Skip to main content

How to Create a Bootable USB on MacOS

info

Once the USB installer is created, restart your Mac and hold down the Option Key as soon as you hear the reboot tone.

  1. After downloading the installer, connect the USB flash drive or other volume you're using for the bootable installer. Make sure that it has at least 12GB of available storage and is formatted as Mac OS Extended.

  2. Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.

  3. Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is still 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 accordingly. Follow the on-screen instructions.

El Capitan

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app

Sierra

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app

High Sierra

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

Mojave

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

References:

  1. How to create a bootable installer for macOS