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How to Create a Windows 10 Bootable USB on Your Mac
Creating a Windows bootable USB is easy on a Windows PC, but what if you want to create one on a Mac? Here, we'll teach you two unique methods to create a Windows 10 bootable USB on your Mac.
1. Create a Bootable Windows 10 USB on Mac Using PassFab 4Winkey
The easiest way to create a Windows bootable USB on your Mac is using PassFab 4WinKey. The app is designed to help you recover a Windows account you've been locked out of. However, an additional benefit is that you can also use it to create a Windows USB bootable disk without Boot Camp.
The advantage of using 4WinKey is that you don't need to download the Windows ISO separately—the application does that for you automatically. Therefore, all you need to do is plug in your USB drive, and the app does the rest.
PassFab4 WinKey comes in Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate versions, but you can opt for a free 30-day trial. The trial version will allow you to create a bootable disk, which should be sufficient for this task. If you want to use its additional features, such as Windows account recovery, you'll need a premium subscription that starts at $27.95 monthly.
: How To Do A Clean Install On Windows Script (tom's Hardware)
Make sure you have a USB drive with at least 16GB of space to create the bootable disk. Since you'll need to format the USB drive, make sure you've backed up all important data before proceeding.
Follow these steps to create a Windows bootable USB disk using PassFab 4WinKey:
- Download PassFab 4WinKey and open it up on your Mac.
- Plug in your USB drive. PassFab 4WinKey should automatically detect it. Check if the correct drive is selected and click Burn.
- Since the process involves downloading the Windows ISO, it may take some time, depending on your internet connection.
- You'll receive a confirmation message once it's done, alongside some instructions on how to boot a Windows PC to the recovery disk.
That's it! You can now use the bootable disk to reinstall a fresh version of Windows on your PC or Mac.
PassFab 4WinKey
PassFab 4WinKey is one of the best tools available for resetting Windows 10 passwords. Need to delete or create a Windows account? This tool has you covered.
- Easy to use for beginners and advanced users
- A single click can create a bootable Windows 10 reset disk
- Helpful support and excellent tutorial walkthroughs
- A reliable choice for all users
- Version specific functions
- Free trial only available from PassFab 4WinKey website
2. Manually Create a Bootable USB Using Terminal
Alternatively, you can download the ISO file and manually create an installer using the Terminal app on your Mac. Before proceeding, make sure to install Homebrew on your Mac, as you'll need it for the later steps.
- Head to the Windows 10 download page and get the ISO file after selecting your edition and language.
- Open Disk Utility on your Mac from the Applications > Utilities folder. Alternatively, you can use Spotlight search on your Mac to find it.
- Select your USB drive from the left sidebar, and click Erase in the top-right corner.
- Give it any name you want, and select ExFAT as the Format. Then, click Erase.
- Now, you need to mount the ISO file so that you can copy its contents over to your flash drive. Open Terminal on your Mac and enter the following command: hdiutil mount ~/Downloads/Win10_22H2_English_x64v1.iso Make sure to replace the path of the ISO file to where you stored it. In most cases, it will be in your Downloads folder.
- You'll now need to install wimlib. Run the command below to do so. brew install wimlib
- Next, type the following command to create a folder named sources in the root directory of your flash drive. Make sure to replace USB with the name you assigned to your flash drive while formatting it. mkdir /Volumes/USB/sources
- Since you cannot copy a file over 4GB on a drive formatted using FAT32, you'll need to split one of the files into two parts. Remember that this command might take a while to finish, so be patient. wimlib-imagex split /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9/sources/install.wim /Volumes/USB/sources/install.swm 3800
- Finally, you can copy the remaining files by running this command: rsync -vha --exclude=sources/install.wim /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9/* /Volumes/USB
Your bootable USB is now ready, and you can boot into the Windows setup on your PC.
Creating a Windows 10 bootable USB on a Mac is definitely not as easy as it is on a PC. Fortunately, you can use either of the methods we discussed here to create a bootable Windows USB drive within minutes. Choose the method that aligns best with your expertise to tackle your Windows installation or recovery tasks on your Mac.
