You should take you time to do it, because macOS upgrades are long to download and then to install.
You can also like in @Doudou first picture, select App Store just underâŠ
then when the App Store is open, just type in the search bar: Big Sur
then click: Get
it will download automatically in your Applications folder.
In Your System High Sierra, i canât remember if the App Store is in the Apple Menu
or in the System Preferences in that same drop down menuâŠ
Apple changed it back if i rememberâŠ
When it will be finished, it will open the installer.
Then quit the installer, yes 
quit the installer.
After, just drag the installer icon to an external hard drive, usb 16gb key
or just to the desktop while maintaining the Option Key on the keyboard while dragging,
that will make a copy of the installer, keep it somewhere,
if you have to reinstall macOS for whatever reason, then youâll have it as a backup 
If you donât drag it out with Option Key, it will be erased after the installation processâŠ
That installer will be macOS Big Sur 11.4
He can also access the App Store by launching its application from Launchpad.
- Click on Launchpad on the Dock
- Click on the App Store application in Launchpad.
Thanks, I am just trying this now. Big Sur is currently downloading from Appstore and still has about 15 mins to go before complete. As you may have read earlier I am a total Apple virgin so even the basics are unknown to me at this stage.
I am unclear about a few things when it completes the download. Where will the installer icon be visible after I quit it? If I drag it to desktop what does âmaintaining the Option Key on the keyboard while draggingâ mean?
Is it easier to drag to external hard drive?
Thanks
First, when the Mac says that the download will take â15 minsâ, it may take only five. Donât rely on the Macâs indications about the durations during downloads and during the installation of the OS. These indications are never reliable.
Youâre a beginner, and RunHomeSlow complicates a bit. Itâs doubtful that youâll need this installer anytime soon to reinstall Big Sur. So, Iâll advise you to not worry about keeping a copy of it. And if youâll need this installer again in the future, youâll always be able to download it from Appleâs servers.
When the download will finish, the installer will launch, and youâll be able to install Big Sur.
As for your Mac user education, if you drag and drop a file or an app in macOS from one registry to another on the same drive, while holding the option key, you are not moving the file to a new registry, but youâre making a copy of the file in the new registry.
1 Like
Thanks it has completed now so will go ahead with install.
Remain online with your PC, so we can help you if needed.
There is not enough space to do install. Only 4.81GB available, an additional 23.45 is required.
Your daughter does not use her Mac properly. She probably loaded its laptopâs SSD with a lot of media files (music, vids). A boot drive should never be loaded more than 80-85% of its capacity. A free space is neccessary for a smooth Mac, because the applications need this space on the SSD to run their virtual memory. Otherwise, the Mac is slow.
Now, you should remove from the boot drive media files in order to have free space and make the upgrade to Big Sur possible.
Do you have an external drive to which you can copy some of your daughterâs music and vids?
Yes Iâve had a look and she has Documents totalling 33GB. Movies are 23GB and pictures 22.25GB. I have an external drive I can copy the files to but dont want to touch anything until I speak to her tomorrow. She backs stuff up to the cloud. I dont really know how the cloud works but does this mean she can view pictures on this mac from her iPad using the cloud, and if so and I remove from SSD does this mean they are no longer in cloud?
There was an option to install Big Sur on the external drive rather than SSD, but that presumably means the external drive always needs to be attached to mac book for it to run, and that would not be desirable.
i make not things complicated, saferâŠ
since Audirvana works with High Sierra and that is not your computer, just play with it
many softwares on it might not be working from High Sierra after Big Sur updateâŠ
but, i let you with @Doudou
1 Like
RunHomeSlow,
What you say does not make sens.
How keeping a copy of the installer of Big Sur will help him downgrade to High Sierra?
Heu⊠He is on high Sierra⊠old system⊠Big Sur = big changesâŠ
example: Office (word) might be too old after⊠this is just an exampleâŠ
the copying of the installer is easy and take 30 secondsâŠ
if he fuck up the computer, he doesnât have to re download 12gb, that is itâŠ
i have all my installers kept on external hard driveâŠ
You have your 1.0 Audirvana Studio saved some place? me, yes.
you keep a copy of your Audirvana 3.5.46 and Studio .sqlite somewhere in case⊠i do
You should speak indeed with your daughter to understand how its data is backed up to the cloud. Itâs important to understand it, before going forward.
You should also explain to your daughter that overloading her Mac is not a good thing. People are doing such mistakes by ignorance, and their Mac becomes then very slow. They think that itâs too old and buy a new computer, though it could have continued to serve their needs perfectly.
Ok thank you, Iâll get in touch with her tomorrow and then let you know what she says about the files on this macbook, and how she accesses stuff on the cloud.
Itâs good to keep a copy of the installer. But it wonât allow him to downgrade to High Sierra.
I also keep a copy of all the macOS installers. I have a copy of AS V1.0, because I downloaded its DMG image. I did not keep systematically a copy of all the buggy versions of AS, because Iâll never downgrade to them.
The best thing to do is to clown the boot drive of the Mac before upgrading. But he is a beginner, and his daughterâs Mac probably does not the applications to clown it.
He doesnât want to downgrade⊠he wants to upgrade to Big SurâŠ
Ok⊠je te laisse Doudou⊠amusez-vous ensemble 
When I upgraded to Big Sur, all my apps, even very old, continued to function, except Little Snitch. And the reason was that Big Sur did not allow it anymore to install extensions in the System.
I doubt his daughter, with her 2017 MBA, runs a 10 y/o version of Word.
Si vous parlez français, câest plus simple.
Il y a deux problĂšmes.
- Une bonne habitude de garder les installateurs. On sâen fout, il ne fait que dĂ©buter. Au cas de besoin, il pourra toujours le tĂ©lĂ©charger Ă nouveau.
- Des incompatibilités pour certaines applications avec Big Sur. Je crois que le risque est minime dans ce cas.
i will reply to you in private just to leave that threadâŠ
on dĂ©rape lĂ âŠ