How to Fix macOS Big Sur Update Not Found

Having trouble trying to fix macOS Big Sur update not found issue?

Apple’s latest macOS release has been a phenomenon that’s undoubtedly nothing short of exciting. Paired with the release of the MacBook Air 2020 with the M1 Chip, and you’ve got yourself a craze for the Big Sur.

Unfortunately, if you’re reading this article, then you’ve probably encountered the macOS Big Sur update not found issue that other Apple users are also facing. Now there are a lot of ways that you can go about fixing this, and we’ll guide you through all of them.

Here’s what you can do to fix your macOS Big Surr update not found issue as well as to fix the “Update not found. The requested version Of macOS is not available” error.

Let’s get started!

• 1. Check The Status Of Apple’s Servers.
• 2. Download From The Mac App Store.
• 3. Restart Your Mac.
• 4. Remove The Beta Profile From Your macOS.
• 5. Restart Your Router.
• 6. Sync Your Date And Time Settings.
• 7. Hide The macOS From Software Update.
• 8. Reinstall Your macOS With The Latest Version.

1. Check The Status Of Apple’s Servers.

First and foremost, we’re going to check Apple’s servers to see if they’re functioning properly today. When macOS Big Sur first came out, the servers had a hard time keeping up with all the traffic and eventually crashed.

This resulted in a couple of days where users had to wait until the server was finally fixed, and even then, still had quite a problem with failed installations. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to check on the status of Apple’s servers.

Thankfully, Apple has a dedicated webpage for this that you can simply head over to at their System Status webpage. Once you’re there, look for macOS Software Update and check if the circle beside it is green.

A green indicator means that the server is up and running. Now that we’ve confirmed the issue is not with Apple’s servers, let’s see what we can do on your end to fix this issue.

2. Download From The Mac App Store.

You don’t always have to use the Software Update window to download and get the latest version of macOS installed on your Mac. Thankfully, Apple does allow downloading Big Sur from the Mac App Store instead, which is a convenient alternative.

By installing the Big Sur through this method, you should be able to bypass the update not being located or found by your operating system. This works by allowing your Mac App Store, which isn’t directly an operating system program, to look for and install the update instead.

Here’s how you can download macOS Big Sur from the Mac App Store:

1. First, there are two ways that you can go about this. Feel free to use whichever method or step suits you:

• Since you’re already on your browser, you can just go to the Mac App Store Webpage and click on the View in Mac App Store option. This will open the macOS Big Sur page on your Mac App Store.
• On the other hand, you can also open the App Store by clicking on the A icon at the bottom-right side of your System Tray. After that, look for ‘macOS Big Sur’ on the search bar at the top-left corner of your window.

2. Once you’re on the macOS Big Sur page, simply click on the Get button and confirm that you want to download the update.

If you found the update this way, then that should be all you need to resolve this problem. Hopefully, that helped you fix your macOS Big Sur update not found issue. If the complication does persist, go ahead and proceed to the next method.

3. Restart Your Mac.

It’s a common habit for people to never turn off or restart their computers because laptops can be quite portable and mobile. Despite that, restarting your Mac every so often is a healthy habit that flushes out software issues building up in the background of your computer.

By restarting your Mac,  you’ll essentially iron out any bugs and glitches that are directly related to your operating system. This is the most effective way of clearing out any compromised files that are running in your macOS.

Here’s how you can restart your Mac in two simple steps:

1. From the top-left corner of your screen, click on the Apple icon to open the drop-down menu.

2. Now, move your mouse down and click on Restart.

A quick reboot is an effective way of clearing out software issues, even for small problems like when your Mac feels slower.

4. Remove The Beta Profile From Your macOS.

Being a beta tester can come with a lot of benefits by being able to test new features that otherwise aren’t out yet. Unfortunately, this unstable version of your macOS can sometimes compromise new updates, especially for major ones like the Big Sur.

In this method, we’ll be removing the beta profile from your macOS and restarting your Mac to see if this fixes the issue.

Here’s how you can remove the beta profile from your macOS:

1. Start by clicking on the Apple icon at the top-left corner of your screen and select System Preferences.
2. From there, look for and click on Software Update.

3. Wait for a couple of seconds until a set of text appear under Software Update and click on Details. If you don’t see the text, then press the Command + R keys on your keyboard to refresh your Software Update window.
4. Finally, a pop-up menu should appear, simply click on Restore Defaults to leave the Apple Beta Software Program.

Once you’ve restored the settings back to their default orientation and left the beta program, restart your Mac. This will ensure that any necessary changes were made to your system and hopefully fix the macOS Big Sure update not being found.

5. Restart Your Router.

If you’re the type of person or live with a group of people that like to leave their router on overnight, a restart might be long overdue. Giving your modem or router a rest every so often is a great way to mitigate network issues like this.

For one, rebooting your router will flush out any software problems as well as re-establish any faulty network connections to the internet. In your case, your router may have a faulty connection to Apple’s servers which is why you cannot find the update.

Unfortunately, since there are a lot of unique and different routers in the world, we cannot provide an accurate list of steps to guide you through this. You might want to do a quick Google search for this step or contact your provider.

Now if you’re feeling courageous, we can guide you through a general list of steps for this process. Here’s how you can restart your router.

6. Sync Your Date And Time Settings.

Having a clock that’s too advanced or behind the standard internet time can be considered a security breach for Apple. In this case, if you haven’t synced your Date and Time settings, then that may be why the macOS Big Sur update is not found.

Here’s how you can sync your date and time settings:

1. First, go and click on the Apple menu, then open System Preferences.
2. From there, select Date & Time.

3. Now, click on the Lock icon at the bottom-left corner of your screen and select Set date and time automatically.

After these steps, go ahead and check for the Big Sur update if you can find it on your Mac.

7. Hide The macOS From Software Update.

For this method, we’ll be hiding your current macOS from the Software Update to try and see if we can trigger a response from your Mac. By hiding your macOS, the software update will find that your Mac has no operating system installed and should recommend the Big Sur.

Additionally, if there is a problem with your software update files and preferences, then this should alleviate problems in that area.

Here’s how you can hide the macOS from software update:

1. Go ahead and bring out the Spotlight search by pressing the Command + Spacebar keys simultaneously.
2. Once opened, search for “Terminal” and open the app.
3. In the command line, type in or copy-paste the command below and hit enter.

Sudo softwareupdate –reset-ignored

Once that’s done, go ahead and restart your Mac. Turn it back on after a couple of seconds and check to see if that macOS Big Sur update is still not found.

8. Reinstall Your macOS With The Latest Version.

Finally, if you’re out of options, you can try to reinstall your macOS and hope that it installs the latest version which is Big Sur. Reinstalling your macOS is thankfully pretty easy to do and doesn’t mess with any of your personal files.

To expound, the reinstallation will only touch system-related files which will leave your personal files completely safe. Before you proceed, make sure you’re connected to a stable internet connection and have enough battery life to last a couple of minutes to an hour.

Here’s how you can reinstall your macOS with the latest version:

1. Start by turning off your Mac and, once you turn it back on, immediately press and hold the Option + Command + R keys simultaneously. Just keep the pressure on these keys until you see the Apple logo or a spinning globe.
2. Enter your password if necessary, but you should be in the macOS Utilities window once you’re done with your credentials.

3. From the list of options that are on your screen, select Reinstall macOS.

The steps from there on are pretty straightforward and should proceed nicely. This might take a while, depending on your internet and hardware capabilities.

However, that should have the biggest chance of fixing your problem. If that still didn’t work out for you, just keep in mind that the Big Sur update is relatively new and does have a lot of bugs. Perhaps your model is on the short end of the stick for this one.

It might be in your best interest to wait for a couple of days, just to have everything fully fixed and ready for you to download by Apple. Hopefully, we’ve helped you fix macOS Big Sur’s update not being found. If you have any questions, leave us a comment down below.

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂