Can I Update My Mac

Summary :

When you update your macOS, you may find the process is not smooth. If your Mac won't update, you will ask: why can't I update my Mac? Now, MiniTool Software will show you different symptoms, reasons, solutions. Besides, it also introduces a Mac file recovery tool to rescue your Mac files when needed.

Here are all the ways you can start streaming. If you need more help. Apple App Store Google Play Samsung TV. TV, Internet, and Digital Providers. This means if you have any version of OS X newer than 10.9 then you can upgrade it to the latest version for free. There are three ways you can upgrade. Download the Installer from Apple directly to the computer that you want to install the new OS X onto. Take your computer into the nearest Apple Store and they will do the upgrade for you. If your Mac isn't supported still, you could still upgrade to OS X El Capitan. Download the update from the App Store. The Mac App Store is the best, and usually only, place to download macOS updates. Be careful downloading update files from other sources.

Mac Won't Update: Symptoms and Reasons

When you want to update your Mac to the latest version, you may find that you can't update it successfully. How to format memory stick on mac. Then, you will ask: why can't I update my Mac or why won't my Mac update?

This is not a rare issue. Many Mac users are facing the same problem as you. But the specific situations are various. Here we will show you some common symptoms and reasons.

Situation 1: A Critical Software Update Is Required for Your Mac

Symptom:

In most cases, you just find you can't update your macOS when it's time to boot your Mac. Your Mac doesn't boot up normally, with an error message saying A critical software update is required for your Mac, but an error was encountered while installing this update. Your Mac can't be used until this update is installed.

Reason: Window focus dim screen 1 0 6.

The macOS process is not finished. You still need to wait patiently until the whole process ends. However, if you still can't update macOS after Max reboot, you need to think about other possibilities like disk errors, macOS update interruptions, etc.

Situation 2: You Need to Restart Your Computer

Symptom:

During the macOS update process, your Mac can also boot into an interface with error messages of four or five languages: You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds, or press the Restart button.

Reason:

There are likely some temporary errors on your Mac. You need to restart your Mac to remove these errors.

Situation 3: macOS could not be installed on your computer

Symptom:

Another phenomenon is that you can't install the new macOS on your computer and only receive an error message saying macOS could not be installed on your computer.

Reason:

The following message just shows you the reason: a certain path is missing or damaged. You need to quit the installer and then restart your Mac to try to update your Mac again.

Situation 4: The macOS Installation Couldn't Be Completed

Symptom:

The macOS installation couldn't be completed is another common situation that happens during the macOS update process. It just stops you from installing the macOS successfully. The following screenshot is a real example from Reddit.

Reason:

When the macOS installation is interrupted unexpectedly, this situation can easily happen. Such situations include power failure, battery dead, and computer force shutdown. Of course, there are also some other causes like the installer is corrupted, the system disk crashed, and more.

Situation 5: There Is Not Enough Free Disk Space

Symptom:

When you select a disk to install macOS, a prompt shows that There is not enough free space on the selected volume to upgrade the OS. An additional **** GB is required.

Reason:

When you want to upgrade macOS, you need to make sure that there is enough free space on the disk. Otherwise, Mac will not update successfully.

First, you can go to check how much available disk space on your Mac: click the Apple menu and then go to About This Mac > Storage to have a look. If the available space is not enough, you need to take some measures to free up disk space. This post shows you some methods: How to Clear Disk Space on Mac and Recover Mac Data?

Next, you should update your Mac successfully.

Situation 6: Your Mac Is Unbootable or Crashed

Symptom:

In some cases, after the macOS update, your Mac computer just crashes or you can't boot it as usual. For example, your Mac boot into a black screen, or a white screen, or a gray screen. Even sometimes, it won't turn on.

Reason:

Such a situation usually means that your boot disk encounter issues. You need to repair it. However, if the disk is physically damaged, you will need to replace it with a new one.

Of course, there are also some other situations like Update Not Found, Installation failed An error occurred while installing the selected updates, macOS update stuck for a long time, etc. We will not list all of them here.

You can see that most of the error messages remind you to restart your Mac to get rid of the issue. However, this method may not work for you. If so, you can also try the solutions we will introduce in the following part.

Why Rebooting a Computer Fixes Problems? Answers Are Here

What Can I Do If My Mac Won't Update

How to Fix Mac Won't Update?

1. Use Safe Mode
2. Reinstall macOS in Recovery Mode
3. Update Your macOS Properly
4. Repair/Replace the Damaged Mac Disk

Solution 1: Use Safe Mode

Booting your Mac into Safe Mode can check whether your Mac issue is caused by software that loads as your Mac starts up. It can also solve some errors on your Mac. You can even update your Mac in Safe Mode.

If you are using an Intel-based Mac, you can follow this guide to enter Safe Mode:

1. Shut down or force shut down your Mac.
2. About 10 seconds later, you can press the Power button and immediately press & hold the Shift key.
3. When you see the login window, you can release the Shift key.

If you are using a Mac with Apple silicon, you can follow this guide to enter Safe Mode:

1. Shut down or force shut down your Mac.
2. About 10 seconds later, you can press & hold the Power button until you see the startup disks and Options.
3. Press and hold the Shift key, and then click Continue in Safe Mode.

After entering Safe Mode, you can update macOS again.

Solution 2: Reinstall macOS in Recovery Mode

You can also reinstall macOS in Recovery Mode. During the whole process, you need to make sure the network connection is enabled and works smoothly.

1. Shut down your computer completely.
2. Press the Power button, and immediately press & hold the Command and R keys.
3. Release the keys when you see the Apple logo.
4. Type your password if prompt.
5. You will enter the macOS Utilities Next, click Reinstall macOS and follow the guide to reinstall macOS.

Solution 3: Update Your macOS Properly

Why can't I update my Mac? Another possibility is that you don't update macOS properly. Some of you may ask: well, how to update my macOS?

Here, you need to know that during the macOS update process, the network connection must be enabled and works normally. Then, you can follow this guide to update your macOS:

1. Click the Apple menu and then select System Preferences.
2. Click Software Update to check for updates on your Mac.
3. If your computer finds available updates, you can click the Update Now button to install them. If the Software Update interface shows that your Mac is up to date, the installed macOS version on your Max is the latest.

Solution 4: Repair/Replace the Damaged Mac Disk

If all of the above solutions can't help you solve the issue of Mac won't update, there should be something wrong with your Mac disk.

In a situation like this, you can first use Disk Utility to repair your Mac disk. You can refer to this post to do the job: How to Use Disk Utility on Mac | Partition/Repair/Restore Drive? If your Mac can't boot normally, you can enter the Recovery Mode and then select Disk Utility to repair your Mac disk.

However, if the Mac disk can't be repaired, you need to replace it with a new one. Since there are many important files on the disk, you may need to rescue these files if the disk is inaccessible and there are no available backup files.

You can use professional Mac data recovery software to recover your Mac files. You can use Stellar Data Recovery for Mac.

Step 1: Recover Your Mac Files

Stellar Data Recovery for Mac is specially designed to recover files on a Mac computer. It has a trial edition. You can use it to scan the drive you want to recover data from. Then, you can check the scan results and find your needed files. If you want to use this software to recover all your needed files, you can use a full edition.

You can get this software from MiniTool's official download center.

How to use this software to restore your Mac files? Here is a guide:

1. Download and install this software on your Mac, and then open it.

2. Select the data type(s) you want to recover and click Next to continue.

3. When you see the following interface, you need to select the drive you want to scan and click Scan to start the scanning process. Besides, if you want to perform a deep scan, you need to turn on the button for Deep Scan (on the left bottom side) on this interface before scanning.

4. After scanning, you can see the scan results. If this software can find your needed files, you can upgrade it to an advanced edition and recover all files without limits. Here, you should save files to a drive that can work normally.

Moreover, there is another possibility: your Mac is unbootable. In a situation like this, if you want to recover your Mac files, you can use Stellar Data Recovery Bootable Edition.

You need to use the professional edition or more advanced edition of this software to create such an edition. Then, you can set your Mac to boot from this software and use it to recover your Mac files to a suitable location.

Step 2: Reinstall macOS

Now, you can feel free to reinstall macOS on the new drive. Apple has an official post that shows you how to reinstall macOS: How to reinstall macOS?

These are the solutions to solve the Mac won't update issue. We hope they can help you solve your issue.

Bottom Line

Why can't I update my Mac? After reading this post, you should know the answer. Besides, you also know how to fix this issue using different methods.

Should you have any related issues, you can let us know in the comment. You can also contact us via [email protected].

Why Can't I Update My Mac FAQ

Say hello to macOS 10.13 High Sierra, the new operating system for Mac desktops and notebooks that brings some impressive under-the-hood refinements. If you were expecting some big overhauls, chances are you'll be disappointed at a first view. But look closer and you'll discover the fine details that amount to a better user experience and more power for your Mac.

Upgrading to macOS High Sierra is seamlessly simple, taking up little time and almost no effort. And with the upgrade guide we've prepared, you're going to be running the new OS in no time.

Why you should upgrade to macOS High Sierra

The team at Apple went right on target, tweaking those features and apps that promise to be in the spotlight in the near future. With a new and improved AFPS file system, a faster browser (which promises to be the fastest on the market), stellar graphics, better gaming capabilities, and VR support, macOS 10.13 is definitely here to make a stand.

To really give your Mac a boost, upgrading to the new High Sierra is kind of mandatory. Think only about how much space you'll save with the new operating system that compresses video up to 40% more. macOS High Sierra also comes with an improved Photos app, that now offers professional editing tools that will keep you hooked to find the perfect composition. Of course, the most important upgrade comes from Metal 2, which promises stellar GPU and CPU capabilities while opening the world toward VR and AR.

So, to conclude: upgrade to macOS High Sierra for more space, speed, and power. We should have started with that, right?

How to prepare for the macOS High Sierra upgrade

Now that you've decided that you cannot live without the new macOS 10.13 High Sierra, it's time to thoroughly prepare for the upgrade. Do note that the beta version now available may not contain all the features, so if you want to upgrade for a specific feature, make sure it's included. Let's go!

In order to prepare to upgrade to High Sierra you should, of course, verify if your Mac is compatible with the new system. As a general rule, any late 2009 Mac or newer will theoretically be able to run it without any issues.

Next, you should do a thorough Mac cleanup https://outrutipva1976.mystrikingly.com/blog/divvy-mac. to have it running smoothly even before upgrading. A complete cleaning process includes deleting duplicate documents, photos, and files, while also removing temporary files and cache data that built up in the background. You can do this manually (if you have the patience) or you can turn to an app such as CleanMyMac X to have it do all the dirty work for you.

Having a healthy Mac is key to making the most and enjoying the best of macOS High Sierra. Thus, it's mandatory to check if your Mac has any issues before performing the upgrade. How?

1. Open Disk Utility
2. Select your startup drive
3. Click on the First Aid tab

If you're lucky, your Mac won't have any problems. But if you live in the real world, you'll have to perform some repairs by using the Repair Disk. Restart and hold Command+R to perform the repairs with Disk Utility.

The final preparation step regards the free space necessary for macOS High Sierra. The official sources from apple.com recommend having 8GB of free space before upgrading to the new system, but we feel more comfortable with reserving about 15GB. What can we say, we like our space. If you don't have enough space, that means you Mac still needs a bit of cleaning.

How to backup Mac before the upgrade

Backing up your Mac before a major upgrade is a necessity, especially if you're going for a beta version. You don't want to risk losing any precious info, so there's no excuse for skipping this step.

You can easily backup your Mac by turning to Apple's own software, Time Machine, that saves a copy of everything on your Mac on hourly, daily, monthly, and weekly backups. What's more, except the automatic backups, you can also customize the process and have your most precious docs and files backed up manually from System Preferences.

In order to use Time Machine, you also need an external storage device. How big? The bigger the better. Choose your favorite from USB, SDD, NAS drive, or Thunderbolt hard drive.

Step by step upgrade to macOS High Sierra

Once you've prepared your Mac for the upgrade, it's time to get the process started. Read on to find a comprehensive guide to a fast and safe upgrade.

1. Choose a safe and trusted network for the upgrade
   All major upgrades should be done from a trusted network, adding speed and safety to your download and installation. The best place to perform the upgrade is from the comfort of your home network and you should avoid WIFI connections and especially hotels, restaurants, or public networks.
2. Log into iCloud
   This step is pretty straightforward, yet necessary for the upgrade process, as many Mac apps have iCloud integrated parts. So, to have everything run smoothly, log into your account, and proceed.
3. Update to the latest version of your current OS
   To avoid any problems in the upgrade process, having the latest updated version for your current OS is mandatory. Why? Because your OS is going to be as stable as possible, with all the initial issues fixed and all bugs eliminated.
   Make sure you're running the latest updated version by checking the Updates folder in the App store.
   It's also important to have all 3rd party apps updated to their latest version as well. Check the apps purchased through the App Store by using the same method as above. For the other apps you've externally brought in you'll need to perform a manual update.
4. Download macOS High Sierra
   Right now, macOS High Sierra is already available for all users. You can download it in the standard fashion on the Mac App Store.
   Here's the direct link.
   
5. Upgrade to macOS High Sierra
   Open the installer from Applications (if it doesn't open automatically) and hit continue. The on-screen instructions are going to make it really easy for you, so follow them religiously and you won't be able to do any wrong. That's it!

Next, make sure to set up for automatic updates from your System Preferences and the App Store, in order to always have your Mac performing at its best.

Catalina Update Mac

So there you have it! We hope you enjoy the upgraded features and your Mac's new regained speed and, hopefully, extra space.
Mac os high sierra macbook pro mid 2014.

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