"Purchased" Items at the App Store and Sierra

[honestone]

I (and others) have mentioned numerous times that any software previously downloaded from the App Store would/should appear under the "Purchased" tab. For all of the software I have "purchased" from the App Store, except Sierra, that is the case.

I just don't understand why Sierra is not shown under that tab. The first time I downloaded Sierra was last November, and it was V10.12.1. I actually have subsequently re-downloaded it a couple of times, the last being V10.12.6 (the most recent version). Yet I am still not seeing it as a "Purchased" item.

I thought that after the release of High Sierra, that it would appear. But such is not the case at all. It's still not there.

I actually have "my bases covered", so to speak, with OS 10.12.6, as after I download it (winds up within my Applications folder), I make a copy of it in another location. But it's still a mystery.

Maybe I should download High Sierra (but then delete it, given all the "bugs" it still has, plus 3 of my critical apps don't have High Sierra updates yet), and then maybe Sierra will appear.

If anyone has a better explanation about this, I would appreciate it. It is not so much for myself, but when I advice an individual about items being shown within the "Purchased" bucket at the App Store, I want to be accurate.

Update: I did download High Sierra, and sure enough, the file named "Install macOs High Sierra" was in my Applications folder. I subsequently removed/deleted it. Yet, after shutting down, then starting up my Mac, I visited the App Store, and still am not seeing Sierra under my "Purchased" items. Really, really perplexing!

 

[Cory Cooper]

honestone,

It isn't listed in my Purchased section on my iMac either, which is running macOS Sierra 10.12.6. Also, it isn't listed on my MBA, which is running macOS High Sierra 10.13. All the other versions of Mac OS X back to Lion are there.

However, if you sign out of the App Store, then search for macOS Sierra, it is available for download. It may be because Sierra and High Sierra are no longer tied to an Apple ID as Mac OS X installers were?

C

 

[honestone]

Thanks Cory for the "clarification". Regarding your suggestion, I tried doing a search of Sierra after I signed out of the App Store, then going there again, and putting either "Mac OS Sierra" , "Sierra", or "macOS Sierra" in the Search "Box", but it only gives the download for High Sierra (plus other "stuff"). Trying a google search only reveals some possible "rogue" ways of getting it.

Would like to know how you can find it via the Search option.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Ahh...my bad. On the iMac with Sierra it only finds High Sierra. The MBA with High Sierra finds Sierra.

I would bet it will be available again on the App Store in the Purchased section sometime in the near future.

C

 

[honestone]

Thanks, Cory. Thus, in order to "re-obtain" Sierra, one needs to first install (the problematic) High Sierra. Talk about a Catch-22!

Glad that I ALWAYS make a copy of the Mac OS file downloaded from the App store in another location.

 

[Allen Davis]

Maybe I should download High Sierra (but then delete it, given all the "bugs" it still has, plus 3 of my critical apps don't have High Sierra updates yet), and then maybe Sierra will appear.

Unless you've checked lately, you may well have "Install Mac High Sierra" in your Application folder right now. I just looked, and sure enough, there it was. 5.2 GB in size. Promptly trashed it and emptied the bucket.

I'm going to keep combing though all the links I followed just to get Sierra and see if I can find a way to download its installer.

 

[honestone]

As long as you don't launch that file "Install macOS High Sierra" (or any other OS with a similarly named files inside your Applications folder), it will be there. From what I understand, once you launch that installer from that location and do the installation, it then gets deleted. That is why I ALWAYS first make a copy of that file in another location.

What is really perplexing is that "recently" Apple made the illogical decision to not show one's download of Sierra in the Purchased Items "bucket". For me, though, not an issue, as I have a copy of the latest "Install macOS Sierra" (V10.12.6) in a number of locations. But it makes no sense why Apple did that.

Supposedly, if one downloads High Sierra and installs it, then the Sierra Installation file will appear within the Purchases bucket. I'm guessing that is true whether one downloaded the "Install macOS Sierra" file first (like I did), or went through the upgrade/installation of Sierra through the Recovery HD partition.