How to install Windows 10 via a Windows To Go external drive on Mac Subscribe Read full article ## Downlo. Feb 01, 2019 Note you can install Windows with Boot Camp on earlier Macs too, but to do so you will need to first make a Windows 10 install drive from MacOS, whereas 2015 and newer models running Mac OS X 10.11 or later do not require the Windows boot drive. Jan 23, 2017 If you’re interested in installing Windows 10 on your Mac’s internal drive, you can easily do so by means of Microsoft’s Windows 10 ISO download and the macOS Boot Camp Assistant.
- How To Install Windows 10 On Macbook Pro 2019
- How To Install Windows 10 On Mac Using An External Drive
Editors' note: This post was updated on August 12, 2015, with information on how to remove Windows from a dual-boot Mac.
If you haven't already heard, Windows 10 is pretty great and worth installing on your PC. Apple fans won't miss out either, since the new operating system can be installed on your Mac as well.
To install Windows 10 on a Mac, you will need the following:
- The Mac you plan to install Windows 10 on
- A thumb drive with at least 5GB of storage space (for reference, I named mine 'WININSTALL')
- A second computer that already runs Windows
- A fast Internet connection
Note that you won't need a Windows 10 license for the installation, but you will need to buy one if you want to continue to use it on your Mac after the 30-day trial period.
Following these instructions will install Windows 10 on your Mac in a dual-boot configuration, meaning you'll have the option to choose which operating system (Windows 10 or Mac OS) to use each time you turn on the computer. And, if you later on change your mind, the guide also includes the information on how you can remove Windows afterwords.
This guide is for a Mac that doesn't have already have Windows installed. If yours already has Windows 7 or Windows 8 on your Mac, you can upgrade it to Windows 10 the normal way.
Part 1: Getting the Windows 10 file on your Mac
Step 1: Insert the flash drive into your Windows computer and download Windows 10's media creation tool from Microsoft. There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions, depending on which Windows system you intend to use the tool on. If you're not sure whether your computer is using 64-bit or 32-bit Windows, here's how you can find out. Only the version compatible with your system will actually run.
Step 2: Open the downloaded media creation tool, choose Create installation media for another PC then click Next.
Step 3: Select the Language, Edition and the 64-bitArchitecture for Windows 10, then click Next. It's important that you select the 64-bit Architecture, unless your Mac specifically supports only the 32-bit architecture (very few do). If you select the 32-bit or both option, you may run into problems later on.
As for what edition of Windows to get, check out this chart to find out if Pro or Home fits you best. Keep in mind that you will need to buy a license later when you need to activate Windows and the Pro edition is more expensive than the Home edition. The N edition of Windows 10 is for certain European markets.
Step 4: Choose to save Windows 10 installer as an ISO file then click on Next. Don't worry, you won't need a DVD burner or a DVD at all.
Note that you'll want to avoid using the USB flash drive option here since, in my experience, the Windows 10 USB installer drive created using Windows has trouble working on certain Macs.
Step 5: Choose a location to save the Windows ISO file. For this guide, I chose to save that file on the flash drive, but you can save it anywhere on the computer and then copy it onto the flash drive later.
How To Install Windows 10 On Macbook Pro 2019
Depending on your Internet connection, this will take between a few minutes and several hours. Once the file has been saved on the flash drive, remove it from your Windows computer and insert it into your Mac.
You will not need the Windows computer again for the rest of the process.
Part 2: Getting the flash drive and your Mac's partition ready
Note: At times you'll be prompted to type in the password for your Mac's admin account. Make sure you have that ready.
Step 1: Insert and then open the flash drive. Copy the Windows ISO file onto the Mac's desktop. Leave the flash drive connected to the Mac for the rest of job. Make sure there are no other flash drives or external hard drives connected to the Mac.
How To Install Windows 10 On Mac Using An External Drive
Step 2: Run Boot Camp Assistant, then click on Continue. Boot Camp Assistant is located in ApplicationsUtilities folder. You can also quickly search for it using Spotlight.
Step 3: Make sure all three tasks Create a Windows 7 or later version install disk, Download the latest Windows support software from Apple and Install windows 7 or later version are checked. Then click Continue.
Step 4: If you've copied the Windows ISO file to the Mac's desktop, it will be automatically located. If you put it elsewhere on the computer, you'll need click on Choose and browse for it. The flash drive will be automatically chosen as the install disk if it's the only flash drive plugged in.
Verify everything then click on Continue. Boot Camp Assistant will then confirm the erasing of the flash drive before turning it into a Windows 10 install disk (make sure you have no important information on the flash drive.) After that it will also download the latest Windows support software onto the flash drive.
Step 5: Boot Camp Assistant will prompt you to choose the size of the partition that you'll use for Windows. Use the slider to select the size. Windows 10 itself requires at least 20GB to install, so you'll want more than that to make room for software and data. Note that this is the only time you can pick the partition size for Windows so make sure you make up your mind before continue.
Once done, without removing the flash drive, click on Install. The partitioning will takes place and then the Mac will restart. This is the end of part 2. Make sure the flash drive remained plugged in for the entire part 3.
Part 3: Installing Windows 10
Step 1: The Mac will automatically boot up from the flash drive and start the Windows Setup process. You'll be prompted to choose the Language, Time and currency format, and Keyboard settings for Windows. Do this, then click on Next.
Note: If somehow the Mac doesn't boot from the flash drive, just restart it, hold down the Option key after the Apple startup sound for available boot options, use the left/right keys to pick the flash drive -- which will likely appears as 'Windows' -- and press Enter to boot from it.
Step 2: Enter the Windows 10 product key if you have it, then click on Next, or click on Skip. The installation process will then ask you to confirm the Windows edition you want to install, and ask you to agree to the terms and conditions.
Step 3: Eventually, you will be presented with the all existing partitions, one of which is marked as BOOTCAMP. This is the partition you want to install Windows 10 on. Select it then click on Format. Do not do anything about the rest of the partitions.
Step 4: Windows Setup will then ask you to confirm, click on OK and then click on Next.
Step 5: Windows Setup will continue the rest of the setup process by itself. This should take about about 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the speed of your Mac. After that, the Mac will start up with Windows 10. You will be asked to go through with the normal steps of setting up a new Windows computer, including creating an user account.
Step 6: As you log in for the first time, you will be greeted with this Boot Camp installation message. Click on Next and follow the rest of the installation, reboot the computer, and you're done!
If you don't see this message, open the flash drive, and double-click on the Setup file inside the BootCamp folder. Once Boot Camp is done installing, you can remove the flash drive from the computer. It's no longer needed.
While you have both Mac OS and Windows 10 on the same machine, you can only run one of them at a time. To manually select which operating system to run, during the startup, hold down the Option key after the Apple startup sound and then use the left and right keys to select which one you want to boot into, then press Enter. To set which operating system to boot up as default, use the Boot Camp control panel (Windows) or Startup Disk in System Preferences (Mac).
Removing Windows
If for some reason, you don't want to have Windows 10 (or any version of Windows for that matter) on your Mac anymore, you can permanently remove it and regain the disk space the Mac OS. Here are the steps.
1. Boot into Mac OS, run Boot Camp Assistant and click Continue.
2. Pick the third option that reads Remove Windows 7 or later version then click on Continue.
3. In this step, just click on Restore; you will be prompted for the Mac's admin password to confirm. After a short process, Windows will be removed like it had never been installed. Note that removing Windows also means that all data, including software and files, stored on the Windows partition will be permanently erased.
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (OEM)
Thanks to the switch from PowerPC to Intel many years ago, a Mac is just another PC. Sure, Macs come with macOS, but you can easily install Windows alongside macOS using Apple’s built-in Boot Camp feature.
Boot Camp installs Windows in a dual-boot configuration, which means both operating systems will be installed separately. You can only use one at a time, but you get the computer’s full power in each.
Do You Actually Need to Use Boot Camp?
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Before you install Windows, stop and think about whether or not Boot Camp is the best choice for your needs. There are a couple of drawbacks to consider.
When you use Boot Camp to install Windows on your Mac, you’ll need to re-partition your drive, which is going to take up quite a bit of your available drive space. Since storage on a Mac is fairly expensive, it’s something you should really think about. In addition, you’ll need to reboot every time you want to use Windows, and reboot again when you want to switch back to macOS. The benefit of Boot Camp, of course, is that you’re running Windows directly on the hardware, so it’ll be a lot faster than a virtual machine.
If all you need to do is run a few Windows applications on your Mac, and those applications don’t a lot of resources (like 3D games), you might consider using a virtual machine like Parallels (there’s a free trial), VMware Fusion, or VirtualBox to run that software instead. The vast majority of the time you don’t actually need to use Boot Camp, and you’d be better off using a virtual machine. If, however, you’re looking to play Windows games on your Mac, Boot Camp might be a good choice.
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For most people, though, Parallels makes running Windows on your Mac dead simple. It’s something we use at How-To Geek every single day for testing software and running Windows. The integration with macOS amazingly well done, and the speed blows away Virtualbox. In the long run, the price is well worth it. You can even use Parallels to load your Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine while you are in macOS, giving you the best of both worlds.
What Version of Windows Can I Run?
Which version of Windows you can run depends on your Mac: recent models support only Windows 10, while some older Macs only work with older versions of Windows. Here’s a quick outline, along with links to Apple’s official lists of supported models.
- Windows 10 is supported on most Macs made in 2012 and later.
- Windows 8.1 is supported on most Macs made between 2010 and 2016, with some exceptions.
- Windows 7 is supported, for the most part, only on Macs made in 2014 and earlier, and you’ll need an even older Mac to run Windows Vista or XP.
Note that Macs can only run 64-bit, non-Enterprise versions of Windows.
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To install Windows, you’ll need an ISO file of the installer. You can download Windows installation media for free if you already have a product key, though you don’t really need a product key to run Windows 10. If you’re installing Windows 7, you’ll also need a USB drive at least 16GB in size for the installer and drivers. Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 do not any external drive for installation.
How to Install Windows on Your Mac
Ready to install Windows? It’s probably a good idea to back up your Mac before getting started, just in case. Odds are nothing will go wrong, but any time you’re partitioning things there’s always a chance. Done? Let’s get started.
You’ll use the Boot Camp Assistant application that comes on your Mac. Open it by pressing Command+Space, typing Boot Camp, and pressing Enter.
The Boot Camp Assistant will walk you through partitioning, downloading drivers, and starting the installer for you. Click “Continue” and you’ll be asked which ISO file you’d like to use and how big you’d like your Windows partition to be.
RELATED:Beginner Geek: Hard Disk Partitions Explained
How you should allocate the space depends on how much space you want for your Windows system and how much space you want for your macOS system. If you want to resize your partitions after this process, you’ll need to use a third-party tool, so choose carefully now.
Note that, if you’re installing Windows 7, the order here is slightly different: Boot Camp will first guide you through setting up your installer USB disk, then ask you about partitioning.
When you’re ready, click “Install” and Boot Camp will start downloading drivers, which it calls “Windows support software.”
The installer will also partition your disk, copy the installer to that partition, and place the drivers so they’ll run after installation. You can keep using your Mac while all this is running, though things will slow down a lot during the partitioning phase.
Eventually, your Mac will reboot and you’ll see the standard Windows installer.
Select the partition labeled BOOTCAMP if asked—do not install to any other partition, or you might end up removing macOS and losing all your data. (You did back up, right?) Windows will now finish installing normally.
The Windows on-boarding process might ask you to connect to the Internet, but you won’t be able to do this without drivers: just skip these steps until you get to your desktop, at which point the Boot Camp installer will appear.
Proceed with the installer to set up your drivers, and you should be all set!
How to Boot Into Windows On Your Mac
By default, your Mac will still boot to macOS. To access Windows, you need to turn off your Mac, then turn it on while holding the Option key. You’ll be asked which drive you’d like to boot from.
If you’d like to boot to Windows by default, you set this in recovery mode, or using the Boot Camp Control Panel in Windows. You’ll find this in your system tray after installing Windows, though you may have to click the Up arrow to find it.
This control panel allows you to choose the default operating system your Mac boots to, as well as tweak keyboard and trackpad settings.
![Install Install](/uploads/1/2/4/8/124873566/512603636.jpg)
While in Windows, the Mac’s Command key functions as the Windows key, while the Option key functions as the Alt key. If you have a Touch Bar, you’ll see a complete set of buttons, similar to the Extended Control Strip in macOS.
To see the function keys (F1, F2, etc.) simply hold down the Fn key. There’s no way to make this the default in Windows.
How to Remove Windows From Your Mac
If you want to remove Windows from your Mac and free up space, reboot into macOS and open the Boot Camp Assistant again. You’ll see the Restore Disk to a Single Volume option.
Boot Camp Assistant will automatically remove Windows and expand the macOS partition for you, reclaiming all of that space. Warning: This will delete all the files on your Windows partition, so be sure you have backup copies first!
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