---
title: "Create a Windows Installer USB Stick on macOS"
date: 2024-05-20T21:44:23.000Z
author: Z.SHINCHVEN
tags: [Windows, USB, macOS, Bootable]
canonical: https://atlassc.net/2024/05/21/create-a-windows-installer-usb-stick-on-macos
---
## Introduction

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a bootable Windows Installer USB Stick on macOS. You can use this USB Stick to install Windows on your computer.

## Download Windows ISO file

You need to download a Windows ISO file to create a bootable Windows Installer USB Stick. You can download the Windows ISO file from the official website:

- [Windows 10](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO)
- [Windows 11](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11).

## Format USB Stick

### 1. Find the USB Stick

Before formatting the USB Stick, you need to find the path of the USB Stick. You can do this by running the following command in the terminal:

```bash
diskutil list
```

Let's say the USB Stick is `/dev/disk2`. If your USB Stick is `/dev/disk2`, you can proceed to the next step. If it's different, replace `/dev/disk2` with the path of your USB Stick.

### 2. Unmount the USB Stick

```bash
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2
```

This command will unmount the USB Stick so that you can format it.

### 3. Format the USB Stick

```bash
diskutil eraseDisk MS-DOS "WIN10" MBR /dev/disk2
```

This command will format the USB Stick with the name `WIN10` and the MBR partition scheme. If you want to format the USB Stick with a different name, replace `WIN10` with the name you want. 

`MBR` stands for Master Boot Record. It's a special area at the very beginning of a hard drive that contains information about the disk's partitions and a small program called the boot loader. The boot loader is responsible for starting the operating system.

## Write Windows ISO to USB Stick

### 1. Unmount the USB Stick

Your USB Stick might be mounted after formatting. You need to unmount it before writing the Windows ISO file to it. 

```bash
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2
```

### 2. Write the Windows ISO file to the USB Stick

```bash
sudo dd if=/path/to/windows.iso of=/dev/disk2 bs=1m
```

This command will write the Windows ISO file to the USB Stick. Replace `/path/to/windows.iso` with the path to the Windows ISO file you downloaded.

`if` stands for input file, and `of` stands for output file. `bs` stands for block size. The block size is the number of bytes that `dd` reads or writes at a time. In this case, we are using `1m` as the block size, which means `1 MB`.

## Eject the USB Stick

After writing the Windows ISO file to the USB Stick, you can eject it by running the following command:

```bash
diskutil eject /dev/disk2
```

## Conclusion

Now you have a bootable Windows Installer USB Stick that you can use to install Windows on your computer. You can insert the USB Stick into your computer and boot from it to start the Windows installation process. Make sure to change the boot order in your BIOS settings to boot from the USB Stick.