17-08-2021

Install Catalina Mac

macOS Catalina is slightly outdated since the release of macOS Big Sur in November of 2020. Nevertheless, many users prefer to stick with it because it's much more familiar visually. And it offers a bunch of expanded features, such as a screen extension with an iPad or the new Apple Podcasts app.
The problem is that it might not always work as intended. Glitches in macOS Catalina are commonplace: in fact, all existing operating systems like Mojave or High Sierra could freeze and crash from time to time. No software is immune.

In this video, I go over the process of installing macOS 10.15 Catalina on an unsupported Mac. This entire process involves the use of my 'macOS Catalina Pat. When you have a compatible Mac and the macOS Catalina download completes, but there’s no prompt for the installation to continue, then search in your Mac’s application folder for a file called. The latest MacBooks are compatible (Image credit: Apple) 1. Check your device is compatible. Before you download and install macOS Catalina, you'll need to make sure that the Mac or MacBook you're. Mac OS Catalina Download & Installation Guide After you have cleared up your computer and created a backup, you are all set to download and install Catalina. There are 2 methods of installing Catalina, one is a regular install and other a Clean install (regular installation process is covered here).

But what do you do in this case? The surefire way to deal with jaded performance is to reinstall macOS Catalina altogether. Read through our guide below to learn how.

How To Reinstall Mac OS Catalina

It’s important to note that when you reinstall macOS Catalina the process simply updates the operating system and doesn’t affect any files on your hard drive or user files or even settings. That makes reinstalling principally different from performing a clean install, which erases everything.

Here are the proper steps to follow to reinstall mac OS Catalina.

1. Back up your Mac first

By default, the best thing you could do before making any significant changes to how your Mac works is to back it up. Backups are just like saves before encountering challenges in video games — represent the point you can always come back to.

There are lots of great backup solutions on the market to suit every need. If you don’t have the time to search for something specific, your Mac features a decent native option — Time Machine.

To get Time Machine started:

  1. Connect an external USB or WiFi hard drive to your Mac
  2. Go System Preferences ➙ Time Machine
  3. Click on Select Backup Disk…
  4. Press Use Disk

2. Delete junk off your Mac to speed it up

There’s nothing better than the feeling of a brand new Mac with a brand new macOS. If only the latter is new, the experience could be subpar. Trying to get the most out of macOS Catalina on your older machine might be a challenge. But don’t hurry to your local Apple Store just yet — not all is lost.

Just like the dust behind your couch or on the top of your kitchen cupboards, small bits of system files, caches, and hidden libraries tend to aggregate over the years and never get deleted, eventually slowing down everyday processes. While it’s possible to clear out some of them manually, others require specific technical knowledge and lots of time.

Luckily, there’s a professional automatic solution available — CleanMyMac X. Optimizing behind-the-curtain processes on your Mac with CleanMyMac X is no more difficult than clicking a single button:

  1. Download a free version of CleanMyMac X.
  2. Open the app and navigate to System Junk in the left-side panel.
  3. Click Scan and wait for the process to complete.
  4. When done, press Review Details.
  5. Uncheck anything you’d like to keep and click Clean.

Now your Mac is free of all the pointless log files, user caches, language files, old updates, and more. Which directly translates into improved processing power, memory usage, and response time. At last, your Mac is ready to take full advantage of macOS Catalina.

3. Reinstall macOS Catalina in Recovery Mode

With your Mac in top shape, it’s time to get that macOS Catalina download link. Surprisingly, you won’t find it in Software Update or even App Store (where it used to be in macOS High Sierra).

The correct way to reinstall macOS Catalina is to use your Mac’s Recovery Mode:

  1. Restart your Mac and then hold down ⌘ + R to activate Recovery Mode.
  2. In the first window, select Reinstall macOS ➙ Continue.
  3. Agree to the Terms & Conditions.
  4. Select the hard drive you’d like to reinstall mac OS Catalina to and click Install.

Automatically update all your software for Catalina

The reinstallation process will start shortly and roughly take 30 minutes. When complete, your Mac will start up as usual. No files should be lost, but it’s always a good idea to check CleanMyMac X’s Applications Updater to see if you can improve compatibility of the new macOS with any of your existing apps:

  1. Launch CleanMyMac X.
  2. In the left-side panel, navigate to Updater.
  3. View any available updates and their notes and click on Update.

This Updater tool in CleanMyMac X automatically searches for latest available versions of ALL your apps. One or two clicks and everything feels fresh. It even updates the macOS file itself.

Trust in your backup

Finally, in case you notice any files or apps missing, or settings misconfigured, you could open up Time Machine to restore a specific folder or the whole backup from the step one:

  1. Launch Time Machine from Applications.
  2. Simply scroll all backup versions to find the file you’re looking for.
  3. Click Restore.

If you decide to restore the whole backup, make sure to then repeat the whole process to optimize your Mac and reinstall macOS Catalina as detailed above. The good thing is that more often than not the reinstallation works wonders right from the first time.

macOS 10.15, also known as macOS Catalina, is Mac’s most recent—next-generation—operating system. Apple’s macOS Catalina comes with more to offer compared to its predecessors. A few of this operating system’s features include experience-dedicated apps for podcasts, TV, and music. The best part about this OS is that upgrading is easy and free for all Mac users.

Before getting started, you first have to check if your Mac meets Catalina’s hardware requirements so you can proceed to install it. Here is a list of Mac devices and models compatible with macOS Catalina:

  • MacBook 2015 and later
  • MacBook Air 2012 or later
  • MacBook Pro 2012 or later
  • Mac Mini 2012 or later
  • iMac 2012 or later
  • iMac Pro 2017 or later
  • Mac Pro 2013 or later

You can follow these steps to find out the kind of Mac you have:

  1. Navigate to the Apple menu.
  2. Select About This Mac.
  3. The Overview tab will display your Mac from the Overview tab.

Important Information About macOS Catalina

In macOS Catalina, Apple no longer supports any 32-bit apps. Therefore, any apps on your Mac that have not been updated from 32-bit to 64-bit will not function on this OS.

To identify the 32-bit apps on your Mac, follow these steps:

How to install catalina mac
  1. On your screen’s top left corner, click on the Apple icon.
  2. Select About This Mac.
  3. At the bottom of the window, click on the button labeled System Report.
  4. On the window’s left side, click on Applications (under the Software section).
  5. A list of applications will populate.
  6. To find the 64-bitcolumn,move to the right using your cursor. Any 32-bit apps will have No listed in this column.

Before you can upgrade to macOS Catalina, there a few things you have to sort out first, such as:

Install Catalina Mac Pro 5 1

  • Confirmation of your Mac’s compatibility for macOS Catalina.
  • Creation of a Time Machine backup.
  • Ensuring your Mac has sufficient storage to download, install, and upgrade to macOS Catalina.

Creating a Time Machine Backup

Before upgrading to macOS Catalina, it is crucial to create a Time Machine backup. The reason for the backup is a safety measure for when you find your Mac to be incompatible with the Catalina OS, which means you can erase the upgrade and restore it using the backup you created.

Creating a backup whether upgrading or downgrading your Mac is not only a good idea, but also imperative. Unless you would not mind losing everything, we highly recommend creating a Time Machine backup before upgrading to macOS Catalina. Without the backup, it would take a lot of time to restore your system to its previous OS. You would have to download each program, plug-in, and driver once more.

Follow these steps to format an external hard drive for macOS:

  1. Start Disk Utility, which you can find by navigating to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
  2. Choose the hard drive device and then click on Erase (if initiated, the process is irreversible)
  3. Choose a name for your drive (e.g., My Backup) and select the format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled), then click on Erase.

Follow these steps to create a Time Machine backup drive:

  1. Start Time Machine and click on Select Disk.
  2. Connect a drive (reformatted or empty).
  3. Select the drive you have just connected (e.g., My Backup) and click on Use Disk.
  4. Click on the Backup taskbar icon and then select Backup Now.

Downloading macOS Catalina

The upgrade to the macOS Catalina process involves two steps: backup and installation. After you have created a backup, the next step is visiting the App Store to download the macOS installer. Depending on your internet speed, the download may take some time. Upon completing the download, you can install the macOS Catalina app that you can find in your Applications folder.

Storage Space Required for the Download

macOS Catalina needs storage of 12.5GB to 18GB for upgrading. Therefore, if you have insufficient space on your Mac, you can make a backup of some files then delete them from your system to avail the storage required.

Upgrading from Mac OS X Older Versions

Any older versions of Mac OS X 10.7-10.10 have to first upgrade to Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11 version before upgrading to macOS Catalina, which you can download from Apple’s Catalina download page.

To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Launch the System Preferences menu, and thenselect Software Update.
  2. Click on the Download or Upgrade Now button to begin the download of the Catalina installer.

Installing macOS Catalina

Follow these steps to install macOS Catalina:

Cannot Install Catalina Mac 10.15 How To Fix

  1. After completion of the macOS Catalina installation app download, the installer will automatically launch itself. If not, go to your Mac’s Applications folder and double click the Install macOS Catalina app.
  2. Follow the instructions that appear on-screen to finish the upgrade and start using the OS.
  3. Select an external drive to create an external drive for macOS or an internal drive to upgrade the Mac when prompted.

Install Catalina Mac 2011

macOS Catalina’s New Features

Follow these steps to complete installing macOS Catalina’s new features:

  1. After macOS Catalina installs, your Mac will restart.
  2. After it has started, click on the Apple icon and select About This Mac to view the Catalina OS version.