Written by
Yvonne Feng
Summary: How to create a Monterey USB installer is introduced in this post, including downloading macOS Monterey, creating the bootable installer, and booting from the USB to install macOS. Download iBoysoft DiskGeeker to free up space and ensure you have enough disk space for the macOS installer.
Normally, you can update macOS directly on your Mac, but sometimes you'll need to create a Monterey USB installer to install or reinstall macOS Monterey. For whatever reason, you can find detailed methods for creating a Monterey USB installer in this article.
Preparations Before creating Monterey USB installer
To successfully create a Monterey USB installer, the following preparations are needed.
A healthy Mac. You need a fully functional Mac to download the macOS Monterey installer and create a USB installer. If your Mac has system issues like frequent crashes or hardware failures, it may cause the installation process to be unstable or fail.
A compatible Mac. Your Mac must support macOS Monterey; otherwise, you may not be able to download or install it properly. Check compatibility: Click Apple menu > About This Mac to see if your Mac supports Monterey.
Supported Mac models:
- iMac (2015 and later)
- MacBook (2016 and later)
- MacBook Air (2015 and later)
- MacBook Pro (2015 and later)
- Mac mini (2014 and later)
- Mac Pro (2013 and later)
- iMac Pro (2017)
A USB drive with at least 16GB. You need a USB flash drive with at least 16GB of storage (32GB or more is recommended for better stability). The USB must be formatted to a macOS-compatible format (APFS or Mac OS Extended), and all data on it will be erased, so back up any important files beforehand.
A stable internet connection. A fast and stable internet connection is necessary to prevent download failures or interruptions because downloading macOS Monterey requires over 12GB of data.
Enough storage space on your Mac. You need at least 30GB of free space to download the installer, create the USB installer, and complete the installation without issues.
Your available disk space is in the Apple menu > About This Mac > Storage. If there is not enough disk space for usage, try iBoysoft DiskGeeker, a professional disk management tool, to remove unnecessary files and optimize storage.
How do you get the macOS Monterey installer?
Before creating a bootable macOS Monterey USB installer, you need to download the macOS Monterey installer on your Mac. However, to encourage users to upgrade to the latest macOS version, Apple does not display Monterey on the App Store homepage or search results, instead prioritizing the newest macOS release.
That said, Apple still provides official download options for macOS Monterey. While you can't find it through a direct search in the App Store, you can access it via Apple's official support page or specific App Store links. Click the link below to download the macOS Monterey installer for free.
Download the macOS Monterey Installer
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How do you create a bootable USB on Mac?
Have you already downloaded the macOS Monterey installer? Let's look at how to create a bootable USB installer. Before this, please remember to back up any important data on your USB; this process will erase all contents on the device.
- Insert the USB drive into your Mac.
- Open Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility), select your USB drive from the left sidebar, click Erase, and set the name as MyVolume, the format as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or APFS, and the scheme as GUID Partition Map.
- Open Terminal.
- Enter the following command and press Enter (make sure your USB drive is named MyVolume; if it has a different name, modify the command accordingly):sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
- Enter your administrator password and press Enter.
- When the terminal prompts, "To continue we need to erase the volume at /Volumes/MyVolume," type Y and press Enter to confirm, then wait for the process to begin.
- The process may take anywhere from a few minutes to over half an hour, depending on the speed of your USB drive. Once completed, the Terminal will display "Install media now available," indicating that the bootable macOS Monterey USB installer has been successfully created.
Now that you have successfully created the macOS Monterey USB installer, you can verify whether it was successful. Open Finder and check the device list in the left sidebar—if the USB drive is now named "Install macOS Monterey," the process was completed successfully.
You can also run the following command in Terminal to check if the USB drive contains the correct macOS Monterey installation files. If "Install macOS Monterey.app" is listed, it confirms that the installation files have been properly written to the USB drive.
ls /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Monterey
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How do you use the macOS Monterey bootable USB on Mac?
Once your macOS Monterey bootable USB installer is ready, you can use it to install or reinstall macOS Monterey.
First, insert the USB drive into the target Mac and ensure it is connected to a power source. Then, restart the Mac and immediately hold down the Option key on an Intel Mac or the Power button on an Apple Silicon Mac until the startup disk selection screen appears. From the list of available bootable drives, select Install macOS Monterey and press Return to launch the installer.
Once you enter the macOS Utilities window, you can choose Disk Utility to erase the target drive for a clean installation or proceed by selecting Install macOS Monterey to continue with the setup.
Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process. Once the installation is complete, your Mac will automatically restart and boot into the macOS Monterey setup screen.
When do you need to create a Monterey USB Installer?
We believe you already know how to create and use a macOS Monterey USB installer. If you encounter any of the following situations in the future, you can use the USB boot disk to install or restore macOS Monterey.
- Upgrade or reinstall macOS Monterey: If your Mac needs to be upgraded to Monterey or your current system has issues that require a reinstall, a USB boot disk allows for a faster and more convenient installation.
- Install macOS Monterey on multiple Macs: If you need to install Monterey on multiple Macs and want to avoid downloading the installation file each time, a USB installer enables offline installation, saving time and bandwidth.
- Mac won't boot (Recovery Mode unavailable): If your Mac encounters serious issues and cannot access macOS Recovery, a USB boot disk can be an independent recovery tool, allowing you to boot up and reinstall macOS.
- Perform a clean installation (erase disk and reinstall): If you want to completely wipe your Mac and perform a fresh installation, a USB installer helps format the disk and install a clean version of macOS Monterey.
- Downgrade to macOS Monterey: If you are running a newer macOS version (such as macOS Ventura or Sequoia) but wish to revert to Monterey, a USB boot disk is the most straightforward and effective method.
- Create an emergency boot disk: If you're concerned about potential system failures or compatibility issues, preparing a macOS Monterey USB boot disk in advance can serve as an emergency recovery tool for fear that you cannot access the system.
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