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Stephennen's avatar
Stephennen
Bronze Contributor
Oct 17, 2025

Install Windows 11 on Mac without bootcamp and virtual machine?

Hi everyone, Long time Mac users and need some help from Microsoft community as they are many experts for Windows OS. I just bought a new MacBook Pro m4 and my old MacBook Pro 2018 will be retired....
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Kiaries's avatar
Kiaries
Iron Contributor
Oct 17, 2025

You can install Windows 11 on mac without Boot Camp by using an external SSD drive.

This method keeps your internal Mac system untouched. You install Windows on an external drive (USB, Thunderbolt, external SSD) and boot it when needed. It works best on Intel Macs. Some issues may arise on Apple Silicon.

Steps are similar to above, but rather than partitioning the internal disk, you target the external drive:

Step 1: Prepare a bootable USB installer + drivers

Step 2:Disable Mac’s external boot security (if your Mac has a T2 chip or secure boot settings) so the Mac allows booting from an external drive. 

Step 3:Boot from the USB, and install Windows onto the external drive.

Step 4:Use the Boot Camp support drivers.

Caveats: External drive performance may be slower, and some Macs (especially Apple Silicon) may refuse to boot from external Windows drives.

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