Following the release of macOS High Sierra, Mac users have discovered that Apple is no longer listing previous operating system updates in a user's Purchased tab in the Mac App Store.

Neither macOS Sierra nor macOS High Sierra show up in the Purchased list, suggesting the updates are no longer tied to an Apple ID account. Previous Mac software updates were linked to an Apple ID account and updating required an Apple ID and password, something that could be a hassle when a Mac changed ownership.

012 macos sierra 970 80
An Apple support document on reinstalling apps confirms that the change to remove macOS Sierra and High Sierra from the Purchased tab was intentional.

"macOS Sierra or later doesn't appear in the Purchased tab," reads the document.

In the case of macOS Sierra, the change means that there's no way for Mac users to download macOS Sierra should they want to downgrade from High Sierra for some reason.

OS X El Capitan, OS X Yosemite, OS X Mavericks, and earlier updates are all tied to a user account and listed in the Mac App Store. Apple has also made a link to the OS X El Capitan update available through a support document, but no similar support document is available for macOS Sierra.

Related Forum: macOS High Sierra

Top Rated Comments

garirry Avatar
garirry
101 months ago
This is why people were complaining so much about OS X becoming download-only since Lion. If I wanted to install an older OS, whether it'd be for compatibility or testing, I want to be able to download it, especially when I don't have the space for dozens of OS installers "just in case". I was still fine with the older OS X installers being redownloadable, and even purchasable when the next OS was already released, but since Yosemite you can't get Mavericks unless you already owned it and now you can't even download Sierra, even if you downloaded it previously. This makes it seem like Apple is heading towards the forced upgrades and downgrade lockout from iOS, and that seriously concerns me.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
farewelwilliams Avatar
farewelwilliams
101 months ago
This is why people were complaining so much about OS X becoming download-only since Lion. If I wanted to install an older OS, whether it'd be for compatibility or testing, I want to be able to download it, especially when I don't have the space for dozens of OS installers "just in case". I was still fine with the older OS X installers being redownloadable, and even purchasable when the next OS was already released, but since Yosemite you can't get Mavericks unless you already owned it and now you can't even download Sierra, even if you downloaded it previously. This makes it seem like Apple is heading towards the forced upgrades and downgrade lockout from iOS, and that seriously concerns me.
not a big deal. it's still available, just hidden from users. here's a direct link to Sierra
http://osxapps.itunes.apple.com/apple-assets-us-std-000001/Purple62/v4/af/5f/9d/af5f9d8e-cf9c-8147-c51c-c3c1fececb99/jze1425880974225146329.pkg
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jasminetroll Avatar
jasminetroll
101 months ago
Mission accomplished: after installing this command-line tool ('https://github.com/mas-cli/mas'), the command
mas install 1127487414
purchased*, downloaded, and installed version 10.12.6 of



which then verified

[jtm@socrates ~]$ codesign -dv /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app
Executable=/Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app/Contents/MacOS/InstallAssistant_springboard
Identifier=com.apple.InstallAssistant.Sierra
Format=app bundle with Mach-O thin (x86_64)
CodeDirectory v=20200 size=321 flags=0x2200(kill,library-validation) hashes=4+3 location=embedded
Signature size=4605
Info.plist entries=30
TeamIdentifier=K36BKF7T3D
Sealed Resources version=2 rules=7 files=137
Internal requirements count=1 size=124

and worked



correctly.

* By which I mean, the program not only downloaded Sierra, it did so using the Apple-supplied App Store frameworks in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks, resulting in an application bundle containing a properly-signed MAS receipt linked to my Apple ID.

Attachment Image

Attachment Image
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PBG4 Dude Avatar
PBG4 Dude
101 months ago
It makes a bit of sense if this only affects High Sierra users as a downgrade requires reformatting your drive back to HFS+ from APFS. If you upgrade to High Sierra and you don’t have a Sierra Time Machine backup, you’re basically hosed.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jimthing Avatar
jimthing
101 months ago
I have downloaded every point update full installer since Lion. Once the 10.x reaches the final point, I keep only that. I have never trusted Apple (or Microsoft) not to pull something like this, so I protect myself.
Can everyone stop repeating this. OK we get it, you were all really really clever and have a copy. Well done. Especially after 5 people have said the same thing. And I'd love to see one of you still so excited, if you happen to lose said copy, only to realise you also then can't get another via downloading it again directly from Apple, just as other users here cannot now.

This thread is about why Apple have completely removed it from download, without any previous notice or comment as to why, post-High Sierra's release. Rather than how clever you are in having a copy already.

Thanks!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jonnycot Avatar
Jonnycot
101 months ago
This is so depressing. Apple, why do you fight your users like this? Being able to install older OS's is essential for many reasons, not least running old machines or older applications. First signing on iOS and now this move?!

E.g. I have a mission critical business app on iOS which is 32 bit. Yes it would be nice if it were updated to 64 bit but it's not going to happen in this case, yet it's the backbone of my
business. So I'm stuck at iOS 10. And if I have to restore my phone from a backup I'm screwed :-/.

Equally our desktop machines run a vastly complicated set of audio and video plugins. Just one of them not being compatible with high sierra means I can't load up older work.

For professional work we need an option to maintain a system with an older OS. Please rethink your philosophy here.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
Read Full Article • 196 comments
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Read Full Article • 244 comments
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
Read Full Article • 24 comments
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Read Full Article • 69 comments
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
Read Full Article • 87 comments
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
Read Full Article • 34 comments
m4 macbook air pink

Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

Friday June 13, 2025 3:34 pm PDT by
Apple today added M4 MacBook Air models to its refurbished store in the United States, making the latest MacBook Air devices available at a discounted price for the first time since they launched earlier this year. Both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are available, with Apple offering multiple capacities and configurations. The refurbished devices are discounted by approximately 15...
Read Full Article • 40 comments