How To Create a Windows 10 Bootable USB

Boot up Windows from a USB drive

What to Know

  • Windows Media Creation Tool: Select Create installation media (USB flash drive...) for another PC, click Next, and follow the prompts.
  • Next, download a tool that allows you to burn ISO files to a USB. We recommend Rufus.
  • Your bootable Windows 10 USB can function as a portable copy of Windows or as a repair or installation tool.

This article includes instructions for how to create a bootable Windows 10 USB, how to create a bootable Windows 10 USB for repair and installation, and information on why you might want to.

How to Create a Bootable Windows 10 USB

If you want a copy of Windows 10 on a USB flash drive that you can plug into any compatible computer, boot it up, and bypass the natively installed operating system, you'll need the following:

  • An internet connection
  • Windows 10 PC
  • USB flash drive
  • The Windows Media Creation Tool
  • A tool that allows you to burn ISO files to USB. For the purposes of this tutorial, we'll use Rufus to create a bootable Windows 10 USB.

You don’t need a Windows 10 key to create a bootable Windows 10 USB, but this installation of Windows 10 follows the same registration rules as any other installation. If you don’t have a key, Windows 10 will display a persistent activation message on the screen until you register one.

  1. Download the Windows Media Creation Tool.

    The Windows Media Creation Tool download website.
  2. Launch the Media Creation Tool, and click Accept.

    Terms and conditions for the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool.
  3. Select Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC, and click Next.

    Media Creation Tool options to upgrade or make an ISO.
  4. Click Next.

    Windows Media Creation Tool options.
  5. Select ISO file, and click Next.

    Windows Media Creation Tool options.
  6. Select a location to save the ISO file, and click Save.

    Saving an ISO with the Media Creation Tool.

    This process may take a long time if your internet connection is slow.

  7. Click Finish.

    Finishing up with the Media Creation Tool.
  8. Download and install Rufus.

    Downloading Rufus.
  9. Click the dropdown box under Device, and select your USB drive.

    Selecting a drive in Rufus.

    Use a drive with at least 20 GB of space. If Rufus doesn’t list your USB drive, try clicking List USB Hard Drives in the advanced drive properties section. If it still doesn’t see your drive, you may have a flash drive that won’t work with Windows to Go.

  10. Click the dropdown box under Boot selection, and select Disk or ISO image (please select).

    Selecting an ISO option in Rufus.
  11. Click SELECT.

    Selecting Rufus options.
  12. Select the Windows 10 ISO that you created earlier with the Windows Media Creation Tool, and click Open.

    Selecting an ISO in Rufus.
  13. Click the dropdown box under Image option, and select Windows to Go.

    Selecting image options in Rufus.
  14. Verify your settings, and click START.

    Windows to Go settings in Rufus.

    Depending on the computer you will use this USB with, you may need to change your partition scheme and target system. MBR and BIOS or UEFI provide the best compatibility.

  15. Select the version of Windows you want to install, and click OK.

    Selecting a Windows 10 version with Rufus.
  16. If you’re sure that you are using the USB drive that you want to use, click OK.

    A warning message in Rufus.

    Any data on your USB drive will be erased after this step.

  17. Wait for the process to finish completely. This may take quite a while depending on how powerful your computer is and the speed of the USB drive. The Status bar will give you an idea of where the process is.

    Rufus creating a bootable Windows 10 USB.

Once this process has completed, the drive will contain a full, portable, installation of Windows 10. You can safely eject and remove the drive at that point. If you set a computer to boot from USB before its internal drive, then you can connect the USB drive, turn the computer on, and it will boot Windows 10 from the USB drive.

How to Create a Bootable Windows 10 USB For Repair or Installation

If you want to create a bootable Windows 10 USB for use in repairing a Windows installation or performing a clean installation of Windows on your computer or any other computer, the process is pretty simple. All you need is the Windows Media Creation Tool and a USB flash drive with at least 8 GB of storage.

This process will erase any files on the USB drive. After you have created the bootable USB, you can use any extra space to store any files you like.

  1. Download the Windows Media Creation Tool.

  2. Open the Media Creation Tool, and click Accept.

    The Windows Media Creation Tool license terms.
  3. Click Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC.

    Windows MCT options.
  4. Click Next.

    Windows MCT options.
  5. Select USB flash drive, and click Next.

    Selecting media in the Windows Media Creation Tool.
  6. If you have multiple USB flash drives, select the one you want to use and click Next.

    Selecting a USB drive in the Windows Media Creation Tool.
  7. Windows 10 will download and install the necessary files, which may take a while. When it’s done, click Finish.

    Windows Media Creation Tool completed.
  8. You can now safely eject and remove the drive. If your computer is set to boot from USB before the internal drive, starting your computer with the drive plugged in will allow you to boot from the drive. That will provide you with the option to run diagnostics or install Windows 10.

Why Create a Bootable Windows 10 USB?

Microsoft makes it easy to download Windows 10 directly from the official source with their Media Creation Tool, and once you have those files you can use them to make a bootable Windows 10 USB. Similar processes are involved in creating a bootable USB with a working version of Windows 10 contained on it, and a bootable Windows 10 USB that can be used to repair or install the operating system on another computer.

There are a few reasons to create a bootable Windows 10 USB:

  • To run Windows 10 from the USB drive. This allows you to plug the drive into any compatible computer and run your own copy of Windows instead of the operating system that’s installed on the computer.
  • To repair an existing installation of Windows 10. With a properly prepared bootable Windows 10 USB, you can run repair and diagnostic tools on your computer without booting into the native Windows 10 installation. This is useful if your computer isn’t working right or Windows 10 won’t boot.
  • To install Windows 10. This is useful if you want to install Windows 10 on another computer or perform a clean install on the computer that you’re using.

Each of these reasons requires a bootable Windows 10 USB that you can connect to a computer and boot instead of the internal drive and operating system. Only one actually creates a bootable copy of Windows 10 that you can use like a regular instance of Windows 10 permanently installed on an internal drive, while the other two create a bootable USB that contains all of the Windows 10 files for repair or installation purposes.

If you know why you need a bootable Windows 10 USB, then you can proceed to the instructions below that pertain to your particular situation.

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