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Mayaui's avatar
Mayaui
Copper Contributor
Sep 03, 2024
Solved

How can I create a macOS bootable usb on Windows 10?

I'm currently trying to create a macOS bootable USB drive from a Windows 10 machine. Despite searching extensively, I haven't found a straightforward process or guide that explains how to create a ma...
  • WilliamsMoore's avatar
    WilliamsMoore
    Sep 03, 2024

    I have encountered the same problem as you before, and I found many ways to solve it. In the end, I used UltraDMG. It can create a macOS bootable USB directly on Windows, and you don't need to do any complicated command line operations.

     

    This tutorial helped me a lot:

    https://www.howtogeeker.com/create-mac-bootable-usb-on-windows

     

    Just prepare your macOS DMG file, insert the USB, open UltraDMG, select your DMG file and USB, and click a button. The interface is simple and the steps are very simple. I think it should be helpful to you.

JasonThompson's avatar
JasonThompson
Copper Contributor
Sep 03, 2024

Mayaui 

Using Windows Explorer to handle the macOS startup disk is a relatively basic method, but to be honest, it is more suitable as an intermediate step. If you just want to get the macOS DMG file to a USB drive and then do the final startup disk processing on the Mac, this method is still OK.

 

I did it this way before. Although it can't be made into a startup disk directly, at least you can get the file over first. Now, to create a macOS bootable USB from Windows 10 or 11. The steps are roughly as follows:

 

  1. Format the USB drive: First plug your USB drive into the computer, open Windows Explorer, right-click the drive letter of the USB drive, and select "Format". In the format window, select the file system as exFAT or FAT32, and then click "Start". The advantage of this is that both exFAT and FAT32 formats can be read on both Windows and Mac.
  2. Copy the DMG file: After formatting the USB drive, you only need to find the macOS DMG file you downloaded and drag it directly to the USB drive to copy it. This process is very simple, just like copying a normal file.
  3. Subsequent processing: After copying the file to the USB drive, you can't directly use this USB drive to start macOS. You have to plug the USB drive into a Mac, open Disk Utility, and use it to convert the USB drive into a real macOS startup disk.

Although this method is not as comprehensive on Windows, it does allow you to get the files over first. If you have a Mac, this is a good solution. Overall, this is a relatively simple intermediate step for friends who don't want to toss too much.

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