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Fix:  Stuck on 'Making Disk Bootable' When Creating Bootable USB

Updated on Sunday, June 8, 2025

iBoysoft author Connie Yang

Written by

Connie Yang
Professional tech editor

Approved by

Jessica Shee

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Summary: If you are stuck on "Making disk bootable" in Terminal, wait for a longer time to let the system start creating the bootable disk. If the issue goes on, follow these methods:

1. Change the way to create a macOS bootable USB installer: 
Use iBoysoft DiskGeeker, a bootable disk creator that helps you create a bootable USB installer with a few clicks.

2. Grant Full Disk Access to Terminal: 
Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access and enable Terminal.

3. Quit Terminal and try again: 
Close the Terminal window and re-launch it to eliminate the temporary bugs in Terminal. 

4. Check if the USB drive is connected well: 
Disconnect the USB drive and connect it tightly and correctly

5 . Re-download the macOS installer: 
Download the installer from the App Store on a stable internet connection to ensure the installer pkg file is intact.

stuck on making disk bootable

You're trying to create a bootable USB for macOS Sequoia, Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, etc., with Terminal. After running the createinstallmedia command, everything seems fine until the process gets stuck on the "Making disk bootable" information in Terminal for a long time.

This step is where Terminal creates a bootable installer on the specified storage device that can start up macOS on any compatible Mac. Normally, it's followed quickly by progress updates like "Copying to disk: 0%... 10%... 20%..."

If you have no clue why the creation process hangs on "Making disk bootable" and won't go further, don't worry.  You can follow the tricks in our post to get out of the dilemma and complete the macOS bootable USB creation.

Terminal stuck on making disk bootable

Wait it out

Running the createinstallmedia command in the Terminal to create a bootable disk is not something that can be accomplished quickly. Although the "Copying to disk" information usually shows up immediately after "Making disk bootable," the time varies from your environment.

The size of the installer, USB drive speed, Mac hardware performance, temporary lag of Terminal or your Mac, and other factors influence the macOS bootable USB installer creation process.

So, you can wait a longer time to let Terminal finish creating the macOS bootable USB installer. If the Terminal gets stuck on the "Making disk bootable" after hours' waiting, try the next solution.

Try a simpler way to create a macOS bootable USB

Using Terminal is the conventional way to create a macOS bootable USB installer, which is time-consuming and error-prone, and difficult for tech-newbies.

Let's try a different approach - using a bootable disk maker for Mac. iBoysoft DiskGeeker is a multi-functional disk management tool that supports downloading macOS DMG files and creating bootable USB installers for macOS quickly and with just clicks. No Terminal required and as easy as ABC for all users.

Here's how:

  1. Connect a USB drive to your Mac. Back up data on the drive, as creating a bootable USB installer on it requires erasing the drive.
  2. Download, install, and open iBoysoft DiskGeeker on your Mac.
  3. Select a volume on the USB drive and click Create boot disk > Continue. 
    create boot disk Mac
  4. Choose a desired macOS version and click Create boot disk > OK to start downloading the macOS DMG installer first. 
    create High Sierra bootable disk
  5. After downloading, click OK on the prompt to start creating a macOS bootable USB installer on the USB drive.
  6. Wait a moment to let the process complete. 
    boot disk creation complete

Now, you get a bootable USB of your desired macOS version, and you can use it to boot the target Mac device.

Go tell your friends the simple way to create bootable macOS installers.

 

Grant Full Disk Access to Terminal

Terminal might need to read from /Volumes, /Applications, /System, etc., when creating a bootable USB. However, this process is often restricted unless Full Disk Access is enabled.

That's probably why your createinstallmedia command is stuck on "Making disk bootable."  To fix the issue, just grant Full Disk Access to Terminal.

  1. Click the Apple menu > System Settings > Privacy & Security.
  2. Scroll down to find Full Disk Access and click on it. 
    Full Disk Access settings
  3. Enable Terminal in Full Disk Access. 
    enable Terminal Full Disk Access

Now, try again to create a bootable USB with the Terminal from scratch.

Quit Terminal and try again

Sometimes, it is that the Terminal freezes rather than the creation process getting stuck on the "Making disk bootable" information. You can try to quit Terminal and wait a moment, then open Terminal and run the specific createinstallmedia command to create a bootable USB installer again.

Check if the USB drive is connected well

A sudden disconnection between your USB drive and Mac can interrupt the Terminal process, causing it to pause on "Making disk bootable."

You can check whether your USB cable is tightly connected to the USB port. If not, eject the drive and reconnect it to your Mac. Then, start the creation task again.

check USB drive connection on Mac

Re-download the macOS installer

Perhaps, the macOS installer is corrupted, causing the creation process to fail to go on trouble-free and get stuck on "Making disk bootable."

You can re-download the macOS installer and try again. Ensure the internet connection is stable during the download.

Here are the quick links to download macOS installers:

Download macOS Sequoia

Download macOS Sonoma

Download macOS Ventura

Download macOS Monterey

Download macOS Big Sur

Download macOS Catalina

Download macOS Mojave

Download macOS High Sierra

Download macOS Sierra

Tell others these solutions if they can help you get out of the "Making disk bootable" trouble when creating a bootable USB installer.

Other situations when Terminal fails to create macOS bootable installer

Case 1. Terminal stuck on Erasing disk: 0%, 10%, 20%, or other

Solution: Manually erase the target drive in Disk Utility

  1. Open Disk Utility from Launchpad > Other.
  2. Select the drive from the sidebar and click Erase.
  3. Enter a name, set the format as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) (if you'll run the bootable installer on non-Apple silicon Macs) or APFS (if you'll run the bootable installer on Apple silicon Macs), and choose GUID Partition Map as the scheme.
  4. Click Erase. 
    format USB drive on Mac

Case 2: Copying the macOS RecoveryOS stuck

Solution 1: Wait it out.

Solution 2: Reformat the USB drive in Disk Utility

Case 3. Copying to disk stuck at 0

If you want to know how long it will take to copy installer files to the disk, the truth is that there's no fixed time, as it depends on the installer size, your USB drive speed, Mac hardware performance, etc.

copying to disk stuck at 0

Solution 1: Wait for a longer time

Solution 2: Quit Terminal and restart from scratch

Solution 3: Re-download the macOS installer

Case 4. The bless of the installer failed

This is the error message that tells you the disk fails to be recognized as a bootable drive for macOS.

Solution 1: Grant Full Disk Access to Terminal

Solution 2: Try the process again.

Solution 3: Change the startup security settings in macOS Recovery to reduced security.

To find more solutions, follow: Fix Error 'The Bless of the Installer Disk Failed' in Terminal

Whatever the situation you are in, we suggest you switch to using iBoysoft DiskGeeker. This tool helps you create a boot USB installer for macOS in a much easier way with a high success rate.

Share this post with more people if it helps you unfreeze "Making disk bootable" in Terminal.