HomeHow ToMacsHow to Create a Bootable USB Stick Mac
There are quite a few situations when you may need a bootable USB stick to install Mac OS. You may prefer a clean install of Mac OS, or perhaps, you have multiple Macs that need to have the software installed. Whatever the case, knowing how to create a bootable USB stick on Mac OS, is a practical and useful thing to learn. It’s also not as hard as you may think.
You have two options when it comes to creating such a bootable USB stick. You can either use a free program, called Disk Creator, or you can use Terminal. Though, you may not be comfortable using Terminal if you’re not an advanced user, the tutorial below outlines the process in an easy and effective manner. Nonetheless, using Disk Creator is, admittedly, the easier option. No matter which method you choose to use, soon enough you’ll have a bootable USB stick in your hands. In order to get started and create a bootable USB stick on Mac OS, follow the instructions below.
Use Disk Creator to Create Bootable USB on Mac OS
Create Bootable USB for Mac on Windows 10, Mac and Windows file system is completely different, so you are not able to create bootable USB for Mac with PowerShell, CMD or Rufus.If you remembered, till MacOS sierra the Apple file system was Hackintosh, but MacOS 10.13 High Sierra has the technology of Apple Filesystem. That’s why we can’t create bootable USB with Windows tools. Mar 12, 2020 A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the Internet, but it does require the Internet to get information specific to your Mac model, such as firmware updates. If you need to connect to a Wi-Fi network, use the Wi-Fi menu in the menu bar.
Disk Creator is a free program that will allow you to have a bootable USB stick in a matter of moments. While it may seem troublesome to have to download a third-party tool, you’ll soon see that it’s worth the trouble, as Disk Creator is very easy to use, and will save you from having to use Terminal. In order to get started and use Disk Creator to create a bootable USB stick on Mac, follow the instructions below. For purposes of ease, this tutorial uses macOS Sierra as an example for creating the bootable USB stick
1. Download Disk Creator and the macOS Sierra installer.
2. Insert the USB stick of your choosing into your Mac. The USB should be at least 8 GB or more. It’s best to back up all the data on the USB drive, if any of it is important. Please note that the installer will delete all of the data on the USB drive.
3. Launch Disk Creator.
4. Click on Select the OS X Installer button.
5. Locate the Sierra installer file. This will likely be in your Applications folder.
6. Choose your USB drive from the drop-down menu.
7. Click on Create Installer.
After the process has completed, you can insert your USB stick into any Mac, and launch the installer by holding down the option key when booting up your computer. It’s as simple as that.
Use Terminal to Create Bootable USB Stick on Mac OS
If you don’t prefer to download any sort of third-party software, you can always use Terminal in order to create a bootable USB stick on Mac OS. In order to get started, and use Terminal to create a bootable USB stick, follow the instructions below.
1. Download the macOS Sierra installer.
2. Insert a USB drive and name is accordingly. The drive should be at least 8 GB. Please ensure that the USB has been formatted for OS X Extended. Before continuing the step below, ensure that you have backed up all the data on your drive.
3. Launch Terminal. You can use Spotlight by clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the top right corner of your screen. Type in terminal in the search bar and press the enter/return key.
4. Enter the following command in Terminal and replace Name with the name of your USB stick:
5. You may be prompted to enter your password. Please do so accordingly.
6. Press the enter/return key.
Please be patient as command line carries out the process. It’s best to not interrupt this process or else you will compromise the work. Do not interrupt the process until you see the Done message. This may take a large amount of time.
After the process has completed, you can insert your USB stick into any Mac, and launch the installer by pressing and holding the option key when booting up your computer. That’s all it takes. You’ve now created a bootable USB stick in Mac OS, and didn’t need to use any sort of third-party application or tool. If this was your first time using Terminal, you can pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
However, for future references, please be mindful when using the command line, as it is a very powerful but sensitive tool. If you enter a command without knowing what it does, you could end up harming your system or even deleting all of the data on your computer. Nonetheless, this shouldn’t deter you from learning more about the command line. Based on what you learned today about creating a bootable USB stick, you can see that the command line is a very useful tool.
PAGE CONTENT:
- Download the Best USB Bootable Software
- Two Ways to Create a Bootable USB
- First and Foremost - Create a Portable Windows USB Disk
- Guide - Create a WinPE-based USB Disk
Download the Best USB Bootable Software
EaseUS Todo Backup is recommended here as the best USB bootable software, plus an essential bootable USB creation tool for personal users and companies. It's all-in-one software that integrates both bootable USB and ISO image together, which facilitates users to create portable Windows 7/8/10 that greatly reduce worry in case of an unexpected system failure, crash and similar disasters that cause a complete shutdown.
With EaseUS Windows backup software, customers can gain the following benefits:
Software Name | Primary Functions | Competitive Advantages |
---|---|---|
EaseUS Todo Backup | 1. Backup and recovery for disk/partition, data, files, folders, operating system, mail, exchange, etc. 2. Disk/partition clone, OS migration to HDD/SSD. 3. Transfer system to dissimilar hardware. 4. Create USB portable Windows. 5. Create Linux/WinPE-based bootable USB stick. | 1. A great combination of creating a bootable Windows USB drive and a bootable backup drive. 2. A complete 30-day free trial after the download for the first time. 3. An official, lightweight, easy-to-use and effective bootable USB creation tool that allows even less experienced users to have a try. 4. Automatically detect the USB drive and help format the drive to the required FAT32 file system. |
Two Ways to Create a Bootable USB
With the help of the EaseUS Windows backup software, you are able to create a bootable USB drive in two ways.
- Easily create a portable Windows USB that contains system and user files.
- Simply create a WinPE-based bootable USB stick that can only boot into EaseUS Todo Backup.
Follow the step-by-step guide below, and make your own bootable USB drive with the amazing bootable USB creator.
First and Foremost - Create a Portable Windows USB Disk
Creating a portable USB is your very first choice. All you need to do is download the useful system cloning tool and clone the operating system to your portable device.
During the system cloning process, you can create a portable USB drive. You can boot Windows from the USB drive anytime if you're trying to restore a crashed system even the computer did not install EaseUS Todo Backup software.
Step 1. Launch EaseUS Todo Backup. Expand the menu and click 'System Clone' in the lower position.
Step 2. On the 'System clone' window, the software will choose the system partition and boot partition by default. Just Choose the USB drive as the destination disk.
Click on 'Advanced options' and then 'Create Portable Windows USB drive'. Click 'OK'.
Click 'Proceed'. The software will start immediately cloning the default partitions of your desktop/laptop to the USB drive. After the cloning process is over, you can safely plug the USB drive out.
Step 3. To boot the cloned system from the USB drive on other Windows devices, just connect the drive to the device. After the connection, wait for the computer configuring system settings and you will finally arrive at the desktop screen that's exactly the same with that of the cloned system.
Put the 'username' and 'password' of the cloned system. You should now successfully enter the cloned system.
Guide - Create a WinPE-Based USB Disk
If you don't want to clone your system to the external device, just want to export the data on the computer, you are advised to create an emergency disk with EaseUS Todo Backup.
By this means, you are only allowed to boot into EaseUS Todo Backup even when your computer or laptop cannot boot as usual. Once you boot into this backup software, you can back up data to an external device or copy files without Windows. Let's see how to create this WinPE disk.
1. Prepare a USB drive which can be written and read.
2. Launch and install EaseUS Todo Backup on the Computer B
3. Open the tool and click Tools - Create Emergency Disk.
4. Select 'Create WinPE emergency disk'.
Software To Create Macos Bootable Usb On Windows
5. Select a bootable media type: here we choose USB drive.
Make Usb Bootable For Mac
6. Click Proceed to create a bootable disk.