Forum Discussion

Cammsnen's avatar
Cammsnen
Iron Contributor
Jun 17, 2025

How to clean install windows 11 without usb from Windows 10

My mom asks me today if I could be able to help install Windows 11 on her's old laptop, an Dell XPS 13 with Intel i5 processor, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. She wants to keep apps, files and settings afte...
deployment
device management
Damk's avatar
Damk
Iron Contributor
Jun 17, 2025

A clean install of Windows 11 means wiping your drive and installing the OS from scratch. Here's a step-by-step on how to clean install Windows 11 without USB.

Prerequisites

USB flash drive (8 GB or larger) that can be fully erased.

Windows 11 ISO — download the official ISO from Microsoft’s site.

A working Windows PC to prepare the USB.

Step 1: Download the Windows 11 ISO

Go to Microsoft’s Windows 11 download page.

Under “Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO)”, select Windows 11 and your language, then click Download.

Save the ISO to a location you’ll remember (e.g., your Desktop).

Step 2: Create Windows 11 Bootable USB from ISO

Download the Media Creation Tool for Windows 11.

Run it, choose Create installation media, and click Next.

Select language and edition, choose USB flash drive, then pick your USB and let it run.

Step 3.  Clean Install Windows 11 from USB

Insert the USB into the target PC and restart.

Enter the BIOS/UEFI (usually by pressing F2, F12, Del, or Esc) and set the USB drive as first boot device.

Save and exit—Windows Setup will start.

When prompted, choose Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).

Delete existing partitions on the target drive (this wipes all data), select the resulting unallocated space, and click Next.

The installer will copy files and reboot several times.

Resources