Bootable Mac OSX USB

Creating a bootable macOS USB drive is a useful method for installing or reinstalling macOS on your Mac or for troubleshooting purposes. To create a bootable macOS USB drive, follow these steps:

Requirements:

  • A USB flash drive with at least 16 GB of storage.
  • A Mac computer with an internet connection.

Steps:

  1. Download macOS Installer:
    • Open the App Store on your Mac.
    • Search for the macOS version you want to install (e.g., “macOS Big Sur” or “macOS Monterey”).
    • Click “Get” or “Download” to start downloading the installer. The installer will be saved in the Applications folder when it’s done.
  2. Prepare the USB Drive:
    • Insert the USB flash drive into your Mac.
    • Open Disk Utility (you can find it in the Utilities folder within the Applications folder).
    • In Disk Utility, select the USB drive from the left sidebar.
    • Click the “Erase” button at the top.
    • Choose a name for the drive (e.g., “macOS Installer”).
    • Select “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” as the format.
    • Under Scheme, select “GUID Partition Map.”
    • Click the “Erase” button to format the USB drive. This will erase all existing data on the drive.
  3. Create the Bootable USB Drive:
    • Open Terminal (you can find it in the Utilities folder within the Applications folder).
    • Use the following command to create the bootable USB drive (replace “MyVolume” with the name you assigned to your USB drive in Disk Utility):cssCopy codesudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ [macOS Version].app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume For example, to create a bootable drive for macOS Big Sur, you would use:bashCopy codesudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
    • Press Enter and enter your admin password when prompted.
  4. Confirmation and Progress:
    • Terminal will ask for confirmation. Type “Y” and press Enter to confirm.
    • The process will take some time, and you’ll see progress updates in Terminal.
    • When it’s done, Terminal will display a message that says “Install media now available.”
  5. Eject the USB Drive Safely:
    • Once the process is complete, eject the USB drive safely by clicking the eject icon next to the drive in Finder or using the “diskutil eject” command in Terminal.

Your bootable macOS USB drive is now ready. You can use it to install or reinstall macOS on your Mac by booting from the USB drive. To do this, restart your Mac, hold down the Option (Alt) key, and select the USB drive as the startup disk when the boot menu appears. Follow the on-screen instructions to install macOS.