To where is the Catalina installer saved?

I've downloaded Catalina using Mac App Store. Considering the size of several GB and how this worked with the Mojave update I expected an installer to appear in /Applications. It didn't.

It's not listed as a large file, and I can't find it with a tree map of ~/Library.

Can it be found somewhere else?

My end goal is to use it to install onto a USB drive.

Solution 1:

It should be in the global /Applications folder. By default all App Store downloads go there. It's been that way for years.

Solution 2:

System settings downloaded several GB and later told me the upgrade was ready to install, but I didn't find it anywhere on disk.

Returning to the App Store I noticed that it did not agree with system settings, and I was once again offered to download it.

After running the download once more the installer appeared in /Applications. That took a while...