Mac OS 9 for OS X/macOS
Run classic Mac OS apps in macOS | S
imilar systems that run System 7 and MacOS 8.1 |
How to use it |
Customization |
File sharing with other machines |
What it contains |
Acknowledgments |
Support and contributions
An easy way to run "classic" Mac OS applications under macOS
Under macOS (formerly named OS X), software written for the "classic" Mac OS (i.e. versions 6 through 9) can only be run through software that emulates Macintosh hardware from the 1980s and 1990s. The most advanced of these emulator programs is
SheepShaver. SheepShaver is no longer supported by its original author, Gwenolé Beauchesne, but updates are available from an active support forum at
E-Maculation, and the program is actively maintained by a programmer who uses the name kanjitalk755.
This page provides a fully functional SheepShaver system that runs Mac OS 9.0.4 (US English version). Unlike other SheepShaver-based systems, it makes it relatively easy to exchange files between SheepShaver and macOS, and makes it easy to print from Mac OS applications to macOS printers, or to create PDF files on the macOS desktop. It requires macOS 10.12 Sierra or later.
Note: For the sake of clarity, some features in this app refer to "OS X" but the app runs only under macOS 10.12 Sierra or later, not under earlier versions that were named "OS X."
To install this system, download and expand
Mac OS 9.zip. (The file is about 620MB in size; it contains a 1.5 GB hard disk image file.) You may copy the
Mac OS 9 application to your Applications folder or run it from anywhere else. This is a universal application, native to both Intel and Apple Silicon machines. (
Updated 29 May 2022.)
A version for blind and vision-impaired users: At a user's request, I've prepared a version of this system with the outSPOKEN 9.0 screen reader installed. Blind and vision-impaired users may
download it here. (It does not include the AppleShare file sharing feature added to the main version.)
If, when you start the application, you see a long error message that includes the string "
translocation", then you must move the application to some other folder (and, if you want, move it back) before you run it. This is the effect of a new macOS security feature. The easiest thing to do is copy the application to your Applications folder.
An older version, with a slightly different feature set suitable for single-user systems (or for installation in the home folder of different users)
is available here.
For a similar system that runs Mac OS 9 under Windows, see
another page.
Preserving your system when you update this app: If you ever need to install an updated version of this app, you can preserve any customizations you made to its emulated hard disk. Hold down the Option key when launching your older version of the app, and choose the option to export (backup) the Mac OS 9 hard disk image to your macOS desktop. Then run the new version of the app once to make certain it is working; shut it down; hold down the Option key when launching it again, and choose the option to import a backed-up hard disk image. This will restore your customized "classic" Mac OS 9 system.
Similar systems that run System 7.6.1 and Mac OS 8.1 in BasiliskII
I have created a similar, experimental system that runs
System 7.6.1 under the BasiliskII emulator. You may download it in
System761.zip. The System761 application works in essentially the same way as the Mac OS 9 application described elsewhere on this page: you may copy files to System 7 desktop by dropping them on the System761 icon. See the
How to use it section below for further information.
Note the special instructions for temporarily mounting disk images for installing or copying software in System761.
The System 7.6.1 app was updated 29 May 2022.
I have also created a system (based on the System761 app) that runs
Mac OS 8.1 under the BasiliskII emulator. You can download it in
MacOS8.zip. Everything that this page says about the System761 app also applies to the MacOS8 app. See the
How to use it section below for further information.
Note the special instructions for temporarily mounting disk images for installing or copying software in MacOS8.
If you insist on going back to System 7.5.5, download the similar but much less automated
System755.zip.) It doesn't include the convenient file-transfer and printing features in the 7.6.1 version.
And if you want something even older, here is System 7.1 in
System71.zip and System 7.0.1 in
System701.zip. With both these older systems, you can drop a file on them, and the file will be copied to your macOS Documents folder, which is the same as the Unix folder in BasiliskII, so you can easily drag them from the Unix folder to the File Transfer folder in the System 7 setup.
