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AnselRhodes's avatar
AnselRhodes
Iron Contributor
Feb 03, 2026

How to make a bootable linux installation usb on mac?

A tech newbie and plan to revive an older PC that can't run Windows 11 due to the TPM 2.0 requirement. I decided to install Linux Mint, but I'm currently using a Mac and I am a bit overwhelmed by the...
LucasPhillips's avatar
LucasPhillips
Iron Contributor
Feb 03, 2026

To make bootable Linux USB on Mac using the Disk Utility method, you can follow these steps. This approach involves formatting the USB drive and copying the Linux ISO contents manually, which is a straightforward way to create a bootable Linux USB on Mac without additional software.

Steps to Use Disk Utility Method for Making a Bootable Linux USB on Mac:

1. Obtain the ISO image of the Linux distribution you want to create a bootable USB for from the official website.

2. Plug in your USB drive (at least 4GB, preferably larger).

3. Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.

4. Select your USB drive in the sidebar.

5. Click on Erase.

6. Set the format to MS-DOS (FAT) and the scheme to Master Boot Record (MBR).

7. Click Erase to format the drive.

8. Double-click the downloaded ISO file to mount it as a virtual drive.

9. Open the mounted ISO in Finder.

10. Open another Finder window and navigate to the formatted USB drive.

11. Drag and drop the contents of the ISO (not the ISO file itself) into the USB drive.

12. For many Linux ISOs, copying the files manually is enough, but for others, you may need to run the dd command in Terminal to write the ISO directly to the USB for proper bootability.