Bootable Usb Mac El Capitan
These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install on multiple computers without downloading the installer each time.
What you need to create a bootable installer
- A USB flash drive or other secondary volume formatted as Mac OS Extended, with at least 14GB of available storage
- A downloaded installer for macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or El Capitan
Download macOS
- Download: macOS Big Sur, macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, or macOS High Sierra
These download to your Applications folder as an app named Install macOS [version name]. If the installer opens after downloading, quit it without continuing installation. To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server. - Download: OS X El Capitan
This downloads as a disk image named InstallMacOSX.dmg. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.
Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal
You don't need working mac installation or AHCI capable motherboard, it can be done on any PC. Create Bootable OS X El Capitan USB Drive. How to Create Mac OS X 10.11x El Capitan Bootable USB Installer using Built-in Commands.
- Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer.
- Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
- Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace
MyVolume
in these commands with the name of your volume.
Big Sur:*
Catalina:*
Mojave:*
High Sierra:*
El Capitan:
* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the --applicationpath
argument and installer path, similar to the way this is done in the command for El Capitan.
After typing the command:
- Press Return to enter the command.
- When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
- When prompted, type
Y
to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal shows the progress as the volume is erased. - After the volume is erased, you may see an alert that Terminal would like to access files on a removable volume. Click OK to allow the copy to proceed.
- When Terminal says that it's done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Big Sur. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.
Use the bootable installer
Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:
Apple silicon
- Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
- Turn on your Mac and continue to hold the power button until you see the startup options window, which shows your bootable volumes.
- Select the volume containing the bootable installer, then click Continue.
- When the macOS installer opens, follow the onscreen instructions.
Intel processor
- Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
- Press and hold the Option (Alt) ⌥ key immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac.
- Release the Option key when you see a dark screen showing your bootable volumes.
- Select the volume containing the bootable installer. Then click the up arrow or press Return.
If you can't start up from the bootable installer, make sure that the External Boot setting in Startup Security Utility is set to allow booting from external media. - Choose your language, if prompted.
- Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.
Learn more
A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the internet, but it does require an internet connection to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model.
For information about the createinstallmedia
command and the arguments you can use with it, make sure that the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter the appropriate path in Terminal:
Macbooks or iMacs hardly require reinstallation of their Mac OS, but when they do then it’s a fairly difficult process especially if your secondary computer is Windows. Reinstalling Mac OS is a time-consuming process and requires a lot of patience that’s why recommend doing this process in your free time or weekends.
To get started with you require a USB drive with at least 8GB storage (16GB recommended). Then you need a working Mac OS ISO or DMG Installation Image. You can download it from the Apps Store or you can find Mac OS Image at ISORIVER.
There are 2 Methods to Create a Bootable USB drive of Mac OS on your Windows PC.
Method 1: Using TransMac
- Download TransMac’s latest version for Windows from this link.
- Connect your USB drive
- Right Click on your USB drive option in TransMac and select Format Disk for Mac
- After that, right-click the USB Drive and select Restore with Disk Image
- Point to your Mac OS .dmg or .iso file by clicking the add button.
- After that TransMac will create bootable Mac OS USB within few minutes.
- Then you can insert it into your Mac, hold down the option key while turn on and boot your system with this USB.
Method 2: Using PowerISO
Another disk image utility that you can use is PowerISO. It can be used for burning both ISO files and DMG files to USB to create a bootable drive. Follow the steps below to Create a Bootable Mac OS USB on Windows PC.
Step 1: Firstly Download PowerISO and install it in your Windows PC. Launch the app and insert a USB drive into your computer.
Step 2: Import the DMG / ISO file directly by clicking on ‘Burn’ in the toolbar.
Step 3: In the Burn window, select the DMG / ISO file from the Source File section.
Step 4: You can modify the settings to adjust burn speed. The default will be set to the maximum, so you can reduce that.
Step 5: You can choose to finalize the disk and verify it. Any errors in the bootable USB will show up at that point.
Step 6: Now click on “Burn” and wait for the progress bar to reach 100%.
Mac Create Bootable Usb From Iso
After the successful creation of Bootable Mac OS USB, boot your Macbook from this USB drive by clicking the option button during bootup and select this USB drive.
Watch this Video Tutorial
Create Bootable Usb Mac El Capitan
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