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OregonRain's avatar
OregonRain
Iron Contributor
Sep 28, 2025

Best way to burn iso to usb on Mac? I need a Windows 11 bootable USB

Hi all, My Windows 11 PC was running into blue screen of death after system update. I tried the troubleshooting method and did not work. Based on my past experience, the best way is to clean install...
EvelynRoberts's avatar
EvelynRoberts
Iron Contributor
Sep 28, 2025

If you have an Intel Mac, then it is easy to burn ISO to USB on Mac using the built-in boot camp app.

Requirements

  • A Mac with Boot Camp Assistant (in Applications > Utilities).
  • An at least 8GB USB drive (16GB recommended).
  • A valid Windows ISO file.

Steps to burn ISO to USB on Mac with Bootcamp:

1. Insert the USB stick you want to use. 

2. Go to Applications > Utilities > Boot Camp Assistant.

3. In older versions of macOS (before Catalina), Boot Camp Assistant has an option to create a Windows installation disk.

4. Choose your ISO file.

5. Select the USB drive as the destination.

6. The assistant will format the USB drive and copy all the Windows installation files from the ISO onto it. This will create a Windows 11 bootable USB on Mac.

7. Once done, you'll have a Windows 11 bootable USB for os install.

Important Notes

Newer macOS versions (Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura, Sequoia): Apple removed the "Create installation disk" option. Boot Camp Assistant now installs Windows directly without making a USB installer. In these cases, you can't use Boot Camp Assistant to just burn an ISO to USB. 

File system: The USB will be formatted as FAT32 or exFAT, depending on ISO size. Large ISOs may require NTFS, in which case third-party tools are necessary.

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