Enabling and Downloading Security Updates on Mac

For college-owned Macs, please contact the Help Desk for assistance upgrading.

For non-college-owned devices, ITS recommends that you not upgrade to a new full version of MacOS (Monterey) until ITS had tested it thoroughly and confirmed that it is okay to upgrade. Look to the ITS blog for future updates when the testing has been completed.

In order to enable automatic updates on your Mac, first choose the Apple menu and navigate to “System Preferences”. Once there, click “Software Update”. On the Software Update page, select “Automatically keep my Mac up to date”. Automatic updates should now be enabled.

Apple also recommends enabling several other options to ensure you receive the latest updates automatically. Click “Advanced…” and turn on “Check for updates”, “Download new updates when available”, and “Install system data files and security updates” to best optimize these updates.

Do note, in order to automatically download updates, MacBook devices must be plugged into the power adapter.

For any further questions or if you experience trouble with any part of this process, please contact the Help Desk.