How To Mac

How to Direct Download and Install macOS Catalina

Written by John

macOS 10.15 Catalina is the successor to macOS Mojave. macOS Catalina comes with many improved and needed features like iCloud File Sharing, Redesigned Reminders App, and many better tools for managing your Apple accounts. macOS 10.15 Catalina is known as the fastest Mac Operating System. In the Catalina upgrade, Apple has implemented many fixes which make the macOS faster and more efficient.

We will show you how to download macOS Catalina in two easy ways and install on your Mac.

List Of Compatible Devices

These are the Mac devices compatible with upgrading to macOS 10.15 Catalina.

  • MacBook: (Early 2015 or newer)
  • MacBook Air: (Mid 2012 or newer)
  • MacBook Pro: (Mid 2012 or newer)
  • MacBook Pro: (Mid 2012 or newer)
  • Mac Mini: (Late 2012 or newer)
  • iMac: (Late 2012 or newer)
  • iMac Pro: (2017)
  • Mac Pro: (Late 2013 or newer)

To install macOS Catalina. You will require 4GB of memory and 12.5GB of storage to make it run smoothly.

How to Direct Download macOS 10.15 Catalina

Direct Download macOS Catalina From Terminal

1. Open the Terminal in macOS

The first step is to open the in-built Terminal on your Mac system. You can open the Terminal from the Spotlight Search or from the Utilities section. Click on the ‘Magnifying Glass’ icon present in the menu bar. Else, you can run the following command to open the Spotlight Search of your Mac.

Open Terminal in macOS Mojave

Search ‘Terminal’ in the Search Bar, and press the ‘Return’ key. Now, wait for the result to show on your screen. Click on the ‘Terminal’ under the ‘Top Hit’ section to access the terminal to download macOS.

2. Check Available macOS on Terminal

Now, execute the below-mentioned command to get the list of available updates. Type this command in your macOS in-built terminal. Now, you will see the list of all available updates based on your system configuration. Yes, the updates may vary from configuration to configuration.

softwareupdate --list-full-installers

List Version of macOS Catalina

3. Download macOS Catalina

We will now use the ‘Terminal’ to download and install macOS 10.15.7 Catalina. You will need to run the mentioned command to download the macOS.

softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer version-number

Replace the ‘version number’ text with the actual version number you want to install. For instance, we want to install macOS version ‘10.15.7,’ so replace the version number text with ‘10.15.7.’ We have mentioned the same below.

softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer 10.15.7

Download macOS 10.15 Catalina with Terminal

After entering the following command, you will see a message stating that the installation is in progress. The default download path will be set to the Applications directory of your Mac system.

Download macOS 10.15 Catalina from AppStore

Head over to the ‘App Store,’ and look for the ‘Search’ button in the menu. In the ‘Search Bar,’ type ‘macOS Catalina’ and press ‘Return.’ Now, click on the ‘Get’ button to download macOS. You can open App Store link here to download new version of macOS Catalina.


Download macOS Catalina in App Store

This is how you can install and download macOS from the App Store.

How to Clean Install macOS Catalina

1. Take Full Backup

Before clean install macOS 10.15.7, we need to create a backup of our current drive. We will be on the safe side if something goes wrong. So, connect an external device (USB) and start taking the backup of your current Mac version with Time Machine.

2. Create a Bootable Catalina USB Installer Drive

To clean install macOS Catalina, we will create a bootable macOS installer drive. Here are a few requirements to create a bootable installer drive.

1. USB Flash Drive (>16GB)
2. Mac Compatible with macOS Catalina
3. Install macOS 10.15 Catalina.app file in Applications folder

Open the ‘Terminal’ from the ‘Utilities’ section or ‘Spotlight’ search, and run the following command.

Create macOS Catalina USB Installer

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Data

With “Data” is my USB Name, After typing the mentioned command, hit the 'Return' key. Now, enter your administrator password in the given field to complete the disk creation process.

Press ‘Y’ on your keyboard when it shows a prompt asking to give the system permission to erase the current disk. You will also see the progress on your Mac screen. After erasing the disk, Terminal will ask you to give access to copy the removed files.

3. Boot to macOS Catalina USB Installer

Again, restart your computer to execute and see the changes. Now, immediately press the ‘Option’ button until the boot selection menu displays on your display. Then choose ‘Install macOS Catalina’ from the selection menu.

4. Choose ‘Disk Utility’ from the ‘macOS Utilities Screen.’

Select ‘Macintosh HD’ from the ‘Disk Utility’ section. Head over to the ‘Format’ option, and choose ‘APFS.’ Then choose ‘Erase’ from the given options. Once it is done, you need to quit the Disk Utility.

Open Disk Utility

5. Install macOS 10.15 Catalina

On the macOS ‘Utilities’ screen, select ‘Install macOS’ from the options to install macOS Catalina.

Install macOS Catalina

Choose ‘Macintosh HD’ to install macOS 10.15.7 Catalina. Then, click on the ‘Install button.’ Now, it will start installing macOS on your Mac. After installing macOS Catalina, your Mac will automatically reboot. So, don’t interrupt it.

These were the steps to create a direct download and install macOS Catalina. We hope you followed all the steps correctly and achieved the desired results without any issues. Do let us know whether it worked for you or not. In addition, if you face any issues during the process, you can ask in the comment section. We would be happy to assist you.

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