Are you a Mac user struggling to create a Windows bootable USB drive for your PC? You're in the right place! In this guide, we'll walk you through the process step by step. Getting a Windows 10 or 11 bootable USB ready on your Mac might seem tricky, but we've covered you. We'll also show you how to split large Windows image files to fit on your USB drive. Let's dive in and get started.

Step 1: Obtain the Windows ISO File

1. Open your web browser and search for "Windows 10 ISO" or "Windows 11 ISO".

2. Visit the official Microsoft downloads page and select your desired edition and language.

3. Start downloading the ISO file.

Step 2: Prepare Your USB Drive

1. Insert your USB drive (minimum 5GB for Windows 10, 8GB for Windows 11).

2. Open "Disk Utility" on your Mac.

   

3. Switch to the "Show All Devices" view.

   

4. Select your USB drive and click "Erase."

   

5. Label it as "win10" or "win11" for easy identification.

6. Change the format to "MS-DOS (FAT)" (FAT32).

7. Set the scheme to "Master Boot Record."

8. Click "Erase" to format the drive.

Step 3: Copy Files to the USB Drive

1. Find the ISO file you downloaded and open it.

2. Open a new tab for your USB drive.

3. Copy all files from the ISO to your USB drive, except for the "install.wim" file inside the "sources" folder, as it's too large for FAT32.

Step 4: Create a "Sources" Folder

1. Right-click on the USB drive and create a new folder named "Sources."

Step 5: Split the "install.wim" File

1. Install Homebrew, a package manager for Mac, by following the instructions on their website.

2. Open your terminal and enter the command: brew install wimlib to install wimlib, a utility for Windows Imaging files.

3. Once installed, split the "install.wim" file with the following command:

    wimlib-imagex split /path/to/install.wim /path/to/USBDrive/Sources/install.swm 4000
   

   • Replace /path/to/install.wim with the path to your "install.wim" file.

   • Replace /path/to/USBDrive with the path to your USB drive.

Step 6: Eject the USB Drive

1. Eject your USB drive safely.

Now you have a bootable Windows USB drive ready to install Windows on your PC. If you encounter any issues or have questions, please ask in the comments section.

Creating a Windows bootable USB drive on a Mac might seem challenging, but with the steps outlined in this guide, you can do it efficiently. Don't let compatibility issues stop you from using the operating system of your choice on your PC. Follow these steps, and you'll be up and running with Windows quickly.