Can't upgrade MacOS

[Clown]

My dad recently gave me his old Mid 2011 Macbook air. I immediately updated the computer and tried to download mac os sierra since it's compatible (https://support.apple.com/kb/sp742?locale=en_US). It seems the only option is mac os high sierra from the app store which is unfortunately incompatible (https://support.apple.com/kb/SP765?locale=en_US) since it requires 10.8 or newer. How do I install MacOS Sierra and not high sierra? Has anyone had a similar issue? 

 

Laptops specifications:

Mid 2011 MacBook Air

10.7.5 Mac OS X Lion

4GB 1333 DDR3

Intel Graphics 300 384 MB

128 GB SSD

[tatte]

Only the newest version is freely up for grabs, older versions are only accessible to those who initiated the download while they were openly available. You'll need to source an older version from another Mac user to pull off the upgrade.

 

If the App Store lets you download High Sierra, you could be able to create a bootable USB and perform a clean install. If the download fails to initiate from the Updates tab, try from the Purchases tab.

[Ashleyyyy]

so if i understand correctly it won't let you download high sierra because you are still on osx 10.7? because that macbook air supports high sierra. 

 

can you clarify if it doesn't let you download it or install it?

[Graham Carter]

Have a copy of OS X 10.10 Yosemite I backed up a while ago, if you want this can upload to dropbox or something?

[Clown]

Thank you all for your help. The upgrade was very tedious. I needed a specific link to the App Store to install Mac OS Sierra. From there I had to change my accounts details through another Apple Product since this laptop was too old to. Then it began the upgrade. The next day I installed Mac OS High Sierra.