How to Update macOS Software

Apple releases Mac OS updates periodically. These updates help you keep your Mac more stable, secure, and it brings better performance. These updates not only help you update operating system, but it also includes updates for apps that are part of macOS such as Safari, iTunes, and more.

Once you receive a notification for a software update, you can pick the time to install the updates or simply select to be reminded the next day. You can also update Mac OS manually in the Software Update pane of System Preferences.  

You can visit the App Store to find updates to software you’ve downloaded from the App Store.

Note: Before you click the update button, you should free up disk storage on your Mac. To do this, you can use advanced Mac cleaner tools like Cleaner One Pro. This smart solution is designed to help you find & clean unnecessary files & applications to recover valuable disk space required for OS upgrade. The best part is Cleaner One Pro is all-in-one Mac disk cleaning software that helps you visualize, manage, and clean disk space in just one-click.

How to get updates for macOS Mojave or later

If you have already upgraded to macOS Mojave or later, you need to follow below mentioned steps to keep the OS up to date.

1. Go to Apple menu > System Preferences, and click Software Update. Alternatively, select Apple menu > About This Mac, then click Software Update.
2. Now to install all available updates, click the Update Now button. If you want to check details of each available update, you can click More info option. Here, you can choose specific updates to install.

• Once it completes updating software, you will find a message your Mac is up to date. It means the installed version of macOS and apps that are part of macOS are updated. These apps include iTunes, Safari, Messages, Books, Calendar, Mail, Photos, and FaceTime.
• To update software downloaded from the App Store such as iMovie, Pages, Keynote, Garageband, and other apps, you need to open App Store from Apple menu and select Updates tab.

Set Mac check for software updates automatically

 You can set your Mac to install macOS updates automatically. Here, it will also update apps downloaded from the App Store separately. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Go to Apple menu > System Preferences and select Software Update.
2. Now choose Automatically keep my Mac up to date.
3. Click Advanced button to set advanced update options. Here, you can select any of these options:
4. Select Check for updates to let Mac automatically check for updates.
5. Select Download new updates when available to let the Mac install updates without asking.
6. Select Install macOS updates to allow Mac install all available macOS updates automatically.
7. Select Install app updates from the App Store to allow Mac to download app updates from the App Store automatically.
8. Select Install system data files and security updates to allow Mac automatically install system files and security updates.
9. Click OK.

To get alal the available updates automatically, you should choose Check for updates, Install system data files and security updates, and Download new updates when available.

Note: If you have MacBook Air, MacBook, or MacBook Pro, then you should keep power adapter plugged in to download all available updates automatically.

How to get updates for earlier macOS versions

If you are using macOS High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, or earlier macOS versions, then follow below mentioned steps to get updates.

1. Open the App Store.
2. From App Store toolbar click Updates tab.

• Now you will find all available updates listed here. To download any of these updates, click Update button next to it.
• Now that App Store says no more updates are available, the installed version of macOS and all apps that are part of it are up to date. It includes iTunes, Safari, Mail, Messages, Calendar, FaceTime, and Photos. You can find later versions by upgrading your macOS.

If you want to download updates automatically in future, the select Apple menu > System Preferences and select App Store > Download newly available updates in the background. You will be notified when updates are ready to install.

Conclusion

So this was a quick discussion on how to update Mac OS in few easy steps. Follow these steps to update software on Mac for better security and performance. You can also expect more stable performance once you have updated Mac software. Do share your experience in the comments below.