How To Turn On Automatic Updates On MacOS

Activating automatic updates is an important step to keep your Mac updated. Here is a quick guide:

Press the “Apple” menu in the upper left corner of the Finder bar.
Click on System Preferences.
Click on App Store.
Click on Check for updates automatically.
Select the options you want to enable.

Macs used to be known for their impermeability to malware. With a growth in its user base comes growth in the manufacture of malware, and macOS is now just the bulletproof system that was once perceived.

Maintaining a secure computer, whether it’s a Mac or a Windows PC, requires a constant update of the operating system and the applications installed on it. It can be difficult and cumbersome to keep up, so Apple added automatic update options to its desktop operating system.

Enabling facilities for automatic update of the operating system can keep you safe without any additional effort or inconvenience. Here we show you how to enable it, and it’s super simple.

Accessing your options

Click on the Apple menu in the upper left corner of the screen. You can do it without leaving or minimize the application that is currently open. The second option in that menu is System Preferences (Figure A)

Press that to open the “System Preferences” window (Figure B).

The fourth row of icons in the System Preferences window contains the App Store item, as shown in Figure B. Click on that to open the App Store options screen.

Configuring automatic updates on MacOS

The App Store screen (Figure C) contains several options for automatic macOS and application updates.

The first option, to check for updates automatically, is necessary to enable any of the others, so click on that box. Below are four options:

Download recently available updates in the background: this will automate the download of MacOS and App Store application updates and inform you when they are ready for installation. This option is critical for automatic installation. If you don’t check it, you will be notified when updates are available, but beyond that, you will have to do the whole process yourself.
Install application updates: this will remove application updates from your hands and automate the process.
Install OS X updates: this will take operating system updates out of your hands and automate the process.
Install system data files and security updates.

Note: If your Mac is not connected to AC power, it will not automatically download or install updates. When updates are available, you will be notified and asked to schedule your installation, install updates immediately or postpone notifications until the next day.

Once you click on the corresponding boxes, you can close the window, and that’s it: you get a notification when the updates are ready for installation.