How to Set up Your Catalina Mac to Run 32-bit apps

In a recent blog post, my colleague Kayla Myrhow did an excellent job explaining the 32-bit application issue for users who are considering or have already moved to macOS® Catalina. In this post, I’ll show you how to set up your Mac® to continue to run 32-bit apps. You can do this either before or after you upgrade to macOS Catalina.

There are only two steps, but it does take about 45 minutes to complete this setup:

Create a Parallels Desktop® for Mac virtual machine and install an older Mac operating system in it.
Install the 32-bit apps you want into this new virtual machine.

I made a video of this entire process—I edited out the boring parts but left all the essential steps. The end result is the 5-minute video below. For this video, I chose macOS High Sierra as the older Mac OS, but you could install Mojave, Sierra or almost any older Mac OS. I also chose the Office for Mac 2011 suite as the 32-bit application, because several users have told me that it contains the set of 32-bit apps that they most want to run in Catalina.

After you finish this setup, you will be able to run 32-bit apps on your Mac running macOS Catalina.

Try Parallels Desktop for free for 14 days and run 32-bit apps on your Mac.

Let us know in the comments which 32-bit apps you need to run on macOS Catalina and how this is working out for you.

31 comments on “How to Set up Your Catalina Mac to Run 32-bit apps”

Duane
November 23, 2019 at 9:16 pm

Can you do this the other way around? Running Mojave on the Mac, can you create a Parallels virtual machine running Catalina?
Matthew Taylor
November 29, 2019 at 5:32 am

can you help me to stup parallels
Beatrice Vogel
December 2, 2019 at 6:44 am

Hey Matthew, Thanks for your message. Our support team is happy to help you with the setup. Please reach out to them on Facebook https://www.messenger.com/t/ParallelsInc, Twitter https://twitter.com/ParallelsCares or any other of our support channels: http://www.parallels.com/support/. Any further questions let us know. Thanks
Beatrice Vogel
December 3, 2019 at 6:31 am

Hey Duane, Sure that is definitely possible. Please find here the system requirements for Parallels Desktop 15 and all possible guest operating systems: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/parallels-desktop-15-for-mac-system-requirements/ Any further questions let us know. Thanks and have a nice day.
Mark
December 5, 2019 at 8:26 am

I picked up Parallells during the holiday sale specifically to run my old 32 bit games. More specifically the Age of Empire 3 series, so far to no avail. The games will not even startup in my Mac Mojave VM. Any assistance would be welcomed.
Kayla Myrhow
December 5, 2019 at 10:33 am

Hey Mark! Sorry to hear that! We can help optimize some settings to get Age of Empires to work or help you with a refund. Our support team is happy to help you with this. Please reach out to them on Facebook https://www.messenger.com/t/ParallelsInc, Twitter https://twitter.com/ParallelsCares or any other of our support channels: http://www.parallels.com/support/. Any further questions let us know. Thanks, Kayla
Kim Berthonneau
December 11, 2019 at 9:31 am

I get stuck when I try to do the macOS installation : when I select “Instal macOS / Uprgade or instal a new copy of macOS.” and I click on “continue”, nothing happens…
Maybe it is a problem with the installer, could you please tell me where I can find one? The installers I found there : https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208052 does not work.
Kayla Myrhow
December 13, 2019 at 12:23 pm

Hey Kim, We’re available to help – please reach out to our support on Facebook https://www.messenger.com/t/ParallelsInc, Twitter https://twitter.com/ParallelsCares or any other of our support channels: http://www.parallels.com/support/. Thanks, Kayla, Audience Marketing Manager.
Scott Bradner
December 17, 2019 at 9:02 am

works great but how can I get the 32-bit aps to show in the Catalina dock? (and auto start the 32-bit VM when clicked on
Kayla Myrhow
December 17, 2019 at 1:57 pm

Hey Scott! The Parallels Desktop user guide should help: https://download.parallels.com/desktop/v15/docs/en_US/Parallels%20Desktop%20User's%20Guide/33773.htm

Let us know if you have any issues. Happy to help! Kayla, Audience Marketing Manager
Steve
December 17, 2019 at 2:11 pm

I’m getting notified of replies but can’t see them in the blog. Latest one seemed to answer my question (also asked by Scott Bradner?) but it simply pointed to the concept of putting the OS icon in the dock rather than specific apps.
Kayla Myrhow
December 17, 2019 at 2:15 pm

Hey Steve,

Same question regarding icons – same answer here- https://download.parallels.com/desktop/v15/docs/en_US/Parallels%20Desktop%20User's%20Guide/33773.htm This will provide you with the pathway to follow to get to the settings to change how your icons are viewed in the macOS Dock. Please let us know if it worked for you or if you need any more help! Kayla, Audience Marketing Manager
Steve
December 17, 2019 at 10:54 pm

Kayla,

Thank you for that but it isn’t exactly the question I’m trying to get answered. With older versions, I was able to put individual apps from the virtual machine in the dock and have them persist even with Parallels wasn’t running. Is there any way to have that behavior with the current version? Additionally, is there any way to associate file types with a particular app which only runs in the virtual machine (whether Windows or Mojave)?

Thanks again!
Neeraj
February 26, 2020 at 4:35 am

microsoft 365 isnt working
Beatrice Vogel
February 26, 2020 at 6:56 am

Hey Neeraj, Thanks for your message. Our support team is happy to help you with this. Please reach out to them on Facebook https://www.messenger.com/t/ParallelsInc, Twitter https://twitter.com/ParallelsCares or any other of our support channels: http://www.parallels.com/support/. Any further questions let us know. Thanks
Tom
February 26, 2020 at 9:00 am

I use Adobe CS6 software on a pretty limited basis and do not want to switch to their subscription service. I’m currently using Mojave and want to upgrade to Catalina. The virtual machine option looks ideal. Is there no way to migrate my current install of these applications without having to do a fresh install?
Tom
February 26, 2020 at 9:04 am

Follow up. If I cannot migrate, should I completely uninstall these apps before installing on the virtual machine?
Jase
February 26, 2020 at 3:23 pm

Can you run Mojave on a 2020 Mac Pro with Parallels?
Kayla Myrhow
February 26, 2020 at 4:00 pm

Hey Jase! Absolutely. Before committing to buying you can always try a 14-day free trial of Parallels Desktop. Always best to try out our virtualization software with the programs you need to run. Let us know if you need anything, we’re here to help! Download a trial here: https://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/trial/

Kayla, Audience Marketing Manager.
Kayla Myrhow
February 27, 2020 at 12:39 pm

Hey Tom! We cannot dictate the licensing restrictions that Adobe has in its user agreement policy. However, if you migrate and run into any issues, our support team is always happy to help. Parallels Desktop allows for migration of operating systems from Boot Camp, an old PC, other virtualization products, and more but we cannot guarantee that individual applications will migrate appropriately without contacting their individual support based on their licesning policies. I hope this answers your question and please let us know if you have any issues or need assistance. We’re here to help! Facebook https://www.messenger.com/t/ParallelsInc, Twitter https://twitter.com/ParallelsCares or any other of our support channels: http://www.parallels.com/support/. Kayla, Audience Marketing Manager
Robert Jackson
March 7, 2020 at 12:06 pm

I installed High Sierra to a disc running OS 10.10 and it disabled all my older CS3 32 bit apps from Adobe. How can I overcome this? I thought anything before El Capitan or maybe Sierra as 32 bit apps would NOT work on High Sierra plus. I have Adobe CS5.5 on one machine. They are running but I don’t think installing anything newer as an OS ( those I just mentioned) would do anything other than to disable my apps again. There are no installers for anything older than High Sierra. Again, High Sierra disabled all my 32 bit apps from Adobe. Sure would appreciate some advice.
Holly Pepper
March 29, 2020 at 10:34 am

did u ever get it working Mark? I have just started a 14 day free trial of parallels, installed Mojave, and installed Age of empires 3 (mac version)
Kayla Myrhow
March 30, 2020 at 10:19 am

Thanks for your message, Robert! Our support team is happy to help you with this. Please reach out to them on Facebook https://www.messenger.com/t/ParallelsInc, Twitter https://twitter.com/ParallelsCares or any other of our support channels: http://www.parallels.com/support/. Any further questions let us know, we’re here to help. Kayla, Audience Marketing Manager at Parallels
Jonatan
April 3, 2020 at 2:17 pm

Hi!

How does this work with VST or AU Audio plugins? There’s a lot of music producers freaking out right now about audio plugins, so if this works you have a customer base there! Can parallels wrap the plugins to open in a software that itself runs on Catalina, or would you run the host program in Mojave?

How does the performance roughly compare between parallels and the main OS?
marinabouh
April 15, 2020 at 12:21 pm

great video! where can i download the correct image file for high sierra? I have tried a few from here and Parallels says “unable to detect operating system”.
Beatrice Vogel
April 21, 2020 at 7:57 am

Hey Marina, Thanks for reaching out. The best would be you contact Apple support directly. They will know for sure. Thanks
Beatrice Vogel
April 22, 2020 at 3:59 am

Hi Jonatan,

I am not surprised by your question. The ability to run 32-bit apps (or 32-bit plugins) is a topic of great interest to many Mac users.

Parallels Desktop cannot run a 32-bit plugin for an app that is running in Catalina. The app and all its plugins would have to installed and run inside a macOS VM.
As I mentioned in the blog post, you would probably have to run the app’s installer inside the macOS VM to ensure that everything the app needs was present and in the correct location.
There is a 32-bit app that I often use (The Geometer’s Sketchpad) and in my preparation for an upgrade to Catalina, I had to find the app’s installer and product key, and then install this app in a macOS Mojave VM.
The app worked great in a VM, and this made me really happy.

Concerning performance: for many apps there would not be any perceived performance decrease when the app is run inside a macOS VM.
The one exception to this would be an app that does a great deal of I/O.
I am not an audio engineer, but I would be concerned about the precise timing required in audio input and output. The only way to know if this will be a problem would be to test it.
It does not cost anything to create a macOS Mojave VM, so I encourage you to perform a quick test.
Let us know the results, and if there are any issues, please also let us know and we may be able to assist you.

Kurt
Parallels Desktop product manager
Ian
September 2, 2020 at 7:22 am

Great video, i have Parallels 16 and would like to install 32 bit device however Apple will not all me to download an old OS system on memory stick, can you guide me please.
Beatrice Vogel
September 18, 2020 at 2:28 am

Hey Ian, Thanks for your message. Our support team is happy to help you with this. Please reach out to them on Facebook https://www.messenger.com/t/ParallelsInc, Twitter https://twitter.com/ParallelsCares or any other of our support channels: http://www.parallels.com/support/. Any further questions let us know. Thanks
Brian Ezzelle
September 24, 2020 at 6:49 am

Older OS installers are no longer available from Apple. You can get updates but not the OS.
Beatrice Vogel
September 30, 2020 at 3:15 am

Hey Brian, We just updated this blog post with all the new links that work in the US Apple Store: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/run-32-bit-on-mac/. Hope this helps. If it still doesnt work you, feel free to contact the Apple Support. Thanks