I have El capitan on my computer. How should I upgrade it to Monterey?

The Age of this computer will Govern what newer version of macOS it will Qualify to install. Use About this Mac from the Apple Icon on Desktop - the required Information will be there.

With the above information in-hand - follow this How to get old versions of macOS and verify what version this computer Qualifies to install.  For Best results use Safari to commence the download as Others may not work.

Safari will open a redirect and open the Apple Store where the download can commence.

If the computer does Qualify for Monterey - suggest upgrading in Stages.

There have been many changes since El Capitan such as Drive Format from HFS Journaled to APFS, EFI Boot ROMs is newer versions of macOS, anything 32 Bit ceased to be supported starting in Catalina macOS 10.15

Computer Qualify for the Monterey upgrade

macOS Big Sur 11 hardware requirements

macOS Catalina 10.15 hardware requirements

macOS Mojave 10.14 hardware requirements

macOS High Sierra 10.13 hardware requirements

macOS Sierra 10.12 hardware requirements

Tips Big Sir Upgrade Released Nov 2020

Tips Monterey Upgrade  Released Oct 25, 2021

Make Time Machine Backup  is very useful and can be used to Revert to Previous Working macOS

Notation - Mojave is the Last version to support 32 bit applications / extensions and Drivers. Catalina, Big Sur & Monterey supports only 64 bit and there is no workaround.

Suggest using Go64 to find 32 bit application before attempting the upGrade. Some or many of the Application already installed may require an update or upGrades to 64 Bit Version

If you're still running El Capitan, chances are your Mac is not capable of running Monterey.

Exactly what model Mac do you have?