How to create a bootable USB drive

Written By: Anthony Fassler
  • Comments: 200
How to create a bootable USB drive

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

8

Time Required

30 minutes - 2 hours

Introduction

Create a bootable USB drive for macOS X El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks, Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura Sonoma.

(The process is also described on the Apple Support page https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372)

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    • If you're currently running macOS Mojave, click this link to find the Mojave installer in the App Store. For Catalina, click here.

    • For all earlier versions of macOS, launch the App Store on your Mac, and search for the macOS version you want (this option is only available when running macOS High Sierra and lower)

    • Click Get or Download

    • If you have previously downloaded this version of macOS using the current Apple ID account, you might find it in the "Purchased"tab.

    • The installer is not directly available to Windows users. If you're using Windows, in order to get access to the installer, you'll need to borrow a macOS machine, go to a Apple Retail Store and download it there, or use a Hackintosh.

    I have previously downloaded this file, but it does not show up on my purchased list. Also tried Apple Support downloads, but they only have “Update” versions to download.

    Peter Simons -

    If, you’re on macOS Majove, it’s impossible to download previous versions of Mac systems. Excepted, macOS High Sierra but, I don’t know for how long.

    Anthony Fassler -

    If you have issues logging into the (App Store -> purchased) due to 2FA, get the code sent to your device and append it to your Apple ID password to log in

    Joe Verba -

    You can download older versions of the OSX. Here are the download-links (unfortunately an article in german, but you can find the download-links below):

    https://www.macwelt.de/a/high-sierra-sie...

    Gerrit -

    If you already have Mojave and just want to download the installer, you might not able to until you disable auto update.

    Just head to the Mojave page:

    https://apps.apple.com/ph/app/macos-moja...

    Then click the download button.

    Software Update will come up, click Advanced and uncheck the auto update.

    You will be able to download now.

    Edmar Herrero -

    Does not work anymore :-(

    wanda_name -

    Hélas , en effet : j’ai été prise de vitesse car je pensais devoir acheter un MAC neuf , et quand j’ai vu les performances à prix égal à celui payé en 2013 , j’ai dit NON !

    Comment continuer de me servir de mon MAC BBOK PRO ?

    Votre site répond à toutes nos question , même l’assistance en ligne de APPLE est incompétente !

    Merci

    GULLY -

    I’m trying to make a bootable usb for El Capitan for a SSD - my current working mac is High Sierra - is this doable? I keep getting errors because El Capitan is too old to run on my working mac.

    Claire -

    Hi Claire did you get any response about this enquiry?

    Gabriel Davila -

    Saw this was updated this month, but How're you supposed to grab High Sierra or any of the others when the Apple servers don't actually have it? I download and it says it's not available on the server and if I search for it myself it doesn't even come up at all.

    Geoffrey Locke -

    At the following link you can download high by the Mac App Store.
    https://support.apple.com/fr-fr/HT211683

    Anthony Fassler -

    Here's a way easier method to download macOS: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102662

    You can download macOS High Sierra and newer from the App Store, and macOS Sierra and older from the Web as a .dmg image.

    Jadon -

    I have macOS Catalina wanting to know how can down load a newer one than tis one I have

    eloko1313 -

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    • After the downloading process is complete, close the App Store. The installation window should appear afterwards.

    • [*red]Click the "Install macOS (whatever version you have downloaded)" menu at the top left of the screen, and select "Quit Install macOS (whatever version you have) ."

    Il est également possible de passer par le soft “DiskMaker” pour faire cette clé.

    Il est gratuit, le prendre en fonction de la version de l’OS.

    Frédéric LEGER -

    Merci Frédéric !

    La solution à ce problème peut être très simple, comme vous l'avez écrit.

    Câlins de Barcelone

    Hermes

    Hermes Serrano -

    I downloaded High Sierra on a MacBook Pro already running 10.13.6 and then quit the App Store. No installation window appeared. What does ‘close the App Store’ mean?

    Nick -

    Mit über die Entstehung der Entstehung der Arten gelang Darwin im Jahre 1998 kein großer Erfolg. Karl Heinz Darwin schildert über seinen Bruder Johannes Darwin seine dümmliche Idee der Natürlichen Zuchtwahl. Es gelang ihm der wissenschaftliche Beweis, das alles Negative wie Wirtschaftskrisen aufgrund der natürlichen Habgier von Managern, Bürgerkriege und Völkermorde sowie Rassendiskriminierungen biologisch auf Darwin zurückzuführen sind. Sie haben alle denselben Vorfahren, nämlich Charles Darwin.

    vagina.futtner -

    You actually have to run the InstallMacOSX.dmg, then the InstallMacOSX.pkg

    Beate Tatzel -

    When downloaded from the web, yes.

    Jadon -

    Malheureusement aujourd’hui il ne sert plus à rien de créer une clé bootable pour MacOS X 10.11 El Capitan, les serveurs Apple refusant de valider les paquets à l’installation…=> on se retrouve avec une brique inerte en guise de Mac !

    SURIN Dominique -

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    • Insert your USB drive into your Mac's USB port.

    • Open Finder to find your USB or if your Finder preferences have been set, you can find it on the Desktop.

    • Your USB drive will be completely erased in the following steps. Make any backups of your data beforehand.

    Using a partition on a USB drive failed. I had to reformat the drive with a single partition to succeed.

    kathexis -

    I just formatted mine as a GUID Partition Map, OS X Extended. Then I named it MyVolume, to avoid dragging the volume into Terminal

    Jadon -

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    • Launch Terminal.

    • You can either use Spotlight or navigate to "Utilities" inside of Applications within Finder and double click Terminal.

    Excellent tuto. Bien plus clair et efficace que le tutoriel Apple : un comble !

    Jacques Nesme -

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    • In Terminal, type one of the following commands, depending on your version of macOS. (The name of the version of macOS, is the one you want to install on the key and downloaded.)

    • Instead of "/Volumes/MyVolume", type the name of your USB drive. Type everything else exactly as you see it (or better yet, copy and paste it from here).

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

    • For Yosemite : sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app

    • For Mavericks : sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app

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

    • Other versions, see the next step.

    Are these referring to the OS you're making the bootable device for or the one you're making it from?

    Joshua Montzka -

    Looks like it is probably for the OS that you are installing.

    Joshua Montzka -

    Yes it's for the OS that you want installing on USB key.

    Anthony Fassler -

    Add ““ at start “/Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app” and at end

    Bitsn Bytes -

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

    Александр -

    definitely copy/paste there are spaces in the command that aren’t obvious in what you see in the instructions. Also, in the replacement of Volumes/MyVolume - only replace the word MyVolume with the name of your USB - this wasn’t clear from the instructions.

    If you need to change the name MyVolume you should copy/paste in pieces as you can’t go back and type over what you input in Terminal

    lch63 -

    Great point. That saved me! Thanks!

    Magnus Dalen -

    what is the application path if I had not downloaded it from the Mac App Store because its not available? I downloaded it from an download-link, but the path is not showed. need help

    Zoran Borschak -

    The best way to make it, is to delete the path after sudo until —volume and to go in your installer with right click, select contents, go in folder Ressources and drag and drop createinstallmedia on your terminal after sudo. after that, check the space after sudo and before —volume.

    Anthony Fassler -

    Easiest way to carry this out is to rename your USB volume “MyVolume” before you do anything else. This lets you copy and pate the Terminal commands without worrying about getting every last keysrtoke and space correct.

    You can rename it to whatever you like afterwards.

    James Demers -

    Worth noting that this generates an installer volume. It won’t boot the Mac with a fully functional OS.

    James Demers -

    James Demers last comment on this whole process “won’t boot the Mac with a fully functional OS” is a show stopper if true? The title of this page completely leads one to believe the solution will be created after going through this process. Aside from that when running … sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app - (yes I named my USB ‘MyVolume’) After being prompted for this users password and entering it, the terminal is presenting "User is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported’

    Kevin Russell -

    “"no such file or directory”” this is my response message on this step

    Constantin-Romica GRIGORIU -

    bonjour j’ai besoin d’aide… COMMAND NOT FOUND. J’ai téléchargé OS X ELCAPITAN mais il se nomme donc : InstallMacOSX.dmg comment je fais ? Quelle est la bonne ligne à rentrer dans le terminal ? Je sèche, j’en ai besoin pour cet apres midi. Le InstallMacOSX.dmg je l’ai mis ds mon dossier APPLICATIONS car il etait ds téléhargements

    guigui.laetitia -

    Renaming my USB drive MyVolume worked perfectly.

    The mistake I made was dragging instead of Copy and Paste. Once I did copy and paste it worked.

    James Mulligan -

    I keep getting the error : /Volumes/MyVolume is not a valid volume mount point.

    Andrew -

    Apparently there’s a problem with the Sierra installer downloaded from Apple recently, making you end up with a Terminal response “MyVolume is not a valid volume mount point.”

    After searching through the Internet I found the solution here https://www.reddit.com/r/macsysadmin/com...

    Something’s wrong with Apple’s new installer, so you need to fix it first, with the following command:

    sudo plutil -replace CFBundleShortVersionString -string "12.6.03" /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Info.plist

    Then follow the instructions in step 5.

    Nicolas Bertin -

    Bonjour, s’il vous plaît par quoi remplace t-on le chemin du fichier qui ce trouve après "applicationpath"?

    ERIC N'SAH -

    Il n’y a rien a changer après "applicationpath"

    Anthony Fassler -

    I downloaded El Capitan directly from the Web & not the AppStore. How can I get the path to work properly?

    Jeff Jotz -

    Hello,

    On the Terminal, write “sudo” and after drag and drop your El Captain file.

    Paste after “.app” this “/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume“

    Put a space after volume en drag and drop your USB key.

    Put a space again and paste it “--applicationpath”.

    Put a space again and drag and drop your El Captain file.

    Anthony Fassler -

    Thank You very much Jeff, you solved my problem !!!

    Sabine Kenouch -

    Make sure that Finder or any other app doesn’t access the USB drive, otherwise the deletion/formatting may fail

    Beate Tatzel -

    try erase and partition the usb before sudo command in terminal

    RWong -

    Hello. Rename USB key to MyVolume but still have the message: sudo: /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia: command not found

    joub -

    Hi I have a mid MacBook Pro 13’ mid 2010 with Mac OS High Sierra 10.13 on it trying to create a bootable usb done all the steps but when it comes to terminal it advise Sudo : command not found… please help

    Ridzal Yusri -

    Remplacer le chemin "/Volumes/MyVolume" par celui de votre clé USB, Pour ce faire, supprimez le chemin actuel puis faites un glisser-déposer.

    Comment connaître le “chemin de ma clé USB” ? Qu’appelle-t-on le “chemin actuel”? Merci d’avance.

    Malzieu -

    Le plus simple c’est d’effacer /Volumes/MyVolume et de faire un glisser déposer

    Anthony Fassler -

    Ich bekomme die Fehlermeldung:

    No auch file or directory

    Reza Eskandari -

    First you should make sure you replaced "MyVolume" with the actual name of your device, if it doesn't appear on your desktop when you insert the drive you can easily get it by opening Finder and checking under "devices" in the sidebar. As Ich63 pointed out you will need to copy/paste in pieces as the terminal will not allow you edit the text that much. Alternatively, just rename it "MyVolume" as suggested by @jpdemers and copy/paste the command as is.

    Simone -

    I keep getting a command not found in terminal even though i copied and pasted exactly as written after replacing the volume/myvolume

    Brian O'Keefe -

    I'm running a 2016 MBP running Monterey and looking to create an installer for el capitan so I can resurrect my old 2007 Imac 24 that I have Ubuntu running on. Where can I get an installer for El Cap. Every one I get has the dmg but won't go any further.

    Ralph Fasano -

    You can download the El Capitan image here : https://mega.nz/file/xw8yEAoJ#r0_KpSdrpP...

    Anthony Fassler -

    I have a M1 mac and cant install intel macOS, I dont know how to install El captain or Yosemite any way else. I need it to install some sort of macOS on a 2008 iMac. I saw the link someone posted above but when I tried doing the command it said "the developer cannot be verified".

    Jeremy T -

    Hello,
    Have you tried to open the image by right click and open, before launch the command in the Terminal ?

    Anthony Fassler -

    I just tried that and now it says that it is too old to be opened.

    Jeremy T -

    Ok now, put the El Capitan image in the Applications folder and try to create your USB stick by the Terminal.

    Anthony Fassler -


    anyone have the solution when we downloaded El Capitan from the web? I don't know how to target the file when it's not downloaded from appstore?

    Mc Ma -

    https://mega.nz/file/xw8yEAoJ#r0_KpSdrpP...

    Anthony Fassler -

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

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

    • For Catalina: sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

    • For Big Sur: sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

    • For Monterey : sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

    • For Ventura : sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Ventura.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

    • For Sonoma : sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sonoma.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

    • If you've this error "does not appear to be a valid OS installer application". Delete and download the macOS image again.

    i keep getting a command not found message. I copied and paste and tried several times.

    Devern -

    For what OS ? I remind that, it’s for the system that you want install on your USB Stick not, the one that you’ve on your Mac.

    Anthony Fassler -

    Did not work I get a message that ot had to run on root

    Luis Suarez -

    For versions of Mojave 10.14 and higher, the proper command is:

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

    James Demers -

    I want install High Sierra on usb. Get this error

    “sudo: /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia: command not found”

    Richard Littell -

    I get a “/Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app does not appear to be a valid OS installer application.” error. What now?

    tsa -

    Me too! I cant install it on USB. I tried everything

    Jan -

    für die mojave version führt folgender befehl zu erfolg:

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

    das usb medium in stick umbenennen oder den namen im befehl editieren zb in notizen

    Christian Razborsek -

    It keeps saying that my usb stick is not a valid volume mount point

    Lars K -

    The terminal command posted here to create a bootable drive installing High Sierra is not valid! Not a valid mount point.

    randy3833 -

    Instead of “MyVolume”, input the name of your USB Drive. Need to replace only the Highlighted part of the command

    Andy -

    Thanks Andy! Sorry, I just noticed your helpful reply. I somehow figured this out on my own.

    randy3833 -

    I’m trying to create a Catalina boot utility on my macbook pro for an IMac that was given to me. The IMac has the flashing screen of file folder with question mark inside of it. I just upgraded my Macbook to Catalina from Sierra last night in order to create this boot disk on my “Untitled” drive. I’ve typed the following:

    sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled

    And it gives me a command not found error. What am I doing wrong? I have typed my password and it still says not found.

    sudo: /Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia: command not found

    Damon Grier -

    What macOS do you have on your MacBook Pro ? If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, add

    --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app

    So,

    sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app

    Or if you have macOS High Sierra or higher,

    sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled

    Of course, you must have the Install macOS Catalina on your Applications Folder.

    Anthony Fassler -

    I was getting this error:

    createinstallmedia: unrecognized option `--volume /Volumes/HS --applicationpath'

    THIS WORKED:

    I RENAMED ‘Install macOS High Sierra.app’ TO ‘IHS.app’

    I NAMED MY USB ‘HS’

    sudo /Applications/IHS.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/HS --applicationpath /Applications/IHS.app

    Ready to start.

    To continue we need to erase the volume at /Volumes/HS.

    If you wish to continue type (Y) then press return: Y

    Erasing Disk: 0%... 10%... 20%... 30%...100%...

    Copying installer files to disk...

    Copy complete.

    Making disk bootable...

    Copying boot files...

    Copy complete.

    Done.

    I hope this helps someone

    Paul Anderson -

    I did it

    and the answer is: cannot execute binary file

    Fabio -

    the path for the El Capitan Version seems to be wrong? I used the path from the apple site “sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app” and that one is working!

    ptherbert18 -

    I keep getting a command not found in terminal after copying an pasting :

    sudo: /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia: command not found

    here is what i pasted in: sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /seirraInstall --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app

    is something missing?

    Brian O'Keefe -

    I found this confusing but discovered that only "MyVolume" needs to be changed to the USB name - not all of the bold text. So, to install Big Sur (with the USB called BigSur) one would make the following command: sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/BigSur Hope this helps!

    Ivan -

    For Sonoma:

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

    Ian Crocker -

    This path to the createinstallmedia was not valid for my download of HIgh Sierra 10.13.6.2. To find the path on my machine, I ctrl-clicked the Install OS High Sierra.app in the Finder and selected Show Package Contents. The createinstallmedia file was NOT here, so I had to hunt for it reading one folder at a time. I found the file: Applications-->Install OS High Sierra.app-->Contents-->Resources-->createinstallmedia.

    The easiest way I found to enter the correct path into the Terminal is to type sudo, hit the space bar one time, and then drag the createinstallmedia file from the Finder window into the terminal window. Then type --volume [space] and drag the target drive from the Finder window to the Terminal window. This process, authored by mtl6909 is detailed in their response here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/812...

    kathexis -

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    • After correctly entering the command with the name of your USB drive, press the [return] key.

    • Enter the macOS administrator password.

    • Your password will not be displayed.

    • Press [return].

    • Check the name and path of your USB key. If it looks correct, press the [Y] key, then press [return].

    • The bootable drive creation will begin. Please wait until the process completes.

    I did as suggested and named my USB drive “MyVolume” and copied & pasted command line for El Capitan.

    Got these messages about the USB drive erasure failing:

    “Ready to start.

    “To continue we need to erase the disk at /Volumes/MyVolume.

    “If you wish to continue type (Y) then press return: y

    “Failed to start erase of disk due to error (-9999, 0).

    “A error occurred erasing the disk.

    Any suggestions?

    Happened with two different USB drives; one was brand new.

    Should add that I’m doing this on a 2010 MacBook Air running 10.6.8

    Richard Harley -

    I think you have to change the format first of your USB. I did it with a brand new USB and had not trouble. To do so, insert your USB and open Disk Utility and go to Erase in the upper menu. Choose to erase your USB and change the format to APFS or MacOSPlus (with register).

    Luxedrina Trementina -

    I’ve done all of the steps and unfortunately, Terminal keeps coming back with this response:

    “APFS disks may not be used as bootable install media.”

    Would you happen to know a workaround? I’d like to be able to use my external SSD usb drive as a boot drive. Many thanks.

    Glenn Howard -

    Make sure that Finder or any other app doesn’t access the USB drive, otherwise the deletion/formatting may fail

    Beate Tatzel -

    comand not found, what to do ?

    hgrg -

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    • When Terminal indicates the process is "Done," the creation of your bootable drive has succeeded.

    • To boot off the USB, first make sure the Mac is off and then press and hold the [option] key when you hear the chime/turn it on .

    Really great guide. Nicely laid out and easy to understand. Nice

    Alec Chandler -

    Overall iFixit guides are great. This one is just good. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. However they involve typing or cutting and pasting a lot of text. This is cumbersome and highly prone to typos, etc. there are several other sites where you can find instructions that talk about free apps that walk you through creating a bootable usb drive. Another one of them has a nifty trick of simply dragging the icon for the usb drive to the terminal window. So while these instructions are clear and work, there are les error prone ways to achieve the same result.

    Stephen -

    Pretty good guide, especially for a community member. Thanks

    Sam -

    I’d add that step 7 can take a while before you see any progress. I’d estimate five minutes (on a 2014 MBP writing to a thumb drive) before the 0% changes to 10%.

    gyorke -

    I’ve created the bootable USB drive with the El Capitan installer downloaded from the app store to my MacBook and successfully booted my 3,1 mac mini with it, but when I try to run the OS X installer I get a message to the effect that it ‘can’t be verified and may have been corrupted or tampered with’ and the process won’t continue. I’ve re-downloaded and tried twice, same thing….. Anyone have any ideas how to proceed?

    echoplex -

    go to http://osxdaily.com/2015/01/19/fix-os-x-...

    Anthony Fassler -

    I really appreciate this guide, as well as the person who took the time to put it together. Personally, the LAST thing I want is to add yet another app to a system when there is a way to do it myself without installing anything. But I am a hands-on kind of gal to start with, & I was a tech dept employee for several years in the school system (right around the time the schools began transitioning from Mac to PC :( )

    Thank you.

    spoiledrottenweilers -

    la ligne de commande :

    “sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/nom de la clé”

    fonctionne parfaitement !!!!

    très très bon tuto !!! merci

    jacques Aretz -

    Apparently there’s a problem with the Sierra installer downloaded from Apple recently, making you end up with a Terminal response “MyVolume is not a valid volume mount point.”

    After searching through the Internet I found the solution here https://www.reddit.com/r/macsysadmin/com...

    Something’s wrong with Apple’s new installer, so you need to fix it first, with the following command:

    sudo plutil -replace CFBundleShortVersionString -string "12.6.03" /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Info.plist

    Then follow the instructions in step 5.

    Nicolas Bertin -

    Muchas gracias!!! Al fin pude crear el disco!

    pamegutier -

    Everything on ifixit.com is great! I following everything successfully up unitl the part that reads: “To boot off the USB, first make sure the Mac is off and then press and hold the [option] key when you hear the chime/turn it on .” I ejected the bootable drive, as I was creating the bootable drive on my Mac desktop, and the MacBook Pro is what I am doing the hard drive replacement and install on. I did not read the very last instruction until I had already ejected it. Once I powered on my MacBook Pro and inserted the bootable drive, the computer came on and showed me a screen for typing in my password, only my password doesn’t seem to be the right one. HELP!!!

    Jeffrey Fox -

    Have you tried with Apple ID and session password ? Otherwise, you can reset your session password with the recovery mode. On start your Mac press the touches CMD + R, when the recovery mode screen appeared, click on Utilities in the menu bar followed by Terminal. On the Terminal enter the following command : resetpassword and press Return

    Anthony Fassler -

    Hi for step 6 it is showing up as createinstallmedia: command not found after hitting enter for my High Sierra OS. let me know what may be some of the reasons why it is not letting me go to the next step is to click “Y” ..

    Remi Oguni -

    Thanks,installed on an external ssd drive using BigSur,super fast now.

    Steve Odonoghue -

    worked perfect, thank you!! Better than Apple’s own support

    Kamil Isik -

    after booting in the new drive, and chose Instal Big Sur, the drive is apparently locked and cannot be written over.

    C Reese -

    All went well. The only difference I encountered was in the info at the top of Step 8: using Terminal with Big Sur 11.7.2, the end of the process did not read "Done" but "Install media now available at "/Volumes/Install mascOS Big Sur"." Ejected the flash drive, and installed it on another device without issue. Thanks!

    Sue Livingston -

    Un desastre esta guía. Poco rigurosa, da muchas cosas por sentado. No sirve para mucho !

    BesosAlAire VersosAlViento -

Conclusion

Nice work! You're done.

Author

Anthony Fassler

Member since: 26/02/15

6453 Reputation

93 comments

if it is possible with power iso i have installed this one on my system. http://standaloneinstaller.com/download-...

kennieboezi -

You mean create a USB key from Windows ?

Anthony Fassler -

Absolutely possible because I successfully created a Big Sur USB installer on my Windows 10 PC with UUByte DMG Editor.

However, you should download the macOS dmg file first. This software can quickly burn DMG file to USB and you will get a bootable macOS USB disk in a few minutes.

BTW, it also has a Mac version you can try out.

Johin114 -

I'm thinking of using this method to revert back to an older os due to my mac slowing down with Sierra. Will I be able to install just Yosemite or el capitan? Without installing previous os upgrades? This way I can have a fresh mac book.

skylerzanth -

Hello,

Yes you can but with this method, we must make a clean install.

So, please sure you save all your data to another hard drive.

Anthony Fassler -

Réparer ma clé usb

Marc Pitchebai -

clé usb bloquée je cherche à réparer

Marc Pitchebai -

Comment réparer ma clé USB bloquée ?

Marc Pitchebai -

quelle solution trouver

Marc Pitchebai -

Hi, I made a USB bootable drive with el capitan on it. Everything worked fine. I replaced my old hdd with the guide from this site. My iMac is from 2007. But now when I try to boot my computer with the Usb drive while holding the option key I only get a grey screen with a cursor. Any ideas?

Matthias Caes -

Hi,

You must press the Option / alt key immediately after pressing the start button (no need to wait for the startup sound) and normally you can select your usb key.

Anthony Fassler -

That's what I do though. With all the other key combinations I end up with a blinking folder icon with a question mark. i have tried the vpram reset as well so the problem isn't my keyboard. Could it be the usb itself? Or some other problem? If I did something wrong during the hdd replacement I figure I wouldn't have gotten this far, no?

Matthias Caes -

So, it probably comes from the usb key. When you had done it is that the key had the name of the operating system?

If that is not the case then there was a problem when creating.

Try any other usb port though, it's not already done.

If it still does not work, it will be necessary to put back your old hard disk to be able to start your Mac and follow the tutorial above (be careful to respit spaces and characters in step 5).

And check by pressing "alt" that this works well before putting your new hard drive.

Anthony Fassler -

I used a PC to make the usb drive. Downloaded the installer from the App Store and then transferred it to a pic where I extracted the .dmg file from the installer. I used a programme called transmac. I will see if it is possible to make the usb on another Mac. I know the whole process of making the usb drive on a pc was a detour but I didn't really have any other options... Thanks anyway for the help. I'll post back with progress.

Matthias Caes -

Sorry about forgetting to post back. I did the whole procedure on the PC again and it turns out I skipped a step so it all worked eventually. Thanks again for all the help. I feel like my youth playing with LEGO Technics has somehow contributed for my success, but this site was wonderful in all its simplicity!

Matthias Caes -

It does not work for me.

MacBook-Pro-6:~ computer$  sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app

sudo: /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia: command not found

MacBook-Pro-6:~ computer$

rafa-rafelito19 -

Hello,

Do you have Mavericks installer in Applications folder ?

Anthony Fassler -

For some reason, terminal will not install to my flash drive. Getting this back from Terminal.

“AudioPhductions:~ Clint$ sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app

Password:

sudo: /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia: command not found

AudioPhductions:~ Clint$”

cwagoner78 -

doh! Nevermind, I figured it out :P

cwagoner78 -

Can’t get terminal to find the El Capitan file. It is in my applications file.

wshifty -

Give a try on DiskMaker X if terminal failed. it is an application built with AppleScript that you can use with many versions of OS X/macOS to build a bootable drive from OS X/macOS installer program. The steps you can check out:

https://diskmakerx.com/whats-this/

https://www.uubyte.com/burn-dmg-to-usb.h...

Chris Gorden -

I have followed directions (trying to make a boot-able flash drive with High Sierra which was downloaded from Apple App Store and in my Applications folder, I am running El Capitan on my MacBookPro)

but get this in Terminal: “Untitled is not a valid mount volume”.

“Untitled” is the name of my 16GB USB flash drive, erased and configured as Mac extended journaled with GUID partition and renamed as “Untitled”:

any advice?

Alan Goldsworthy -

Hello,

Did you copy paste of the command line ? Because, the command line is case sensitive.

Anthony Fassler -

Hi there,

Question for you. The step 5 am I copying the os code on the computer I currently have active or am I selecting the one that I am trying to download for the computer I just replaced the hard drive for? I’ve tried both and keep getting errors.

Here is an example:

Audras-Mac-mini:~ audracarpenter$ sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/BlkBackup --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app

createinstallmedia: unrecognized option `--volume /Volumes/BlkBackup --applicationpath'

Usage: createinstallmedia --volume <path to volume to convert>

Arguments

--volume, A path to a volume that can be unmounted and erased to create the install media.

--applicationpath, A path to copy of the OS installer application to create the bootable media from.

--nointeraction, Erase the disk pointed to by volume without prompting for confirmation.

Example: createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled

Audras-Mac-mini:~ audracarpenter$

Thanks!

audrajcarpenter -

Hello,

The step 5 is for OS that you install on USB key not for your actual OS.

Regards.

Anthony Fassler -

Hi Anthony, thanks for the response. Ok, so the example I posted above, I am trying to use for High Sierra, which is the one I downloaded from the app store. But I am getting arguments that it’s incorrect. Does anything stand out to you as to what I have posted above?

audrajcarpenter -

You’ve a problem with the path of your Volume.

Copy and paste the command line of tutorial because, there are spaces that are not very visible.

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

All symbol “@” are spaces.

Anthony Fassler -

Hi Anthony, thanks, but there is a space for each of them. I did just copy straight from the page. Any other thoughts what it could be?

audrajcarpenter -

So, format your USB key in format Fat32 with more simple name (UNTITLED) by disk utility.

Then copy and paste this command line :

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

Anthony Fassler -

Hi Anthony that worked! Thanks so much. QQ.. now that I have that drive, I’ve followed your instruction on installing on a new hard drive for a mac book pro 2010 but I’m getting a ‘This copy of the install mac0s high sierra application is damaged, and can’t be used to install macos.’

I’ve tried it twice, but still getting same issue. Do you have a how to around this that I can take a look at?

audrajcarpenter -

It’s an other problem, normally it's because of the time of your Mac that is not fair.

if, you have booted on the usb key. So, you have to set the time of your mac.

So, before click on install macOS, go to utilities/Terminal, enter this command line “date mmddHHMMyy” and change the lettre by the actual date.

mm=mouth, dd = day, HH=hour, MM=minute and yy = year (example = date 0824113518)

Anthony Fassler -

How long should the installer files take to load onto the USB? I’m currently copying El Capitan onto a 16gb USB, the file is only 6.something Gb and it’s already taken longer than 20 minutes…

Katrina Evitts -

It’s written above Time Required 30 minutes - 2 hours.

It depends on the speed of the usb.

Anthony Fassler -

so easy … its making me paranoid.

Rick Carter -

this procedure does not work for os x mountain lion, right?

Gianluca -

Hello,

Unfortunately no

Anthony Fassler -

After I enter it all, I get a comment that says “ /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app does not appear to be a valid OS installer application.” Any ideas why this might be?

Russell Greenberg -

Hello,

Do you have the file in your application folder ?

If yes, the command line you entered is incorrect. Copy and paste is the better option.

Anthony Fassler -

Thanks for you sharing ,i don't know if any of you have ever used Rufus and WizISO ,(Free and fee tools that can be used to do the same thing )

https://rufus.ie/en_IE.html

https://www.iseepassword.com/create-boot...

poasmer -

I’ve noticed a lot of people having issues so here is what I done first open terminal and type sudo then a space then go to your OS X app (should be in the application folder) and right click then choose show package contents after that a new Finder window will open double click Contents then Resources and find a file called createinstallmedia and drag it into your terminal window then type a space then “--volume” space then drag then name of your flash drive (should be listed on desktop) to the terminal window then type space then “--applicationpath” space then drag the installer app (should be in the application folder) to the terminal window then hit enter type your password hit enter “y” to confirm then enter

Dakota Miller -

Thank you very much for sharing this, it worked flawlessly!

laporta.fra -

Will I be able to re-use the USB drive after installing Mac Os?

Christian Truchsess -

Yes of course, after a formatting of your USB drive

Anthony Fassler -

How much storage do I need on my USB Drive to get the software on it?

Andrew Lim -

You need USB drive with 8GB minimum

Anthony Fassler -

so i notice this in the terminal what does it mean?

WARNING: "--applicationpath" is deprecated in macOS 10.14 and greater. Please remove it from your invocation.

Andrew Lim -

Apple improved it’s function with the new macOS Mojave and greater as said above, the function work but, without the part “—applicationpath”.

So, remove this part and try again, normally it should work.

Anthony Fassler -

Thank you! for the help

Andrew Lim -

is there any easy solution other than text commands?

Chris Gorden -

is a 8 GB pendrive enough or i nead a 16 GB?

thebandicootcove -

8 GB drives should work fine, I wouldn’t go smaller than that. I believe it’s around 5-6 GB total used for the installer files.

Jonah Aragon -

What dows this message mean?

Olavs-MacBook-Pro:~ Hjem$  sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app

Password:

Sorry, try again.

Password:

WARNING: "--applicationpath" is deprecated in macOS 10.14 and greater. Please remove it from your invocation.

Olav Andreas Larsen -

remove --applicationpath and after, normally work again. it’s on Mojave the function is no longer used

Anthony Fassler -

Hi,

If running Sierra and want to create a bootable drive for mountain lion the same way, can you help ?

Thanks

tony

Tony -

After I create the bootable flash drive, can I easily transfer the installer to another flash drive (basically by drag n drop)? I installed it on a large 64gb flash drive, but it’s only taking up about 8gb. I’d like to move it to a smaller flash drive so I can use the 64gb for other files.

Or am I able to add on files with it to the 64gb?

Lori -

Hi,

Before create the bootable usb, you can create a partition for it and a other for your files.

You can make it on Disk Utility when your usb stick is connected on your Mac.

Anthony Fassler -

Thanks for the reply, Anthony. But, I didn’t do that before I created the bootable usb. : ( Can I transfer the installer file from one usb to another?

Lori -

No, you can’t but, you can format your usb drive and create the partitions and for then create the bootable macOS on a partition.

Anthony Fassler -

Please, update the 1st step of the article - in Mojave there is no way to see a list of available OSs. I need a High Sierra image for my old iMac that is not booting up, and I can’t download it. Direct links to the OS update packages to AppStore are not working.

pablomedok -

Can you use the drive you just removed from the MacBook Pro as the boot drive? It already has the operating system and all your old files on it. I see that OWC sells a usb connection device for your old drive. This would make things a lot easier if that’s possible.

George Blomberg -

What about using Time Machine as a backup? As you turn on your Mac, press Command-R, keep the buttons held down until you see something loading on the screen. You will get an option to backup from Time Machine.

George Blomberg -

Is Sierra no longer able to make bootable USB’s?

Robert R. -

Bonjour,

Pour El Capitan j’ai bien réussi à créer une clé USB bootable . Mais je n’y arrive pas pour Sierra. J’ai bien appliqué tout le process indiqué mais quand je valide l’instruction:”sudo /Applications…..Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app” , j’ai bien la demande de password mais après validation , le système me rend la main et il ne se passe rien… J’ai bien vérifié le chemin de “createinstallmedia”

Quelle en est l’explication? Merci pour votre aide.

AMORY -

If you download the .dmg file for El Capitan, there is two extra steps. You must manually open the .dmg file. Then it unpacks a .pkg file, you must run this application too. Then return to step 3.

Tony Waters -

Does it normally take a long time to copy the installer files to the disc? I’m going on a half hour of just copying. I know its a 5+GB file but i didn’t think it would take this long. I’m making a bootable usb drive for my mid 2012 macbook pro using my mid 2015 macbook pro.

aaronshirzadi -

Update: After noticing the estimated time for completion posted at the top saying 30min-2hrs I just remained patient. Process completed after about 55 minutes :)

aaronshirzadi -

ottima guida con qualche piccolo aggiustamento in corso d’opera. ottimo risultato

grazie

davide artisan -

Bonjour

comment faire pour desinstaler la dernière version de iOS pour réinstaller high sierra ?

mohamed sahraoui -

HI,

Thank you for the tutorial,

I already installing a bootable sierra key , but have an error message about the volume :

Volumes/MyVolume is not a valid volume mount point. ??

Any one saw this before ?

regrads

Alexilestat -

Step 5: Instead of "/Volumes/MyVolume", type the name of your USB drive. Type everything else exactly as you see it (or better yet, copy and paste it from here).

VauWeh -

The scripts for Catalina has error…. I found the same error in several sites… so this means the content was copied…

Marcelo Osorio -

if you’re doing this just to get the same version onto a newer disk. back up and time machine restore to your new disk is so much faster and easier.

RWong -

I made a startup disk with a usb flash stick for high Sierra. My Mac OS is 10.11. When I boot from the usb flash stick none of my applications that I installed previously show up. Do I have to reinstall them to have access?

walter thömmes -

I use "Rufus" for all other USB writing and formatting for Windows systems, it's a great app, but I had previously tried to format the drive as GPT using that, as a Fat32 partition. When I tried to inject the image, Transmac told me that the drive was "write protected". So basically, the USB drive cannot have any high level formatting, the Windows system should detect the drive as "not formatted" for this to work, which it will if prepped right with Diskpart.

https://www.sysgeeker.com/how-to-create-...

https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Wyatt Katherine -

Doesnt work anymore — on catalina I cannot find anything but big sur in mac app store

Charles Pantoga -

Yes that’s normal, Apple only provides the latest version on the App Store. If you want a different version of macOS, you need to search.

Anthony Fassler -

Is it really necessary to use Terminal to create the bootable installer drive? Why couldn't you simply  erase the drive using Disk Utility, and copy the installer to it using the Finder?

Jerome Kurliak -

That won’t work as bootable installation is not written to USB by a simple copy. Besides Terminal, you can also use DMG Editor to create bootable USB from a macOS DMG file. It works on both Windows and macOS.

Jaimie Wargo -

That is not exactly a bootable system, that is an installation one.

Clément Hallet -

Hi, I currently having High Sierra in my old mac book and downloaded Big Sur dmg. I followed each and every step with the terminal. Even though I cannot find the EFI when I restart by press and holding the option. Can you please guide me with this issue. Your response is highly appreciated. Thank you.

Kohulanath Ragunath -

I mean to mention that I can see only the existing High Sierra Macintosh drive. I cannot see the newly created bootable file. Please help me on this. Thank you.

Kohulanath Ragunath -

ma se dovete scrivere qualcosa cercate di scriverlo meglio o piu chiaramente senza fare i saputelli....grazie al

albert einstein -

bonjour sa me met commande note found ?

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

Rémy Sojorb -

Bonjour,

Avez vous bien remplacer /Volumes/MyVolume par le chemin de votre clé USB ?

Et est-ce que vous avez bien le fichier d'instillation dans le dossier Applications ?

Anthony Fassler -

my pogram is nit working after copying instalkler files to dddsik is wait over 10 minutes and nothing hapendedn tryddd it many times i do this for high siera on a 16 gigabyste stick

Technikenjoyer -

Bonjour,

Sous Ventura, impossible d'ouvrir le fichier d'intallation el capitan. Et par conséquent de créer un disque de démarrage. Comment faire svp? Je suis désespéré...

Gringodiaz -

Bonjour,

Vous pouvez assez avec ce tuto : https://fr.ifixit.com/Tutoriel/Créer+une...

Ou sinon en branchant votre Mac en ethernet et en passant par la partition de récupération (CMD + R au démarrage)

ET sinon avec un ordinateur Windows avec transMac (https://www.acutesystems.com/scrtm.htmht...)

Anthony Fassler -

Hi, I just want to add that the terminal promt for /createinstallmedia isn't usable on newer macs.

Now you need to jump through different hoops.

You might want to update this guide with the info below. It worked for me on a macOS Monterey 12.7.1 to create a bootable USB with (High) Sierra on it.

https://apple.stackexchange.com/question...

Sleep -

IT 101 has a detailed July 2023 YouTube to create an bootable Sierra Install USB drive. Using their "fix" on the Installer might correct the error we got trying to use tools directly from Apple, but we just ended up using the USB drive. Summary:

Format a USB drive OS X extended.

google.com download old macos versions -> first hit (now) ***https://support.apple.com/en-us/102662**....

Go to the Sierra 10.12 option in the "Use a web browser" section and get the dmg: ***http://updates-http.cdn-apple.com/2019/c...

Open the dmg and use the pkg to generate an Installer in your Applications folder.

Fix the package (from IT 101's notes):

sudo plutil -replace CFBundleShortVersionString -string "12.6.03" /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Info.plist

Now createinstallmedia should work:

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

public1 -

I’m running monterey and need to make a bootable install disc for el capitan.

I screwed up wiping the hard drive instead of a reinstall and now it won’t boot, apple no longer offers it through the store, disc repair seems very limited on the apple store. I have elcapitan downloaded, I have two USB drives big enough.

Please help!! Been at this for days…..

Stinkertoy -

Go there

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Create+a+Bo...

Anthony Fassler -

All went well w/ these instructions.

On steps 5/6 it helps to know what the original Apple instructions tells:

In the command (e.g. "--volume /Volumes/MyVolume"), the phrase "MyVolume" has to become replaced by the name of the USB drive; the other "volume" labels have to remain. So in case the USB drive's name is "GOOFY", the section to the command has to be "--volume /Volumes/GOOFY".

Thom Scheiner -

installing Mojave. Once I enter my password, I am receiving error “MB is not a valid volume mount point.” (MB is the usb name)

Oldskool -