
When you install macOS on an external hard drive, you can get your hands on the latest and greatest features without the risk of making your computer unusable. At the same time, new versions of macOS always introduce attractive new features, and it’s understandable if you want to try them as soon as possible. It’s not uncommon for users to see their Macs become less stable than a hormonal teenager going through a caffeine crash. Seasoned Apple users know that when a new major version of macOS is released, things do always go smoothly. When It Makes Sense to Install macOS Monterey on an External Hard Drive If you discover that Monterey is too unstable, incompatible, or otherwise unsatisfactory, you can simply format the external hard drive and use it for other purposes, such as storing backups. This is not recommended because it takes at least twice the time/download.By learning how to install macOS on an external hard drive, you can safely test everything macOS 12 Monterey has to offer while preserving your current installation intact. Then - after configuring Lion - you can to upgrade to El Capitan.

If you already attached the SSD you can use Internet Recovery Mode (hold cmd R or alt cmd R while booting) to first partition the new internal drive and then restore the original system (10.7 Lion). Quit Disk Utility and install El Capitan.


Partition the thumb drive with Disk Utility: one partition, Mac OS X Extended Journaled and GUID partition table and rename it (e.g. You could also use a secondary internal partition.
