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 install macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install on multiple computers without downloading the installer each time.
![How to make a bootable usb drive mac os x snow leopard on windows How to make a bootable usb drive mac os x snow leopard on windows](https://coolestguidesontheplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/usb-format-osx-extended-lion1.jpg)
Download macOS
Download a macOS installer.* You can find the appropriate download link in the upgrade instructions for macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, macOS High Sierra, macOS Sierra, and OS X El Capitan.
- If the macOS installer opens after downloading, quit it without continuing installation.
- macOS Sierra and El Capitan download as a disk image that contains an installer named InstallOS.pkg or InstallMacOSX.pkg. Run this installer before continuing.
- If downloading macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, or macOS High Sierra for the purpose of creating a bootable installer, your Mac must be 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.
Then find the installer in your Applications folder as a single ”Install” file, such as Install macOS Catalina.
Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal
- Connect the USB flash drive or other volume 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.
- Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
- 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:*
Sierra:
El Capitan: - Press Return after typing the command.
- When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
- 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. - When Terminal says that it's done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Mojave. 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 commands for Sierra and El Capitan.Use the bootable installer
Step 1, Download Mac Lion Installer from App Store. Latest versions of Mac are only available through App Store.Step 2, The download can take some time depending on your internet connection. Don't worry if you lose connection halfway through download, it will resume as soon as you are re-connected to App Store.Step 3, Make a backup of the installer you downloaded from App Store and save it on your desktop. Under no condition should you work on the original installer file. Much like prior versions of Mac OS, you can easily create a bootable install drive for MacOS Mojave 10.14. These boot install drives allow for things like easily formatting a Mac to perform a clean install of macOS Mojave, installing macOS Mojave onto multiple Macs without them each having to download the installer, or even as a troubleshooting tool since it can be booted from by any compatible Mac at any time.
![Drive Drive](/uploads/1/2/5/7/125732438/810982528.jpg)
After creating the bootable installer, follow these steps to use it.
- Connect the bootable installer to a compatible Mac.
- 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. - Choose your language, if prompted.
- 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.
- 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:
High Sierra:
Sierra:
El Capitan: