Os X El Capitan.app, make a copy of it on an external disk or USB device.

This will save you having to download it again in case you need to.

Thanks for this. Your instructions still work these many months later. I was trying and trying to download ElCapitan and the little wheel just sat there spinning. I found this page, followed you directions and I am downloading as I type this!