Macbook Air 2012

ohhseto wrote:

Hello! I recently did an entire internet recovery (option+command+r) of my macbook (I was on El Capitan OS prior to this).

Option+Command+R is supposed to automatically download the most recent OS that the Macbook is compatible with...However, it gave me Mac OS X Lion.

If the computer has never had macOS 10.12.4+ installed, then Internet Recovery Mode works a bit differently. The Command + Option + R will load the version of macOS which originally shipped with your computer (or the oldest still available).

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904#exceptions

I tried downloading El Capitan manually from the App Store and installing it, but when I did, I was stuck in an endless loop of "you are missing components" and I wasn't able to successful boot up my drive anymore until I ran "Internet Recovery" again, and downloading the OS...AGAIN.

Any recommendations on how to proceed so I can upgrade the OS? I don't really care for upgrading it to Catalina, but if I can at least get it back up to El Capitan :)

See if you can create a bootable macOS 10.11 El Capitan USB installer:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

Not sure what the issue is, but if it doesn't seem to cooperate, why not just install Lion and then El Capitan from the App Store? There used to be an iTunes link where clicking on it would force the App Store to El Capitan.