How to Create a Bootable USB Drive

A bootable USB gets you into an installer, recovery tool, live system, or device image when the computer cannot do the job from its internal drive. The wrong writer wastes time: a Windows recovery drive is not a Windows installer, and Etcher is not the right answer for Windows installer ISOs. Match the operating system to the official tool below, then write the USB with the exact labels shown on screen.

1. Choose the right bootable USB method first

1. 1.For a Windows 11 installer or reinstall USB on an x64 PC, use Microsoft’s Windows 11 Media Creation Tool.
2. 2.For a Windows 11 ISO workflow, including a separate Arm64 ISO, use Microsoft’s Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices area or the Arm64 ISO link, then write the image with Rufus or Ventoy.
3. 3.For Windows device recovery, use Recovery Drive. It creates recovery media for restoring that Windows device, not a general OS installer.
4. 4.For Ubuntu from a Windows PC, use Rufus, the Windows method documented by Ubuntu.
5. 5.For Ubuntu or another image from a Linux desktop, use Disks, KDE ISO Image Writer, or dd. Use Startup Disk Creator for Ubuntu images and Ubuntu-based images such as Kubuntu or Xubuntu, because Canonical says it might not work correctly with other Linux distributions and different operating systems. Use dd only when you can identify the correct device name.
6. 6.For simple raw image flashing on Windows, macOS, or Linux, use balenaEtcher, but do not use it for Windows installer ISOs.
7. 7.For macOS installer media, use Apple’s createinstallmedia command after the full installer is in Applications.
8. 8.For ChromeOS Flex, Raspberry Pi, or Fedora media, use Chromebook Recovery Utility, Raspberry Pi Imager, or Fedora Media Writer.

2. Create a Windows 11 installer with Microsoft Media Creation Tool

This fixes a standard Windows 11 installation or reinstall USB for an x64 PC.

1. 1.Go to Microsoft’s Windows 11 download page.
2. 2.Find Create Windows 11 Installation Media and select Download Now.
3. 3.Run the media creation tool as administrator.
4. 4.Select Accept.
5. 5.On What do you want to do?, select Create installation media for another PC, then select Next.
6. 6.Choose the language, edition, and architecture.
7. 7.Under Select which media you want to use, select USB flash drive, attach a blank USB flash drive with at least 8GB, and finish the tool workflow.

3. Make an Ubuntu USB from Windows with Rufus

1. 1.Download and install the latest Rufus from rufus.ie.
2. 2.Launch Rufus and allow online updates when prompted.
3. 3.Insert the USB stick.
4. 4.In Device, select the USB stick.
5. 5.Next to Boot selection, click SELECT and choose the Ubuntu ISO.
6. 6.For modern UEFI systems, set Partitioning scheme to GPT and verify Target system is UEFI (non CSM).
7. 7.Click START, confirm Write in ISO Image mode, approve additional file downloads with Yes, and confirm the data-loss warning with OK.
8. 8.When Status says READY, click CLOSE.

Use the current Rufus release for supported Windows versions.

4. Write an image from Ubuntu or another Linux desktop

1. 1.Open Disks from the applications menu or search.
2. 2.Insert the USB stick and select it in the sidebar.
3. 3.Close applications that are using the USB stick.
4. 4.In the Disks window header, click Drive Options, then Restore Disk Image....
5. 5.Next to Image to Restore, select the downloaded image.
6. 6.Click Start Restoring... and confirm.
7. 7.When the write finishes, click Eject this disk.

5. Use Etcher for simple cross-platform flashing

Etcher is the simple cross-platform flasher for raw, image-based OS media such as Ubuntu on Windows 10 and later, macOS 10.13 and later, and most Intel 64-bit Linux distros. Download it from etcher.balena.io, then use Flash from file > Select target > Flash! and let the write and validation stages finish. Do not use Etcher as your Windows installer ISO tool, because balena’s docs warn that Windows images need special treatment and will not work out of the box.

6. Build a bootable macOS installer on a Mac

1. 1.Download the full macOS installer and leave it in Applications.
2. 2.On macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, open Applications > Utilities > Terminal and run softwareupdate --list-full-installers to list available compatible installers, or run softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version [number] to download one.
3. 3.Connect a USB flash drive or other secondary volume and rename it MyVolume.
4. 4.Open Terminal.
5. 5.Run the matching createinstallmedia command, such as sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Tahoe.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume.
6. 6.Type your administrator password when prompted.
7. 7.When Terminal says the install media is available, quit Terminal and eject the flash drive.

Apple lists separate createinstallmedia commands for Tahoe, Sequoia, Sonoma, Ventura, and Monterey, so run the one that matches the installer in Applications.

7. Make a Windows recovery USB instead of an installer

This fixes recovery media for restoring the Windows PC you already own.

1. 1.Open Start, search for Recovery Drive, and select it, or run recoverydrive.exe.
2. 2.In Recovery Drive, make sure Back up system files to the recovery drive is selected, then select Next.
3. 3.Connect a USB drive and select it.
4. 4.Select Next, then select Create.

8. Skip old Windows tools and managed-device workflows

Older Windows tutorials may point to Windows USB/DVD Download Tool > USB device, but Microsoft’s current Windows media paths are Windows 11 Media Creation Tool, Windows ISO downloads with Rufus or Ventoy, and ADK/WinPE for admin scenarios. Windows 10 Media Creation Tool remains available for Version 22H2, but Windows 10 stopped receiving free software updates, technical support, and security fixes after October 14, 2025, so treat it as a legacy OS path. Boot Camp Assistant’s Windows USB flow under Applications > Utilities > Boot Camp Assistant belongs to older Intel-based Macs and is not for Apple silicon Macs. Skip ADK/WinPE unless you are doing deployment, recovery, imaging, or another IT workflow.

9. Finish specialty boot USB jobs with the right tool

1. 1.For one USB that can boot multiple images, download Ventoy, decompress it, run Ventoy2Disk.exe on Windows, select the USB device, and click Install or Update. Ventoy formats the USB during installation and all data is lost.
2. 2.After Ventoy is installed, copy ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files to the first Ventoy partition and choose an image from the Ventoy menu when you boot.
3. 3.For ChromeOS Flex, use Chrome on ChromeOS, Windows, or Mac to add Chromebook Recovery Utility, enable it under Extensions > Manage extensions, launch it, select Get started, choose Select a model from a list, set manufacturer to Google ChromeOS Flex and product to ChromeOS Flex, then choose the USB and select Continue > Create now.
4. 4.For Raspberry Pi, launch Raspberry Pi Imager, use Device, OS, and Storage, keep Exclude system drives selected in the Storage step, select Write, confirm I understand, erase and write, then wait for write and verify to finish.
5. 5.For Fedora, download Fedora Media Writer, select the Fedora Edition, choose Create Live USB, select the USB drive, and start the write process.

Use a blank drive for these jobs, because ChromeOS Flex erases USB contents and Raspberry Pi Imager requires an erase-and-write confirmation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a Windows recovery USB the same as a Windows installer USB?

No. Recovery Drive creates recovery media for restoring a Windows device. Microsoft Media Creation Tool creates Windows installation or reinstall media.

Can I use Etcher for a Windows installer ISO?

No. balena’s docs warn that Windows images need special treatment and will not work out of the box in Etcher. Use Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool, or a Windows ISO with Rufus or Ventoy.

What size USB do I need for a Windows 11 installer?

For the Windows 11 Media Creation Tool flow, Microsoft says to attach a blank USB flash drive with at least 8GB.

Can one USB hold multiple bootable images?

Yes. Ventoy is the documented option for a multiboot USB. Install it on the USB, then copy ISO, WIM, IMG, VHD(x), or EFI files to the first Ventoy partition.