How do I create windows 10 bootable USB on Mac without bootcamp?

Copper Contributor

I'm running into a frustrating issue where I need to create a Windows 10 bootable USB for my Macbook Pro 2023, but every attempt to use Boot Camp Assistant has ended in errors. This has left me in a bit of a bind, as I'm keen to find an alternative method that bypasses Boot Camp altogether. The goal is to successfully prepare a USB drive with Windows 10 installation files, which I plan to use on a PC. If anyone knows how to do this directly on macOS, avoiding Boot Camp issues, I'd really appreciate a simplified guide or tool suggestions to get this done.

 

Update: Issue resolved using SYSGeeker WonderISO to create a Windows 10 bootable USB on my MacBook Pro 2023, bypassing Boot Camp Assistant. Special thanks to Johnseven for the recommendation! 

 
10 Replies

@Tonyhu2255 

There are many ways and tools can be used to make Windows 10 bootable USB installer on Mac, like rufus, WonderISO or Unetbootin. But for me, I used to installed windows 10 in a VM (vmware i think is what I used) on Mac and then created the USB drive from there. I wish that you had known about this method.

Bootcamp assistant app is removed from Apple Silicon on Mac so you can't create Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac with Bootcamp app. You can mount Windows 10 ISO image on your Mac and copy all the files and folders to target USB drive except install.wim file, which is too large to be saved on a FAT32 partition. You need to split it into small chunks with wimlib utility.

 

The install.wim file is a Windows Imaging Format file used by Windows for the installation and deployment of Windows operating system images. It contains a compressed collection of files and directories crucial for Windows installation, allowing the entire operating system to be deployed from a single, manageable file. This file is commonly found within Windows installation media like DVDs or USB drives, in the sources folder.

 

To split a large install.wim file on a Mac, you can use a compatible tool that supports WIM files, like wimlib. wimlib is an open-source, cross-platform library that provides tools to work with WIM files, including creating, modifying, and extracting them. It also includes a command to split large WIM files into smaller, more manageable pieces that can be stored on media with smaller capacity or used for network deployments.

 

wimsplit /path/to/install.wim /path/to/split/split.wim 3000

 

The 3000 at the end of the command specifies the maximum size (in MB) for each split part. You can adjust this value based on your needs.

 

After executing these steps, you'll have several split WIM files (e.g., install.swm, install2.swm, etc.) at the specified destination path. These files can be used in place of the original install.wim for Windows installations that require split WIM files, such as installations from USB drives with FAT32 formatting, which has a maximum file size limit of 4 GB. Now, you have successfully created a Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac without Bootcamp.

 

 

 

Parallels Desktop, a popular virtualization software for Mac, allows you to run Windows and other operating systems within macOS without needing to reboot. So you can create Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac in a Windows virtual machine.

 

Firstly, you need to have a copy of the Windows 10 ISO file. Microsoft provides this file for free on their website, intended for users who need to install or reinstall Windows. Download this file to your Mac before proceeding to the next steps.

 

With the Windows 10 ISO file downloaded, the next crucial step is to obtain a USB drive with sufficient storage space. Typically, a drive with at least 8GB of space is recommended. This ensures that there is enough room for the Windows installation files and any additional updates or drivers you might need to include in the bootable media.

 

Once Parallels Desktop is installed, you can use it to create a new virtual machine using the Windows 10 ISO file. During the setup process, Parallels will ask where you want to install Windows. At this stage, instead of installing it on a virtual disk, you'll choose your USB drive as the installation destination. This process effectively turns your USB drive into bootable Windows 10 installation media.

 

However, it's important to note that directly creating Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac through Parallels Desktop might not be as straightforward as using dedicated software for making bootable drives. It takes more time and storage space on your Mac.

 

 

If you want to create windows 10 bootable USB on Mac without bootcamp, you can try using a different tool called Etcher. Etcher is a free and open-source tool that allows you to create bootable USB drives from ISO files. Here are the steps to create a Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac using Etcher:

  • 1. Download Etcher: Visit the Etcher website (https://www.balena.io/etcher/) and download the version for macOS.
  • 2. Download Windows 10 ISO: Go to the official Microsoft website and download the Windows 10 ISO file.
  • 3. Connect the USB drive: Insert your USB drive into your Mac.
  • 4. Open Etcher: Open the Etcher application that you downloaded.
  • 5. Select the ISO: In Etcher, click on the "Select image" button and browse to the location where you saved the Windows 10 ISO file.
  • 6. Select the ISO file. Select the USB drive: Click on the "Select drive" button in Etcher and choose your USB drive from the available options. Make sure you select the correct drive, as the process will erase all data on the chosen drive.
  • 7. Flash the USB drive: Click on the "Flash!" button in Etcher to start the process of creating Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac. Etcher will verify the ISO file and then write it to the USB drive.
  • 8. Wait for the process to complete: The process may take some time, so be patient and wait for it to complete.

 

Once the process is finished, The task of creating Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac is complete. You can use this USB drive to install Windows 10 on a PC.

 

Before you create Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac (without bootcamp), Remember to back up any important data from your USB drive, as creating a bootable drive will erase all existing data.

It becomes much challenging to create Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac as Bootcamp is not available on Apple Silicon Mac. Instead, you can borrow another Intel Mac and use Bootcamp to make a bootable Windows 10 USB on Mac.

 

Step 1: Open the Boot Camp Assistant in the Utilities folder within your Applications folder. Alternatively, use Spotlight search (Cmd + Space) and type "Boot Camp Assistant" to find and open it.

 

Step 2: Select the "Create a Windows 10 or later version install disk" option when it appears. This option will still work for Windows 10.

 

Step 3: Browse to and select the Windows 10 ISO file you downloaded earlier. Choose the USB drive as the destination for your Windows 10 bootable USB.

 

Step 4: Boot Camp Assistant will now create the bootable USB drive. This process can take some time, depending on the speed of your USB drive and Mac.

 

Once Boot Camp Assistant completes the process, you will have a Windows 10 bootable USB drive ready to use. You can then use this drive to install Windows 10 on a PC.

 

 

Hello & thank you for this tutorial. I successfully got windows 10 on my old rig after some component swaps. I assume the same process would work with windows 11 also? I'm building another PC that will need windows 11 on it.

@Johnseven 

 

I found a way to install Windows on system without Mac OS system. You will need a USB with a Mac OS system on it. Reason why you will need to format the HD of the mac.  With the system off. Turn on the mac. Access the boot up Options menu. Select the USB with the mac os. You will not be loading the Mac Os system. Don't worry. It will load to install the Mac OS system. You click the desktop and select Disk Utility. Choose the hard drive. Select Partition. Select one Partition.  Under the Partition window Select Master Boot Record. This will allow you to format the hard drive that is not GUID partition that is for Mac. Once that is done. You are golden. Make sure you have a bootable USB with Windows on it.  I used a bootable CD with Windows 7.  When selecting the bootable media, it will load windows. You may receive error that unable to use the hard drive. No worries. Select the hard drive, delete and format. and Try again. This should allow you use the hard drive and install windows.  No boot camp and no Mac OS on the system. If you need to get drivers. Try using IOBIT Driver Booster. It is free. Or you can view the devices in Device manager to locate the kind of devices that maybe needed to be updated.  

@Delaney_Justin Tried this today. My commands seemed to have worked. Files were created on my USB Flash Drive, but still doesn't seem to be recognized by my new PC. Do you have ideas on how to verify that the correct files were created? Maybe I messed up the path part?

@Tonyhu2255 

I got me a hand me down iMac 27" late 2015 from work and just used Ventoy to boot into HirenBootcd. From this Windows recovery environment I started an installation for W11 with the bypass method for the requirement check. I had to manually look up all the drivers and the only one that gave me trouble was the audio which I managed to fix after tons of possible options on the sound driver end. 

So now I don't use bootcamp and can install all the regular Windows drivers for the hardware. It runs like a charm and I'm surprised as to how capable of a machine it is this way. It runs some emulators and games pretty good as well.

o, for the M1 chip, Boot Camp should work just fine without any additional software like Parallels. However, if you have an older model with an Intel processor (M2/M3), then using Parallels is necessary in order to run Windows alongside macOS seamlessly on your machine. As for obtaining genuine Windows keys from Microsoft Partner Hypest-key