At least an 8GB stick, you won't need the full thing. Easier to get large thumbdrives then small ones these days. Answer from logicearth on reddit.com
Lenovo Support
support.lenovo.com › us › en › solutions › ht117511-how-to-create-a-usb-recovery-drive-and-use-drive-to-recover-windows-10
How to create a USB recovery drive and use the drive to recover Windows 10, 11 - Lenovo Support US
This article shows you how to Create a USB Recovery Drive and Use to Recover Windows 10, 11
EaseUS
easeus.com › data backup questions answered › how big is a windows 11 recovery usb?
How Big Is a Windows 11 Recovery USB? - EaseUS
June 30, 2025 - According to Microsoft's official statement, at least 16 GB of space is required to create a recovery USB drive. However, the size of the USB flash drive required to create the Windows 11 recovery drive varies from 1 GB to 32 GB.
Videos
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How to Create a Windows 11 Recovery USB Drive - YouTube
How to Create a USB Recovery Drive for Windows 11 - YouTube
05:57
How to Download and Install Windows 11 from USB Flash Drive for FREE!
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How to Create a Windows 11 Recovery USB - YouTube
Lenovo Support
support.lenovo.com › us › en › solutions › ht035659-how-can-i-create-recovery-media-dvd-or-usb-or-order-recovery-media-dvd-or-usb-from-lenovo
Create Recovery Media (DVD or USB), or order Recovery Media (DVD or USB) from Lenovo - Lenovo Support US
Steps and instructions for creating or ordering Recovery Media (DVD or USB) from Lenovo
Microsoft Community Hub
techcommunity.microsoft.com › microsoft community hub › communities › products › windows › windows 11
Creating Windows USB Recovery Drive. 32GB Requirement | Microsoft Community Hub
Went to create a recovery USB drive on windows 11. After a while I was prompted to insert a USB drive of at least 32GB which I duly did but the "next" button stayed greyed out. After checking my USB drive I can see that there is actually only 28.8Gb available.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/windows11 › what size flash drive do i need to install windows 11 pro oem?
r/Windows11 on Reddit: What size flash drive do I need to install windows 11 Pro OEM?
February 13, 2022 -
I believe I use windows 11 media creation tool to create the install for my new PC. How much storage space would my USB flash drive need to store the install data?
Top answer 1 of 9
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At least an 8GB stick, you won't need the full thing. Easier to get large thumbdrives then small ones these days.
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8GB. I just used one a couple of days ago and it worked perfectly fine. In my case I used rufus to create the bootable Windows 11 thumb drive from ISO image.
Eleven Forum
elevenforum.com › windows support forums › devices and drivers
Recovery Drive | Windows 11 Forum
July 22, 2024 - Does that mean i can use a USB Flash Drive? I was told that the Flash drive must be 32GB! Before I couldn't find a flash drive that I inserted into my PC nor was it working using my old ones. ... You only need that much space if you tick the box to back up your system files to the recovery drive.
ZDNET
zdnet.com › home › tech › services & software › operating systems › windows
How to create a Windows recovery drive in 4 easy steps - before it's too late | ZDNET
February 13, 2025 - After the download finishes, you can double-click the ISO file in WIndows 10 or Windows 11 to mount it as a virtual DVD drive in File Explorer. Creating a basic recovery drive requires a USB drive that's at least 512MB.
TechRepublic
techrepublic.com › home › how to create a usb recovery drive for windows 11
How to create a USB recovery drive for Windows 11 - TechRepublic
January 19, 2024 - For Windows 11, the size of the USB drive used for a recovery that includes system files should be at least 32GB.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/windowshelp › what size flash drive should i buy to wipe my pc and reinstall my os?
r/WindowsHelp on Reddit: What size flash drive should i buy to wipe my pc and reinstall my os?
December 16, 2024 -
Would this 256 gb drive be good or do i need more also
Also some one reccomend me a video on how to do it im completely new at this and like what i would need to do to re optmize my pc etc
Like absolutely everything dont leave anything out i dont want to mess up on this
Top answer 1 of 16
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You only need like an 8gb flash drive. I just buy a cheap $5 like 16gb-32gb one for the Windows Installation Media. And just look on Youtube for a video, it's pretty much straight forward and will show you how to boot from a USB and then pick the drive to install Windows to and delete/format it using the installer.
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32gb is plenty
Microsoft Learn
learn.microsoft.com › en-us › answers › questions › 5353981 › size-flash-drive-do-i-need-for-windows-11
Size Flash Drive Do I Need for Windows 11? - Microsoft Q&A
To create a bootable USB drive for Windows 11 installation, Microsoft recommends a USB flash drive with at least 8 GB of storage.
Eleven Forum
elevenforum.com › windows support forums › tutorials
Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Installation Media | Windows 11 Forum
July 27, 2021 - The installation USB can also be used as a recovery drive to boot to WinRE (aka: advanced startup). You must be signed in as an administrator to create a bootable Windows 11 installation USB. The USB flash drive needs to be at least 8 GB or larger ...
Winfr
winfr.org › home › usb recovery
5 Methods to Create a Windows 11 Recovery USB [2025]
June 30, 2025 - Step 1: Download Rufus from the official site at rufus.ie, and run the application (it’s portable — no installation needed). Step 2: Insert your USB flash drive (at least 8 GB), then under Boot selection, click SELECT and choose your Windows ...
Windows 10 Forums
tenforums.com › general-support › 213694-recovery-drive.html
Recovery Drive - Windows 10 Help Forums
1. Why is the Windows 11 recovery data four times of that of Windows 10? 2. I read that a Recovery USB Drive would be better formatted to FAT32 file system, especially for UEFI system. 3. After creating a Recovery Drive, is there a way to test it's integrity?
Aiseesoft
aiseesoft.com › solution › lenovo-recovery.html
Proven Ways to Lenovo Recovery in Windows 11/10 [Step-by-step]
January 3, 2025 - During this time, insert a blank DVD into your Lenovo computer. Set the optical drive and then choose “OK”. Wait for a while to complete the Lenovo recovery disk creation. ... Prepare a USB drive no less than 16GB first.
Help Desk Geek
helpdeskgeek.com › home › how-to › how to create and use a windows 11 recovery usb drive
How to Create and Use a Windows 11 Recovery USB Drive
January 31, 2025 - If you want to go ahead and set up a recovery USB drive, you need an adequately-sized flash drive—16-32 GB if you want it to include system files or 1 GBif you don’t.
IT trip
en.ittrip.xyz › windows › troubleshooting
Guide to USB Drive Capacity for Creating a Windows 11 Recovery Drive | IT trip
August 23, 2024 - When creating a recovery drive for Windows 11, a USB drive with at least 16GB of capacity is required. This capacity provides enough space to store basic Windows system files and the data necessary for system repair and recovery.
Quora
quora.com › What-is-the-actual-size-of-a-Windows-recovery-drive-Do-I-really-need-a-16GB-flash-drive
What is the actual size of a Windows recovery drive? Do I really need a 16GB flash drive? - Quora
Answer (1 of 2): around 500Mb. No, you don’t need a 16 Gb flash drive. Not even for the Windows install media, which is around 5 Gb. But I doubt you will find flash drives smaller than 16 Gb.
Archive.ph
archive.ph › XHg5t
How to create a USB recovery drive and use the drive to recover Windows 10, 11 - Lenovo Support US
3 weeks ago - Detect ProductIf you're using a Lenovo PC, please use the Detect Product button. Lenovo Service Bridge is required to be downloaded. ... This article is about how to create a USB recovery drive and how to use the drive to recover Windows 10 or 11.
Softwarerepairworld
softwarerepairworld.com › products › lenovo-recovery-usb-for-windows-11-home-professional
Lenovo Recovery USB for Windows 11 Home & Professional – Software Repair World
everything went smooth. However, the WiFi driver was not on the USB ...so I had to down download it on a different laptop, put it on the usb and install it. Otherwise than that. I am happy with the order. ... Windows 11 USB works well, providing a simple and effective recovery process.