You can’t run away from the message “an error occurred while preparing the installation” when upgrading your macOS to macOS High Sierra. It’s a simple error, but it can inhibit you from upgrading to the macOS version if not fixed.
Therefore, here in this article, we will discuss how to fix the high sierra and other program installations on your macOS. The complete error message you will get is an error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again.
Meanwhile, there are a few fixes to this program update problem. So, here we will guide you through how you can resolve the installation error message while trying to upgrade your macOS to High Sierra.
What is macOS High Sierra?
macOS High Sierra (version 10.13) is the macOS fourteenth main release of macOS version by Apple for its desktop operating system for the Macintosh computer. The fourteenth version of the macOS was announced on the 5th of June 2017 at the WWDC and released officially on the 25th of September 2017, three months and some weeks after the announcement. The macOS Sierra High name was coined out of the California High Sierra region.
While the macOS High Sierra 10.13 is meant for all macOS desktop users you can still run into some problems upgrading to the version. Meanwhile, your macOS need to meet some basic requirements before you can upgrade to the High Sierra version.
For Sierra High version 10.13 hardware compatibility kindly check out this resource from the Apple page.
An Error Occurred While Preparing the Installation
In summary, to fix an error occurred while preparing the installation for macOS High Sierra, try the following suggestions
- Restart your Mac
- Set your macOS date and time
- Install the program via Safe Mode
- Use your macOS Recovery
- Use a Combo Update
How to Restart Mac Computer
There are different ways to restart a macOS computer. You only need to follow the steps that work best for you if you know how to. So, here, I will share the fastest means to restart your macOS computer if you can’t install a program on it due to an error occurred while preparing the installation message on your device.
- Click on the “Apple” icon to the left of your screen.
- Scroll down and select “Restart.”
Your macOS should restart.
Another method to consider when you want to restart your macOS fast is using a command. You can restart your Mac computer by pressing two different keys together on your macOS keyboard.
- Press and hold the “Control” and “Eject” button at the same time
- A pop will appear on your macOS screen with “Restart,” “Sleep,” “Cancel,” and “Shut Down.”
Set your macOS Date and Time
If either of your macOS date or time is incorrect you might run into an error trying to install a program on your macOS. So, we will walk you through how to update your macOS date and time to fix the error message that occurred while trying to update your macOS version to macOS High Sierra version 10.13.
- Click on the Apple menu or icon to the top left of the screen.
- Select “System Preferences” from the drop menu.
- Choose “Date & Time”
- Tap on the “Lock” icon on the bottom left of the date & time screen.
- Type your administrator password to unlock the time and date settings.
- Choose your time and date to match the current date and time. To automate your time check “Set date and time automatically: and select “Apple” time; Apple(time.apple.com) from the automatic option.
The steps above should fix the installation error message for you. However, if you are stuck in the middle of the program update the above steps might fail you. Therefore, you need to go a bit deeper to ensure that the date and time are updated otherwise fixing the error message might fail.
Follow the steps below to update your macOS date and time via your Mac terminal is you are stuck on the installation screen.
- Force turn off your macOS computer by pressing the power button
- Turn on your macOS instantly the turn-off is completed by pressing both the Command (⌘)-R keys simultaneously.
- Release the keys once the Apple logo appears on the screen.
- At this point, your macOS computer will boot from the macOS Recovery after a couple of minutes.
- Type your administrative password.
- You should see your macOS Utilities window.
- Click on “Utilities and Terminal” from the top menu.
- Type “date” without quotes and click on the “Enter” button.
- You will see your computer’s date and time. If it’s close then you should close the Utilities else you need to update it.
- To update your time and date via your network connection if you are connected type “ntpdate -u time.apple.com” without the quotes.
- If you typed the exact command your macOS time and date will be updated automatically to match Apple time.
- But if your macOS isn’t connected to the internet you need to do a manual update.
Install the Program via Safe Mode
Yes, installing the program via safe mode can help without fixing the message an error occurred while preparing the installation. So, instead of fixing the program error message, you bypass it by installing the program via the safe mode and exit once you are done. Now, I am going to show you how to install a program on macOS via safe mode.
- Turn off your macOS. You can use the power button to force shut down.
- Turn on the Mac computer and press down the “Shift” key until the Apple logo appears.
- Sign in with your administrative password. You may need to repeat this most than once.
- Once you have logged in your computer will be in Safe Mode.
- Follow the same process you followed to update your macOS when you see the error message an error occurred while preparing the installation.
- Once the update is completed exit the Safe Mode.
- Restart your computer and hang on until the computer is restarted completely.
Your computer should be running on the latest macOS version by now if the Safe Mode method work.
Use your macOS Recovery
This could be a bit technical but you can depend on it to fix your macOS High Sierra error message when you are trying to upgrade to the OS.
- Switch off your macOS computer with the error message.
- Press the power button to turn on the Mac and press any of the keyboard combinations below.
- Command (⌘)-R: This reinstalls the latest macOS version that was installed on your Mac.
- Option-⌘-R: This will update your Mac to the latest compatible macOS version.
- Shift-Option-⌘-R: This will install the macOS version that came with your Mac.
- Select “Reinstall macOS.”
- Click “Continue” to proceed.
Use a Combo Update
macOS combo update is an advanced method to update your macOS to the latest version. This method is recommended for advanced Mac users and administrators.
Meanwhile, macOS combo update is referred to as an advanced method to update macOS because it can help users to troubleshoot their macOS if an update fails such as the message you get on your macOS High Sierra that “an error occurred while preparing the installation.”
The following process explains how to use a macOS Combo update installer to update your failed macOS High Sierra update.
- Go to the Apple download store.
- Download the necessary macOS Combo update that you need.
- Click on the .dmg files you downloaded and follow the instruction on the screen to complete the installation.
The suggestions above should end your macOS error message, an error occurred while preparing the installation. Try to check out all the methods before jumping to a conclusion on what to do next.