A bootable USB device always comes in handy whether you need to install or upgrade Windows on your computer. Also, if you do not have a good Internet connection, you can create a Windows 10 bootable USB from a public computer (or your friend’s).
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With a Windows 10 bootable USB device, you may choose to upgrade/install Windows without requiring an Internet connection. However, you will need an active Internet connection to activate it though.
So, in this article, we will describe the easiest methods to create Windows 10 bootable USB.
How to Make a Windows 10 Bootable USB
Table of Contents
- 1. The Media Creation Tool
- 2. Using Rufus
Note: You may also utilize the command prompt to create a bootable USB flash drive as stated in the Microsoft Docs if none of the methods mentioned below work for you.
Create a Windows 10 Bootable USB using the Media Creation Tool
If you do not want to utilize any 3rd party apps to make a bootable USB flash drive, then you should download the media creation tool from Microsoft’s Windows 10 download page.
Once you have downloaded that, launch it to get started by following the steps below:
- Upon launch, you need to accept the agreement.
- Next, you need to select the option “Create Installation media (USB Flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC” and click “Next.“
- You will now be asked to choose the language, edition, and the architecture of the Windows. So, select that as per your requirements.
- Proceed by clicking “Next“. Now, you will be prompted to select the preferred media. Select “USB flash drive” and make sure that the USB flash drive is an 8 GB storage variant at least.
- Select the USB device from the list. Here’s how it should look like:
- Finally, the required files will be automatically downloaded, and the USB flash drive will be converted to a bootable USB media. And, all the existing contents on the flash drive will be deleted before making a bootable Windows 10 bootable USB.
You can then utilize this bootable USB to install/upgrade windows.
Download the ISO and Make a Bootable Windows 10 USB using Rufus
Rufus is one of the most popular tools to help make a bootable Windows 10 USB. But, before using Rufus, you need to download the Windows 10 ISO file from the official web page.
Note:You need to visit the download page from a different OS (Ubuntu, Mac)/ your smartphone / via proxy services like Hide.me – else you will only get the option to download the media creation tool.
Here’s how it should look like when you click on the download page:
Now, you need to select the edition (currently – Windows 10 April 2018 Update) and click “Confirm.”
Once you’re done with it, you will be asked to select the product language (here it’s English / English International.) So, accordingly proceed further to get the download links to Windows 10 32-bit/64-bit.
Note:The links generated will be valid for 24 hours from the time of creation. So, you need to download the ISO file before the link expires.
Considering you have the image file now, you should proceed to download Rufus from its official site.
Follow the steps below to make a bootable Windows 10 USB flash drive using Rufus:
- After downloading the setup file from Rufus’ official site, run the EXE file to launch the tool.
- As soon as you launch the tool, it will automatically detect the USB flash drive. If you have multiple USB flash drives, select the one you desire.
- Now, you need to select the image file by clicking on the option as directed in the image below (make sure everything’s similar to what the picture depicts):
- Once you select the ISO file, you just have to click on “Start” and wait it out. It should take a few minutes for completion. And, voila! It’s done!
Additional Tip: If you want to make a bootable USB flash drive for Windows 10 on a different OS (like Ubuntu, Mac), you can utilize UNetbootin to create it.
Wrapping Up
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Now that you know how to create Windows 10 bootable USB – you can get started installing/upgrading your Windows-powered machine.
Let us know in the comments below if you encounter any problems while following the steps mentioned above. Also, if you know about an interesting method to create a bootable USB device, apart from the ones mentioned in this article, let us know about it!
So you have an ISO file that you want on a flash drive, or some other USB storage device. You also need to be able to boot from it. Sounds straightforward, right? Copy the file over and you're done!
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Properly burning an ISO to USB is different than just copying the file. It's even different than burning an ISO to a disc. Adding to the complexity is that you plan on booting from the USB drive once you're done getting the ISO image on there.
See Burning an ISO to USB When You Don't Need to Boot From It at the bottom of the page if that's your plan instead. That process is a bit different...and easier!
We should mention here that you're never technically 'burning' anything to a USB drive since there are no lasers or similar technology involved. This term has just been carried over from the common practice of burning an ISO image to an optical disc.
Regardless, there's a fantastic free tool that will handle all of this for you automatically. Continue on below for an easy tutorial on how to burn an ISO file to USB with the free Rufus program.
How to Burn an ISO File to a USB Drive
This process also works to burn a Windows 10 ISO to USB. However, doing so via Microsoft's Windows 10 download and installation tool is best. Our How and Where to Download Windows 10 piece explains everything you need to know.
Time Required: 'Burning' an ISO image file to a USB device, like a flash drive, usually takes less than 20 minutes but the total time depends a lot on the size of the ISO file.
Download Rufus, a free tool that will correctly prepare the USB drive, automatically extract the contents of the ISO file you have, and properly copy the files contained within it to your USB device, including any files in the ISO needed to make it bootable.
Rufus is a portable program (does not install), works on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, and will 'burn' an ISO image file to any type of USB storage device you happen to have. Be sure to choose Rufus 3.4 Portable on their site.
If you'd prefer to use a different ISO-to-USB tool, some other good ones include UNetbootin, ISO to USB, and Universal USB Installer. Of course, if you do choose another program, you won't be able to follow the instructions we've written here because they pertain specifically to Rufus.
Double-click or double-tap on the rufus-3.4p.exe file that you just downloaded. The Rufus program will start right away.
As we mentioned earlier, Rufus is a portable program, meaning that it just runs as is. This is a big reason why we prefer this ISO-to-USB program over some of the other options out there.
When first opening Rufus, you're asked whether the program should occasionally check for updates. It's up to you whether you want to enable this but it's probably best to choose Yes if you plan to use Rufus again in the future.
Insert the flash drive or other USB device into your computer that you want to 'burn' the ISO file to, assuming it's not already plugged in.
Burning an ISO image to a USB drive will erase everything on the drive! Before continuing, check that the USB drive is empty or that you have backed up any files you want to keep.
From the Device drop-down at the top of the Rufus program screen, choose the USB storage device you want to burn the ISO file to.
Rufus tells you the size of the USB device, as well as the drive letter and current free space on the drive. Use this information to double-check that you're choosing the correct USB device, assuming you have more than one plugged in. Don't worry about the free space indicated since you'll be erasing the entire drive as part of this process.
If no USB drive is listed under Device, or you can't find the drive you're expecting to see, there might be an issue with the USB device you're planning on using for the ISO image, or Windows is having some sort of problem seeing the drive. Try another USB device and/or another USB port on your computer.
From the Boot selection drop-down, make sure Disk or ISO image (Please select) is chosen.
Click SELECT.
When the Open window appears, locate and then select the ISO image you want to burn to the flash drive.
Once selected, tap or click Open.
Wait while Rufus inspects the ISO file you chose. This might take several seconds or may go by so quickly that you don't even notice.
If you get an Unsupported ISO message, the ISO you chose is not supported for burning to USB by Rufus. In this case, try one of the other programs listed in Tip #3 below or check with the maker of the ISO image for more help getting their software to work from a USB drive.
Under the Image option area, pick Standard Windows installationif you see this and if that's the case.
For example, if you're putting a Windows installation ISO image onto the flash drive, and you get this option, you'd want to enable it for sure.
Leave the Partition scheme, Target system, File system, and Cluster size options alone unless you know what you're doing or you've been advised to set any of those parameters to something else.
For example, maybe a bootable tool you downloaded in ISO format advised on its website to make sure the file system is FAT32 instead of NTFS if you're burning to USB. In that case, make the File system change to FAT32 before continuing.
You're welcome to enter a custom volume label in the Volume label field, but leaving it at whatever the default happens to be, or even blank, shouldn't have any impact on anything.
Under Format Options, inside the Show advanced format options menu, you'll see a number of... yes, format options! You can leave all of them in their default state but you're welcome to select Check device for bad blocks if you have some concern that the flash drive or USB device you're using may have an issue.
1 Pass is just fine in most cases but knock that up to 2, 3, or even 4 if you've had issues with this drive before.
Tap or click on START to start the 'burning' of the ISO file to the USB device you chose.
If you get an Image is too big message, you'll need to use a larger USB device or choose a smaller ISO image.
Tap or click OK to the WARNING: ALL DATA ON DEVICE 'XYZ' WILL BE DESTROYED message that appears next.
Take this message seriously! Make sure the flash drive or other USB device is empty or that you're fine with erasing everything on it.
Wait while Rufus properly formats the USB drive so it's bootable, and then copies all of the files to the drive that are contained in the ISO image you selected in Step 8.
The total time to do this depends very much on how large the ISO file is that you're working with. Some small diagnostic tools (like the 18 MB ONTP&RE ISO) take under one minute, while larger images (like a 5 GB Windows 10 ISO) could take closer to 20 minutes. Your computer and USB hardware speeds are a big factor here as well.
Once the status at the bottom of the Rufus program window says READY, you can close Rufus and remove the USB drive.
Booting From the USB Drive
Now that the ISO file is properly 'burned' to the USB drive, you can boot from it and then continue with whatever it is you're using this bootable drive for.
For example, if you've put a memory testing program on a flash drive, you can now boot from that flash drive and test your RAM with it. Same goes for bootable hard drive testing programs, password recovery tools, data wipe programs, antivirus tools, etc.
You're more than welcome to use the procedure we've outlined above with Rufus for Windows ISO images, like those you might have downloaded for Windows 8, Windows 7, etc. However, there is a more 'official' procedure that uses free software direct from Microsoft.
We've written complete tutorials on these procedures, which also includes guidance on other aspects of installing Windows from a USB stick. See How to Install Windows 8 From USB or How to Install Windows 7 From USB, depending on the version of Windows you're installing.
Booting from a USB drive is often as easy as plugging the drive in to any free USB port and then restarting your computer, but it can sometimes be much more complicated. See our How to Boot From a USB Drive tutorial if you need help.
Burning an ISO to USB When You Don't Need to Boot From It
Rufus, and related ISO-to-USB tools, are great when you need to get some sort of bootable program, or even an entire operating system, onto a USB drive. However, what if you have an ISO image that you want to 'burn' to a USB drive that isn't intended to be booted from? An ISO of Microsoft Office comes to mind as a common example.
In these cases, think of the ISO image you're working with as just any other compressed format, like a ZIP file. Use your favorite file compression program — we often recommend the free 7-Zip tool — to extract the contents of the ISO image directly onto the previously-formatted flash drive. That's it!
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See this List of Free File Extractor Programs for some more free programs that work with ISO files in this way.