App To Create Bootable Usb Mac

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Apple released the new Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite in the Mac App Store for everyone to download and install for free on October 16th, 2014, but downloading a 5+ GB file for each of your computers will take some serious time. The best thing to do is download it once and create a bootable install USB drive from the file for all of your Macs. May 15, 2020  A bootable installer for macOS El Capitan is a good idea even if your plan is to perform an upgrade install. Having your own copy of El Capitan on a separate device ensures that you'll always be able to install or reinstall it.It also helps in performing basic troubleshooting tasks, even if you have no connection to the internet or access to the Mac App Store.

Data loss? Impossible with Get Backup Pro on Mac.

There are times when having a bootable USB drive for Mac is important. There is also an argument to be made to have an Apple backup available at all times. Here, we’ll walk you though why you may want to do so, and how to backup Mac.

A backup plan for all times

Get Setapp for all the tools you need to backup data and handle bootable drives for seamless security on Mac.

What is a Bootable USB or External Drive?

Simply stated, a bootable USB Mac drive is one that has a version (or versions) of macOS available on a disk that isn’t your machine. Whether it’s an external hard drive or a USB ‘thumb’ drive, both are considered bootable drives.

For the sake of clarity, we’ll simply refer to any external drive as a USB drive.

Before you begin, you’ll need to download the macOS version you’d like to use directly from Apple. It will download directly to your Applications folder; if your Mac starts to try to download and install the version of macOS you downloaded, simply quit the installation process.

How to Backup Mac to External Hard Drive

Curious how to create a bootable external drive for Mac? We’ve got you covered. First, you’ll need a USB drive, preferably one that is formatted to macOS Extended for any macOS backup to serve as your startup disk creator. Once you’ve done that, connect the USB drive to your machine, open the Terminal application on your Mac. Depending on the version of macOS you downloaded, enter one of the following commands:

  • Catalina: sudo /Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
  • Mojave: sudo /Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
  • High Sierra: sudo /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
  • Sierra: sudo /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app
  • El Capitan: sudo /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app
Note: If your USB drive has a unique name, replace ‘MyVolume’ in the command with the name of your USB drive. If you read the command, you’ll see your Mac is taking the version of macOS you downloaded from your Applications folder and placing it on your USB drive.

After entering the command, do the following:

  • Press ‘Return’ or ‘Enter’ on your keyboard
  • When prompted in Terminal, enter your administrator’s password
  • Press ‘Return’ or ‘Enter’ on your keyboard
  • When prompted in Terminal, type ‘y’ to confirm you’d like to erase the USB drive.

When finished, Terminal will show the volume has the same name as the installer you downloaded. You can now quit terminal and eject your USB Drive.

How to Boot Your Mac from a USB Drive

Now that you’ve created a bootable installer for your Mac, you can use it to boot a Mac using a fresh install of macOS! Here’s how:

  • Plug the bootable USB drive into your Mac
  • Open Startup Manager (or Startup Disk)
  • Select your USB drive from the list
  • Press ‘Restart’

Your mac will now start up in recovery mode, using the version of macOS you downloaded. From here, it may ask you to choose your language, set up a WiFi network, and other startup functions. When prompted, select ‘Install macOS’ from the Utilities window, then click ‘Continue’ and follow any on-screen directions. This is how you install macOS from a USB.

Don’t Forget to Backup Your Files!

Before starting the process, be sure to back your files and folders up! You can do this manually by digging through your files and loading them onto a separate USB drive, but there’s a better way.

Get rid of duplicates and junk

CleanMyMac X takes care of it in one scan. Use the app to free up disk space before running any installations.

CleanMyMacX is an app that helps optimize your Mac for performance, and also gets rid of duplicate files. We highly suggest running this prior to any installation of macOS from a bootable USB drive.

Backups are best accomplished using Disk Drill, which both backs up your files and folders (as well as applications) and saves them to an external source. It even checks for lost files so nothing goes missing accidentally.

One of the best backup and cloning apps is Get Backup Pro. It creates backups of your hard drive, complete with files and folders, and saves them to an external USB drive. It’s a lot like Apple’s Time Machine, but allows much better control, and has a better user interface.

Get Backup Pro also compresses your backups, allows for scheduling of automatic backups, and allows you to recover from an external drive onto any computer.

Conclusion

Having a USB drive with a ‘clean’ version of macOS is always a good idea. When things go amiss, it’s nice to have an easy way to start from scratch.

But this doesn’t transfer files, which is why we select Disk Drill and/or Get Backup Pro. Utilizing one (or both) will help your files stay somewhere safe, so you never have to worry. We also advocate for using CleanMyMacX before any backup, which helps ensure your system – and backups – are optimized.

Luckily, all three are available as part of a free seven-day trial of Setapp, along with dozens of other great apps for Mac. Give it a shot!

These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install on multiple computers without downloading the installer each time.

Download macOS

Find the appropriate download link in the upgrade instructions for each macOS version:

macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, ormacOS High Sierra
Installers for each of these macOS versions download directly to your Applications folder as an app named Install macOS Catalina, Install macOS Mojave, or Install macOS High Sierra. If the installer opens after downloading, quit it without continuing installation. Important: To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server.

OS X El Capitan
El Capitan downloads as a disk image. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.

Bootable

App To Make Bootable Usb Mac

Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal

Mac App To Create Bootable Windows Usb

App
  1. Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer. Make sure that it has at least 12GB of available storage and is formatted as Mac OS Extended.
  2. Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
  3. Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is still in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace MyVolume in these commands with the name of your volume.
    Catalina:*
    Mojave:*

    High Sierra:*
    El Capitan:
  4. Press Return after typing the command.
  5. When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
  6. When prompted, type Y to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal shows the progress as the bootable installer is created.
  7. When Terminal says that it's done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Catalina. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.

* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the --applicationpath argument, similar to the way this argument is used in the command for El Capitan.

Use the bootable installer

After creating the bootable installer, follow these steps to use it:

  1. Plug the bootable installer into a compatible Mac.
  2. Use Startup Manager or Startup Disk preferences to select the bootable installer as the startup disk, then start up from it. Your Mac will start up to macOS Recovery.
    Learn about selecting a startup disk, including what to do if your Mac doesn't start up from it.
  3. Choose your language, if prompted.
  4. A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the Internet, but it does require the Internet to get information specific to your Mac model, such as firmware updates. If you need to connect to a Wi-Fi network, use the Wi-Fi menu in the menu bar.
  5. Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.

Learn more

For more information about the createinstallmedia command and the arguments that you can use with it, make sure that the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter this path in Terminal:

Catalina:

Mojave:

Best App To Create Bootable Usb On Mac

High Sierra:

How To Make Mac Os Boot Usb

El Capitan: