Updating to macOS Catalina gets stuck, when trying to update from OS X Mavericks

I'm trying to update a MacBook Air from early 2014 that runs OS X Mavericks (desktop) to the latest macOS (Catalina). I downloaded the installer for macOS Catalina from the App Store and when going through it, it gets stuck at the following screen:

I click 'Install' and the color of that arrow icon turns from black to the grey you can see in the picture above. Then nothing happens. I waited for several hours (thinking it might be slow), but nothing ever happens.

I also restarted the machine several times and attempted this installation again and again, but I can't seem to get any further.

Any ideas of what else to try? I would prefer to keep the data that I have on the machine, so just updating the operating system, not doing a clean install. I did make a backup with TimeMachine before attempting to update.

Solution 1:

The jump from Mavericks to Catalina may be too much of a leap. Try first upgrading to High Sierra. The website How to upgrade to macOS High Sierra has a link you can use to download the High Sierra upgrade. I suggest this because the installation of High Sierra will also upgrade the firmware to recognize and boot from APFS containers. While this is not a requirement for High Sierra, it is for Catalina.