6 Steps to Prepare a Mac for the OS X El Capitan Update
Mac users have the chance to update to OS X El Capitan 10.11 as a free download, but before jumping into the installation process to update your Mac to the latest OS X release, it’s a good idea to run through a few basic preparations.
1: Should You Install OS X El Capitan? What About Waiting for OS X 10.11.1?
This is a completely valid question; should you even bother to update OS X to El Capitan? And what about waiting for the first point release? The answer to this likely depends on a variety of factors, including what version of OS X is currently on the Mac.
If you’re currently running OS X Yosemite then updating to OS X EL Capitan is probably a good idea, in the same way that updating from OS X Lion to OS X Mountain Lion was a good idea and offered improvements. OS X El Captain is a revisional system update, meaning it aims to improve the OS experience rather than add on a bunch of new crazy features (though there absolutely are new features), and in that sense, El Capitan is quite effective. In testing and with other user reports, OS X El Capitan 10.11 seems to run at least as well if not better than OS X Yosemite 10.10.5, so if you’re running Yosemite it’s certainly a worthwhile update.
If the Mac is running OS X Mavericks, OS X Mountain Lion, or even Mac OS X Snow Leopard, you’ve got a tougher decision to make, mostly because you likely stayed on one of those earlier releases for a reason. Will OS X El Capitan offer a meaningful improvement over what OS X Mavericks or prior offers? Feature wise, of course it will, but sometimes new features matter less than whatever kept the user on a prior OS X version to begin with, whether it’s app compatibility, avoiding iCloud, the font and UI changes, or just operating under the popular mantra of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Thus some of these Mac users may just want to stay put on the earlier version, assuming they know that by doing so they’re going to miss out on various new features, security updates, and compatibility with future versions of some apps. This one is really going to be up to the specific user to decide, but if you like your Mac the way it runs now, it’s not a big deal to stay where you are.
Another approach for those hesitant to jump ship to a new system software update is to wait for the first point release, in this case, OS X 10.11.1 El Capitan. That point release update is already in beta, and will likely be finalized over the coming weeks/months as various bugs are patched and refinements are made to OS X 10.11. This is a perfectly reasonable update strategy that many Mac users employ, so if you don’t mind being a little bit conservative with your system updates rather than on the cutting edge, perhaps wait for OS X 10.11.1, or even OS X 10.11.2 before updating the Mac, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
2: Confirm the Mac Meets Necessary System Requirements
OS X El Capitan is pretty forgiving for system requirements, and the OS X 10.11 compatible Macs list include any Mac that is able to run OS X Mavericks or OS X Yosemite, offering a wide range of support. That basically means any Mac model from late 2008 or newer should work just fine with OS X El Capitan.
Disk space is also lenient, and will need about 10GB of disk space available to be able to download and install OS X El Capitan.
And no, the Mac does not need to be running the prior release before being able to install OS X 10.11. In other words, you do not need to install OS X Yosemite before updating to OS X El Capitan, you can upgrade directly from OS X Mavericks to OS X El Capitan simply by downloading the installer from the App Store and running it on a compatible Mac.
3: Update your Mac Apps to the Latest Versions
While almost all existing Mac apps that run in OS X Yosemite will run just fine in OS X EL Capitan without incident, it’s still good practice to update apps anyway. This is because many Mac developers update their apps to take full advantage of new abilities offered in the latest versions of OS X, and often updated apps run smoother and fix bugs that were discovered. As you perhaps know by now, updating apps in OS X is really quite easy to do:
- Quit out of running apps so that you can update any currently active applications too
- Go to the Apple menu and choose ‘App Store’
- Go to the Updates tab and install available updates for applications you use regularly
If there are system updates available in the list that require a reboot, you’ll want to start and complete a backup of your Mac before installing those.
Do keep in mind that some developers wait to update their software to be compatible with the latest versions of OS X a little bit later than others do.
4: Consider Some General House Keeping
By no means is housekeeping necessary for installing OS X El Capitan, but before updating the OS is a good time to clean up a computer a bit and get rid of stuff you no longer need, whether that’s apps or other types of clutter found on the hard disk. This is really just good Mac maintenance in general, nothing too outlandish:
- Uninstall unused applications that are lingering and taking up space
- Follow tips to free up disk space on a Mac if you’re running out of room on your hard drive
- Move excessive files off the desktop for better performance (and as part of a general routine to help focus)
- Reboot the Mac if you haven’t done so in a long time, this clears out various temporary files and caches
- Consider running Disk Utility to verify drive health and repair a hard disk, particularly if the computer or the hard drive is aging
You can do all of the above or none of the above, that’s really up to you.
5: Back Up the Mac, Backup the Mac, Backup the Mac, Did we Mention a Backup?
If you haven’t set up Time Machine backups on the Mac yet, you should get an external hard drive and do that.
Backing up is a critical step before installing system updates, because they allow you to quickly get back in order again should something go wrong with the Mac in the update process, and they help to prevent data loss in those extreme scenarios. Even if problems are relatively unlikely, don’t update OS X without making a backup of your stuff first.
Whatever you do, do not skip backing up your Mac. This is arguably the single most important preparation for installing a system software update, so don’t skip it! Backup!
6: Good to go? Install OS X El Capitan!
If you’ve confirmed your Mac is compatible, you’ve updated your apps, and you’ve backed up, and you know you want to run the latest release of Mac system software, then go ahead and click here to download and install OS X El Capitan, and enjoy!
Installation is very easy, it’s just a matter of downloading the update from the Mac App Store, pointing where to install (usually Macintosh HD), and letting it run. Installation takes about an hour or so to complete for most modern Macs, but it can take a bit longer depending on the speed of the Mac and other factors.
Im currently using Mac OS X V10.7.5(MacbookAir), I wish to upgrade any latest version, please give me details.
Would downloading the 10GB of El Capitan mean that I’ll have less 10GB storage memory on my Mac, or will it take this space only during installation?
Thanks in advanced,
Yotam.
The El Capitan installer is about 6GB, it will require about 10GB of storage to install. Once installation is complete, the installer will remove itself. Some additional storage space will still be taken up by the new features and updates, however, but it varies per Mac.
Be sure to backup your Mac beforehand.
Hi, I have an iMac mid 2007 running Lion OSX 10.7.5. What would be the best upgrade to next make. I’m hoping El Capitan will be possible but I’m not sure my version will meet El Capitan’s requirements. Any advice?
I ran into this post looking for answers as to whether to upgrade or not and sadly I run into comments made by Cameron, Zardoz, cannonballer, Jeffry Knudsen, Frumpo and Freed. Note to you: You seem to be a bunch of bullies and jerks.
“Look daddy! My computer is better than his, I am tech savy, I am a sheep who has joined the 100’s of millions of people who have the same computer I do, I am good at putting down the ones who have not done so and I am full of self importance because of it”
News for you: Get off your high horse and drop the self importance. Being “tech smart” does not make you a smart person or a likable human being, nor does owning a more expensive computer make you better than anyone else.
Hello,
If I upgrade my mac, any thing will delete like formate or any….
please help
Hi! I have a macbook air w/ the yosemite OS version. Should I download the el capitan update???? Will I lose all of my files???
Hi,
I need an advie too. We are running a 10.7.5 server that was working well until october.
Since then, some files makes mds crash and we had to stop spotlight and timemachine.
We checked file system, spotlight indexes, etc. but these files, copied on another 10.7.5 machine do the same… mds crash a few seconds after copy !
If one of these file is opened and modified on the server, it can be indexed again.
I “guess” El Capitan makes a difference. So can we move our server to this version with iMac clients running on 10.6.8 to 10.11 ?
Thank you for any information !
Hi, techno ignoramus in need of advice here…
I read that El Capitan is 6.17GB, but my Macbook only has 2GB of memory. Does that mean I have no chance of downloading El Capitan successfully?
(I tried it once and failed).
Any help would be much appreciated.
I’m still running Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5. Can i just download El Capitan or do I need to download mavricks first?
You can download OS X El Capitan and jump directly to that. Be sure to backup your Mac first, with Time Machine or your preferred method so that you keep your files secure, backups also allow you to downgrade back to Lion should you need to.
The update says it requires 6GB, does that take into account removing the old operating system? Does the update automatically remove the old operating system? Thanks.
Yes updating to OS X El Capitan upgrades the prior old operating system to the new one.
I downloaded el cap and my computer is shutting down 3or4 time an hr
my macbook pro retina can’t start up andy emulator after el capitan update nd it also forcely shutdowns…
any solution for this?
I regret installing El Capitan so much.
I am unable to use my hard drive now, thanks Apple…
Its pretty crazy the amount of times I have actually regretted updating things with Apple.
I have always been an Apple advocate but I am starting to get very tired of things like this..
I went and update my Mac Pro to the OS El Capitan and for got to back it up into a time machine now the update was not possible and my Mac is stuck what to do?
Hi I installed the update but my wireless keyboard wouldn’t connect I restarted the Mac now its just going round in loops of restarting over and over again I’ve shut it down for now as its irratting help me how do I stop this from happening.
I rue the day I made this upgrade. I should have read all of the above first. I have lost so much and it will take so long to recover! Live and learn I guess.
After upgrading to El Capitan, Mail keeps copying emails I delete. Does anyone know how to stop this? Thanks
I had iPhoto on the previous version with all of my photos on it and I updated to El Capitan recently and now I can’t open iPhoto because there is a new photo app on this version 10.11. Have I lost all of my pictures?? I cannot locate them anywhere on my MacBook now. How do I get them back? Please help :(
Open the Photos app and import your pictures into Photos app, there will be your pictures. Your photos in iPhoto are in the ~/Pictures/ folder of your home folder, something called iPhoto Library or similar.
Hi , I have mac book pro 2012 , my MacBook is running very slow even after indexing , it lags so much .. after that what I did I download new os x el caption from app store and try to installing in my MacBook , it is taking so much time .
can u please tell me how much time it will take to install in my system ?? It was showing 30 minutes left to complete installation , but after 5 hours , it is showing 23 min left what is this ? is it expected behavior ? then I put my mac to sleep in between installation is it fine ? can I continue after some time ??
Jameet, you can’t be serious. No of course you cant put the Mac to sleep in the middle of installation of an operating system? Come on, no. no.
Chances are you have very little disk space left to do the install, it’s recommended to have at least 20Gb free space. This will speed up the install. The quickest upgrade I’ve found is to download the installer and create a bootable install disk with it, google it the instructions are pretty simple. After you’ve created the install disk you can delete the el capital installer from your applications folder, and free up about 6Gb.
HI, I have macbook pro mid 2010 model running on os x lion 10.7.2.
and i have around 125 GBs left on my hard drive. Will it speed up the install with that much space. And the biggest question, IS IT WORTH INSTALLING THE EL CAPITAN 10.11.5, after so many negative reviews??????
Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I have MacBook Pro mid 2010 running on OS X Lion 10.7.5 and have been scared to pull the trigger on updates ( not to mention not tech savvy to know I had to download from the App Store – DOPE)
So, my real question to you all is…should I install after the bugs have been hammered out of El Capitan or keep living in the late 2010 jungle of the lion? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!
I have MacBook Pro late 2011 (Core i7 4GB) that has been running OS X Lion until now. I have been happy with Lion. But because my wife needed LibreOffice and it requires newer OS than Lion, I thought why not taking the big leap and jump to El Capitan.
Obviously it was a mistake. Actually my main use of this Mac has been listening music (using NuForce uDac-2) and creating music (recording with Focusrite Scarlett 2i2). Now, with El Capitan neither of these USB sound devices work!
I am not a big fan of the beach ball neither.
…so, where was my backup drive … there! Lion is the king!
Just hoping that USB works at least for external hard disk so that I can get my Mac quickly recovered from this adventure.
Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken – The golden rule!
I think I will follow your advise. I have OS X lion too, mid 2011 and have never had any problems with my IMac. I keep thinking of upgrading but am nervous about problems. Once this computer is finished I’ll just get a new one along with whatever comes with it. Thanks, you make sense.
Seems u should have put the , make sure to backup at top of page. Instead of at number 6 on list
I have recently upgraded to El Capitan and found that the option to securely delete files has dis-appear. This is very annoying as protecting one’s data is very important these day.
We always hear about the new features included in the new upgrade, but no mention of the feature that are being removed. It would be very useful to know what is being removed so that one can make informed decision whether to upgrade or stick with the current version.
My Yosemite OS is working well on my fairly new iMac, but if this takes 6+GB, will it ADD that to my hard drive, or will it drop the Yosemite GB first?
I have upgraded. I had 11GB free space while having Yosemite. After installing El Capitan, I find only 6 GB remaining. :(
But I am not sure if this is the reason or there could be other possibilities.
So I backed up the iMac onto my external drive. Now El Capitan will not acknowledge the external drives. Or ethernet. Without recognizing the external drive the TimeMachine back-up is not helping me here. What do I do????
Re-install the NTFS driver to get the hdd working again.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7259219?start=0&tstart=0
After installing El Capitan, all of my email accounts were combined. I DONT want them combined…how do I separate Cox and 2 Gmail accounts back the way they were?
You’re probably just viewing the entire mailbox rather than individual inboxes, be sure to select the inbox account you want to view in the sidebar of Mail app
Since updating, my external hard drive will no longer let me delete or add any files from or to my iMac.
Re-install the NTFS driver to get my hdd working again. It worked for me :)
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7259219?start=0&tstart=0
My Safari keeps crashing on my MacBook Pro,(Yosemite) will the new update sort it, or how can I replace the safari app ( I have google chrome on too so ok)
I STRONGLY advise people to wait for the 10.11.1 version of OS X I installed today on a late 2011 mac with upgrade RAM (Maximum) and an SSD HD and it literally killed my computer.. Installed fine but then a reboot meant it would not start any more… after wasting hours it seems that it was something to do with .KEXT files…
so, I did a clean install. No problem! this installed El Capitan again and all was well it booted fine after 3 hours of messing around…
BUT WAIT, El Capitan has known issues (according to the internet) with external hard drives and will not recognise my relatively new WD drive… which would be cool, if it didn’t have my time machine back up on it…!!!! So now I am downloading Yosemite to do a clean install with that in the hope it will solve my problems… thanks a million Apple for releasing software that is NOT ready for commercial release and wasting an entire day of my time…
… where should I send the invoice for billable hours???
PLEASE APPLE… ONLY RELEASE SOFTWARE WHEN READY….
I am having the same problem. Can I reinstall last OS?
Same problem here!
Same problem!
iMac 27 late 2012 – 3,2 GHz Intel Core i5 – 24 GB DDR3 a 1600 MHz.
Impossible to reboot!!! Impossible to recover my backup from my time capsule HD! The only solution is to re-download elcapitan but the problem still !!!! Now i cant no more switch off my mac!!!! APPLE WAKE-UP!!!!!
Try unplugging your peripherals. Same thing happens to me. I try to restart and it just sits there. I unplug my attached drives, etc. and it boots fine. Another bug!!!
I am running Maverick on MacBook Mid Late 2009, with Samsung SSD 840 EVO (TRIM enabled). Would it be a problem if I update to El Capitan? There would be one, what is it?
Thanks very much
I am still rocking Mavericks on my 2010 mbp 13″ 2.7 ghz. Should I update to El Capitan?
I didn’t update to yosemite because of the stability issues and it was slow as hell on my coworkers laptop. I do have an SSD though.
Suggestions are welcome
Because of the overload of Apple servers, I guess the download will last all night long.
In order to minimise bandwidth requests, I think Apple should release all major upgrades of its OSes starting out from the far East of the World.
I wrote a similar article, mainly about backing up! My philosophy is to always go for a clean install, so the clean-up tasks don’t really apply. Check it out!
http://busycreator.com/2015/09/24/prepare-with-purpose-for-os-x-10-11-el-capitan/
am currently running 10.10.4 Yosemite.
Even I have the same question as Rachel has
“If I update to ElCapitan will my existing programs/apps still work in the same way ?
No! Not all programs…
Try this site:
https://roaringapps.com/
You can look up any of your apps to validate compatibility.
I am California UNIX/Linux professional with 19 years of experience, who emigrated to Singapore.
Yes I use Windows, when it is asked of me, but I do not own a Windows box.
My mac could only get about 115Kbs using WiFi. The Dell NETbook (Linux) sitting next to it would get 50Mbps, and so would the Dell notebook (Windows). Later I learned that Bluetooth devices disrupt Mac WiFi. Problem sort of solved.
Next I got stuck in the “update” loop. The same three apps updated daily. I finally disabled spotlight, and deleted the index files to make it stop.
I disabled all the other stuff that bugged me. I rather not start over. I can at least use Microsoft Office now. :)
I am currently running 10.10.5 Yosemite.
If I update to ElCapitan will my”Aperture”program still work on this operating system
If I understand the info I have read, Aperture will be removed when you upgrade to El Capitan. However I also read that if you have Aperture version 3.6 you can copy that file to external media, then reload Aperture after the OSX upgrade and it will still work. “I found it on the internet, so it has to be true”.
I am going to try it, and see if it works though.
Totally false. Aperture isn’t removed at all. It remains in Applications, functions well on El Cap, but it isn’t being supported by upgrades any longer.
Rachel, feel free to upgrade, you won’t lose anything.
I upgraded. Aperture was not deleted. But it now shows a yellow rectangle for each of my photographs when viewed at full size, though the small thumbnails are still fine.
On-screen proofing no longer works in Aperture after the upgrade to El Capitan. (That’s the feature that allows you to see how your photos will actually look when printed with the specified color profile – if your monitor is properly calibrated.) If you disable that feature, your problem will go away, and the images in the Edit window will look normal (right now they probably look washed out and over-exposed.) But there is no guarantee that your photos will look as you expect them to look when you have them printed, or on other screens. For most photographers that’s a show-stopper. I have switched to LR, it has added lots of powerful and useful features in the past 3 years since Apple stopped Aperture development.
Cleanmymac is not ready yet… Vector magic is not ready yet… Fireworks cs6 have some little bugs… And little snitch is not ready yet… And total finder is not ready yet… If you dont worry about that the recomendation is upgrade now :)
I did not see a mention of a “clean install”–I have seen people suggest that it’s better to do a clean install, but I’m not sure how to do that or if it is any better than just running the installer that is downloaded.
Thoughts?
Thanks
Clean install:backup all your apps/data/music/photos etc etc. Format the disc and then reinstall you apps and reload data etc etc. It’s a bit of a last resort thing – like having a spring clean by taking all your belongings outside and then only bringing back in the stuff you want to keep. It shouldn’t take too long, but you might want to think about trying other things first, or as well: eg put in as much RAM as you possibly can (I have 8Gb of RAM in my 2008-MBP Pro even though the official maximum is 4Gb), an SSD, run Onyx to fix permissions etc.
Oh and I forgot to say that you need to make a bootable disc. Instructions here for example:
https://osxdaily.com/2015/09/30/create-os-x-el-capitan-boot-install-drive/
I forgot to say you need to make a bootable disc. I’ve posted a link to some instructions but my post is awaiting moderation, – if you Google there’ll be tons of instructions around about how to do this. Diskmaker X makes it pretty easy.
Andy, I’m running a MacBook Pro 3.1 from 2007-8. I upgraded to a SSD and added a 4gig ram card to get 6gigs of ram. OWC said it would work and it has. I’ve been debating loading in El Capitan when I saw your post about putting in two 4gig cards to get 8gigs of ram. You think it would work for me?
A word of advise….if your Mac is running fine now then why bother with a clean install. Just do these steps listed above and upgrade, and skip the clean install.
Yeah, the “purists” will say a clean install is better but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. You will save yourself a lot of headaches if something goes wrong…..
Phred, while I don’t question your brain function, I am curious as to the issues you were having. I had 20 of my 40 + workstations running 10.10 with no trouble. These were business office, sales and design workstations. One video editing Mac. Mostly iMacs and MacBook pros. 4 to 16 GB ram.
No problems.
Please tell me that the Bluetooth issues have been remedied.
That is why I am upgrading right now. Fingers crossed.
Yosemite disabled the mini dvi to hdmi interface that worked fine with Maverick. Does El Capitan fix that issue?
However I have had some problems with “speaking text”, but that is not an OS X problem. That is my inability to spot all the errors before I push the publish button! Apparently the extra “had” and “not” in my post will certainly change the meeting to the nitpickers.
Phred, its most likely that the issues did not lie within the OS itself, but rather with the lack of updates to the applications that you are running, either by yourself or the producer of the software.
I have a little 2011 13″ MacBook Pro. It doesn’t even have a disk drive. I have had never had anything less than stellar performance out of this little laptop. I have upgraded the moment I could just because I could and I have never experienced any problems whatsoever in any of the upgrades. I have never had to go through any pains to make anything livable either on my Mac or my PCs. Am I lucky or just not one of those people who is not pathetically unhappy over everything regardless of what it is? I don’t think I’m either. I just think I’m one of the millions of “garden-variety users” who have never had to consider — even one time — if my experience was “stellar” or not.
Huh? A MacBook Pro without a disk drive? What do you do with it? Betcha it’s decorative clutter on your desk!
in the 21st century you do not need a Disk drive. In, fact if you are still using anything that weighs more than albs for a lap top you are not very tech smart. I can say the same for if you have a new laptop with a disk drive you are in the same boat and really should consider joining the 100 of millions in the 21 century. Everything you could get from a disk you can download and more than likely for free. I do however have a super disc drive just incase I come across something from the 90’s…
Sounds as if there’s a pissing match going on .. I have a little 13″ Mac Book Air (2015) without a disk drive and get by just fine.. Yes the disk drive can be confenient at times, but it’s surely not needed ..
Yes, I am still lugging around my mega-weight MacBook Pro year that I got in 2010 from my school bookstore. Why? Because it cost me a lot of money and I don’t have money to purchase a new one. Many of us are in love with tech and being tech savvy, but I’m a student and just getting by. I’d love to win a new laptop or receive one as a gift, but until then, I have my faithful workhorse of a computer. It’s also nice to have a disc drive for when you have no internet available or you need to reinstall older software (that works just fine and you can’t afford to upgrade). I can understand your argument here, but my older Mac does work very well and I am happy with it – except for the weight factor. I have a bad shoulder and last year injured my thumb and wrist from all the weight and am now under treatment. Just got my first cortizone shot in my wrist and have started physical therapy.
Fred, is that you again? Tisk tisk. Naughty naughty, trolling isn’t smart.
Phred,
In the past year both of my sisters (non-geek computer users) have made the switch from Windows to Mac. After the moderate learning curve going from Mircrosoft to OS X they are both happy they’ve made the change.
As Cameron said I’m not sure what you mean about making Yosemite livable. It sounds like you still have your Windows hat on and aren’t will to accept how easy the Mac OS is to live with.
Seems that Phred has gone dark. :-)
Phred? You “went through great pains to make Yosemite livable”? What are you talking about? Have you considered that there might be something wrong with your brain?
There is no need to be rude. Can we not make our point in the nicest way?
Cameron, adults are helpful to one another. You can be so, too.
I have to live with this mac simply because it made a huge dent in my wallet. experience has been less than “stellar”. That being the case I went through great pains to make Yosemite livable. I have no plan to update, and then end up starting over.
When the little red badge shows up, can I hide the update so my wife does not accidently accept it?
Thanx
OS X El Capitan is mostly Yosemite 2.0, making it an improvement on the predecessor. I share your dislike of OS X Yosemite, which is finally usable at version 10.10.5, but really OS X El Capitan is an improvement on Yosemite with a more readable font and a generally faster less sluggish performance.
In case it wasn’t clear, as the author recommends, OS X El Capitan is a good update if you’re on Yosemite. The update debate starts if you’re on an earlier version of OS X like Mavericks, which is fast and stable. Agree completely with Paul Horowitz on that set of recommendations.
Tried El Capitan. Worked fine until I re started the computer. Would not start. Stopped and did not do anything. Tried everything. Nothing worked. So, did a re install. Same thing. Went back to Yosemite from back up Time Machine, and all is good again. There is something wrong with this thing somehow. I’m using a 6 month old Macbook Pro. No reason I can think of for this to happen.
Are you kidding? Install El Capitan.
You won’t see it as an update. You have to find it on the featured page and download independently.
That said, this upgrade is well worth it. Apple aren’t Microsoft.