Hello daschrislydon,
How to create a bootable macOS High Sierra installer drive Put the macOS High Sierra installer on an external USB thumb drive or hard drive and use it to install the operating system on a Mac. Go to and download the High Sierra installer. With that you won’t need an internet connection to reinstall it. That’s assuming you’re doing a clean install. It won’t install over an existing High Sierra system. The macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Update adds AirPlay 2 multiroom audio support for iTunes and improves the stability and security of your Mac. This update is recommended for all users.
Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities! From your message I can see that you have erased the 2011 MacBook Air and are looking to upgrade the OS X from Lion.
You're correct that you need to upgrade to OS X El Capitan before you can upgrade to macOS High Sierra.
Since you're unable to reinstall the Mac OS X Lion through Recovery, see if you can boot into Internet Recovery. To access Internet Recovery, restart your MacBook Air and hold down Option + Command + R. This will allow you to reinstall OS X Lion.
By reinstalling Lion you'll have access to the App Store and you can follow the steps to upgrade to OS X El Capitan: How to upgrade to OS X El Capitan.
Once you have OS X El Capitan running, you can then upgrade to macOS High Sierra: How to upgrade to macOS High Sierra.
If you're unable to reinstall OS X Lion, you'll need to have access to another Mac to be able to create a bootable USB drive for El Capitan. This article will provide you with the steps to take to create a bootable installer: How to create a bootable installer for macOS.
All the best!
Feb 12, 2020 6:35 AM
Upgrading your Macbook is a very easy task if you are already running a previous version of Mac OS X. You just need to download the new OS Installer from the App Store and after that, it’s just like a normal installer setup. But the problem comes, when your Mac OS got corrupted and you need to install a clean setup without having to access the App Store.
Arguably, Mac OS is a more stable and reliable OS as compared to Windows. It crashes less and gets fewer malware attacks as compared to windows. Therefore there are very few documentations regarding clean installation for Mac OS relative to Windows Reinstallation.
In this tutorial, I would try to cover up as much detail I could to help you Reinstall a Clean Mac OS on to your Macbook or iMac. I recommend you to use 16GB or higher USB drive. Also, make sure to backup all your files and data before you initiate the setup.
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Step One: Download macOS Installer files
You can download the Mac OS Installer file from App Store. Or, if you don’t find the required OS on the App Store, then you can download the Mac OS Installer files from ISORIVER.
Step Two: Formatting Your USB Flash Drive
You can create a boot installer for macOS on Mac. If you are using a flash drive that already has data, be sure to back up all important files as you are about to erase everything in an instant.
Open search engine. Go to Applications > Utilities and open Disk Utility. You should see your flash drive in the External section of the left panel. After selecting it, click on the “Erase” button at the top.
Choose a descriptive name (which you will use later) and be sure to select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for this format. Finally, click on Erase and you will be done with this step.
Step Three: Creating a Bootable USB Using DiskMaker X
DiskMaker X is a user-friendly and reliable software for creating a bootable macOS USB disk. You can download DiskMaker X for free.
After Installing DiskMaker X, you need to change security permissions for the app to work without breaking.
Navigate to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility. To make changes, click the lock icon at the bottom and enter your credentials.
Macbook Air Update High Sierra
Then click on the Plus button, navigate to the Applications folder, select DiskMaker X, and click open. DiskMaker X should now appear on the list.
As soon as you start DiskMaker X, you will be asked to confirm the download of the macOS installer.
Macbook Air Instant Download Os High Sierra Installer
The following message shows one of the advantages of DiskMaker X, as it is possible to create multiple installation disks. This means that you can create multiple partitions on the USB drive and have different macOS installers for each partition.
If you prefer to create an installation disk, select “Erase all disk“. Finally, confirm that you want to delete the entire contents of the USB drive.
DiskMaker will continue to create the disk in the background and update it while it works. After a few minutes, DiskMaker X will inform you that your startup disk is ready and will give you some instructions on how to use it.
Step Four: Booting Your Mac From a USB Drive
Simply connect the USB drive you created to an open USB port on your Mac. Turn on the system or restart it if it is already on. Immediately press and hold the Option (Alt) key on the keyboard when it starts.
You should now see an option to select the USB drive as a boot disk. Once selected, the system will start from the USB drive and will be directed to the macOS utility screen.
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That’s it for the tutorial If you face any issues or had any query then please let us know in the comment section below. You can also send us an email via the contact us page for personalized support.