How to Create Windows 11 Bootable USB on Mac?

Sometimes, you run into problems with your Windows PC, which becomes unbootable. While it's easy to create a Windows 11 bootable USB on a Windows computer so that you can reinstall Windows 11, you may be left with only a Mac to work on.

In this case, you'll want to learn how to create a Windows 11 installation media on Mac, which is what this post is about.

Here's a summary of the methods included in this article:

Before creating Windows 11 bootable USB on Mac

Before you start, make the following preparations to avoid potential problems, such as network issues or insufficient space, that could hinder the creation of Windows 11 installation media.

1. Get a USB flash drive or any external drive with 8GB or larger storage space.

Back it up because we'll remove its data during the process.

2. A stable internet connection.

3. A working Mac plugged into power or one with enough battery.

4. A copy of the Windows 11 ISO file.

Visit Microsoft's Download page, and scroll down to the section "Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices."

If your computer uses x86/x64 processors, click "Select Download," choose the Windows 11 ISO for x64 devices, and click "Download Now." If it uses Arm-based processors, click here next to "Windows 11 ISOs for Arm64 devices are available," then choose the correct version and click "Download Now." Then choose your preferred language and then 64-bit Download.

5. Free up more space on your Mac.

A common reason stopping users from making a Windows 11 bootable USB on Mac is space shortage. To prevent your Mac from running out of space during the download of the Windows 11 ISO file or the creation process, we suggest you clean up your Mac beforehand using iBoysoft DiskGeeker for Mac.

This disk cleaner can analyze your Mac hard drive's disk space and present all of your files in descending order by size, allowing you to quickly find and remove large files that are no longer necessary. You can also utilize its "Clean Junk" feature to delete garbage files like caches, logs, preference files, etc swiftly.

Now that you're ready, let's create the Windows 11 installation media together!

Make Windows 11 bootable USB on Mac via Boot Camp

If you have an Intel-based Mac that runs macOS Catalina or earlier, the best way to create an installation media for Windows 11 is by using Boot Camp Assistant. It's a built-in tool for installing Windows on Intel-based Macs and creating bootable Windows 10 or 11 media. Here's how:

If the Windows 11 bootable USB won't create and keeps saying there's not enough space, get a professional disk cleaner to declutter your Mac and try again.

If you have an M1, M2, M3, or M4 Mac, try one of the three methods below.

Share to benefit others who want to create installation media for Windows 11 on Mac!

Create installation media for Windows 11 on Mac using WinDiskWriter

WinDiskWriter is an open-source tool that enables you to write flash drives with Windows on Mac. It's lightweight and easy to use, a great option for making a Windows 11 bootable USB on Mac. To use it,

Create Windows 11 bootable USB on Mac Terminal

Another way to create a Windows 11 bootable USB on Mac M1/M2/M3/M4/Intel is through Terminal. It's the command-line interface of the Mac operating system. Working with it is slightly more complex than previous methods, but you'll be fine as long as you follow our instructions.

Burn Windows 11 ISO to USB on Mac using Rufus

If none of the above methods produce a bootable Windows 11 installation media, create a Windows 11 virtual machine, then make the Windows bootable USB through Rufus on Mac.

You can choose a free virtual machine like VirtualBox or make use of the free trial of Parallels Desktop to create the Windows virtual machine. Here, we use Parallels Desktop as an example.

Which method do you use? Share the post to help others make Windows 11 boot USB on Mac!