This answer is summarized below.

  • MBR partition a 16 GB or larger flash drive to contain a FAT32 volume and an ExFAT volume.
  • Copy all the files, except sources/install.wim, from the mounted Windows ISO file to the FAT32 volume on the flash drive.
  • Copy sources/install.wim from the mounted Windows ISO file to the ExFAT volume on the flash drive.
  • Boot from the flash drive and enter a command to split the install.wim on the ExFAT volume to two files placed on the FAT32 volume.
  • The result is an USB flash drive which can be used to install Windows 11.

The steps are given next.

  1. Goto Microsoft's Download Windows 11 website and download the Windows 11 disk image (ISO) for x64 devices. In my case, the Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso file was downloaded to my Downloads folder. If your file name is different, then make the appropriate substitutions when entering the commands below.

    Insert a 16 GB or larger flash drive in an USB port on or connected to the Mac.

  2. Open a Terminal application window.

    Use the command below to determine the identifier for the USB flash drive. I my case, this was disk2. If your identifier is different, the make the appropriate substitutions in the following commands.

    diskutil list external
    

    Enter the command below to format the flash drive.

    diskutil partitiondisk disk2 mbr fat32 MYFAT32 8G exfat MyExFAT R
    

    Enter the command below to remove all extended attributes from the Windows ISO file. This will remove the quarantine placed on the file when it was downloaded.

    xattr -c ~/Downloads/Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso
    

    Enter the command below to mount the Windows 11 ISO file. In my case, the output from the command shows the file was mounted on /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9. If your folder name is different, then make the appropriate substitutions when entering the commands below.

    hdiutil attach ~/Downloads/Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso
    

    Enter the command below to change the current directory to /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9.

    cd /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9
    

    Enter the commands below to copy the files from the mounted ISO to the flash drive. Note: Since the install.wim file is very large, the cp command can take a while to complete.

    rsync -r -t --exclude=sources/install.wim . /Volumes/MYFAT32
    cp sources/install.wim /Volumes/MyExFAT
    

    Enter the commands below to unmount the Windows 11 ISO file.

    cd ~
    hdiutil detach /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9 
    

    Enter the command below to eject the flash drive. Afterwards, you can remove the flash drive.

    diskutil eject disk2
    

    You can quit the Terminal application.

  3. Using the computer where Windows is to be installed, UEFI boot from the flash drive. You should get a window similar to the one shown below. You can ignore the contents of this window.

  4. Press the shift+F10 key combination to open Command Prompt window.

    Enter the command below. From the output, determine the drive letters for the MYFAT32 and MyExFAT volumes. In my case, the was C and D respectively. If your letters are different, the make the appropriate substitutions for c:\ and d:\ when entering the dism command given below.

    echo list volume | diskpart
    

    Enter the command below to create the install.swm and install2.swm files in the c:\sources folder. Note: This command will take a while to complete.

    dism /split-image /imagefile:d:\install.wim /swmfile:c:\sources\install.swm /filesize:4000
    

    Enter the command below to close the Command Prompt window.

    exit
    
  5. Close the window. When the popup shown below appears, select "Yes". The computer will reboot.

    The next time you UEFI boot from this USB flash drive, you should encounter the following window. You then can proceed and install Windows 11.


Example of Using the Terminal Window

Last login: Sun Mar  9 09:16:57 on console
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % diskutil list external
/dev/disk2 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *15.9 GB    disk2
   1:                 DOS_FAT_32 ⁨MYFLASHDRV⁩              15.9 GB    disk2s1

davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % diskutil partitiondisk disk2 mbr fat32 MYFAT32 8G exfat MyExFAT R
Started partitioning on disk2
Unmounting disk
Creating the partition map
Waiting for partitions to activate
Formatting disk2s1 as MS-DOS (FAT32) with name MYFAT32
512 bytes per physical sector
/dev/rdisk2s1: 15594504 sectors in 1949313 FAT32 clusters (4096 bytes/cluster)
bps=512 spc=8 res=32 nft=2 mid=0xf8 spt=32 hds=255 hid=2048 drv=0x80 bsec=15625000 bspf=15230 rdcl=2 infs=1 bkbs=6
Mounting disk
Formatting disk2s2 as ExFAT with name MyExFAT
Volume name      : MyExFAT
Partition offset : 15628288 sectors (8001683456 bytes)
Volume size      : 15370240 sectors (7869562880 bytes)
Bytes per sector : 512
Bytes per cluster: 32768
FAT offset       : 2048 sectors (1048576 bytes)
# FAT sectors    : 2048
Number of FATs   : 1
Cluster offset   : 4096 sectors (2097152 bytes)
# Clusters       : 240096
Volume Serial #  : 67cdc143
Bitmap start     : 2
Bitmap file size : 30012
Upcase start     : 3
Upcase file size : 5836
Root start       : 4
Mounting disk
Finished partitioning on disk2
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % xattr -c ~/Downloads/Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % hdiutil attach ~/Downloads/Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso
/dev/disk3                                              /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % cd /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9 
davidanderson@Davids-Mac CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9 % rsync -r -t --exclude=sources/install.wim . /Volumes/MYFAT32
davidanderson@Davids-Mac CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9 % cp sources/install.wim /Volumes/MyExFAT
davidanderson@Davids-Mac CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9 % cd ~
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % hdiutil detach /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9
"disk3" ejected.
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % diskutil eject disk2
Disk disk2 ejected
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % 

Example of Using the Command Prompt Window

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26100.1742]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

X:\sources>echo list volume | diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.26100.1150

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: MININT-NBNQP5I

DISKPART>
  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     E                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
  Volume 1     C   MYFAT32      FAT32  Removable   7629 MB  Healthy
  Volume 2     D   MyExFAT      exFAT  Removable   7505 MB  Healthy

DISKPART>
X:\sources>dism /split-image /imagefile:d:\install.wim /swmfile:c:\sources\install.swm /filesize=4000

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.26100.1150

The operation completed successfully.

X:\sources>exit
Answer from David Anderson on Stack Exchange
🌐
Apple Community
discussions.apple.com › thread › 255069067
make a macOS usb stick with windows - Apple Community
In that case, there are third-party tools like UltraDMG (for Windows) or UNetbootin (works on both macOS and Windows) that can also create a bootable USB stick with your Windows ISO. The process is pretty straightforward: select your USB drive, choose the ISO file, and let the software work ...
Discussions

How can i create a macOS 10.15 USB installer from Windows 10?
My Macbook pro 2017 with OS X 10.14.2 won’t boot anymore - it simply freezes after the initial jingle. I already tried resetting NVRAM and SMC, but to no avail. I don’t have any time machine backups. However, I still have a disc image of macOS 10.15 sitting on an USB drive, and access to ... More on community.spiceworks.com
🌐 community.spiceworks.com
9
1
December 31, 2020
macos - How do I create an OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) bootable USB drive using Windows? - Ask Different
Beware, if you try this, you probably ... virtual machine on a 2013 iMac, where the host operating system was macOS Catalina (10.15.7). The InstallESD.dmg Mac disk image file was then transferred to the Windows machine. Below are the steps for making a bootable USB flash drive OS ... More on apple.stackexchange.com
🌐 apple.stackexchange.com
August 16, 2014
How can I use Windows to create an OS X El Capitan or macOS Sierra USB flash drive installer from the disk image (.dmg) file downloaded from Apple? - Ask Different
There are many posts on the Internet where instructions are given for creating OS X USB installers by using the TransMac and other such applications on a Windows machine. Many of these posts assume... More on apple.stackexchange.com
🌐 apple.stackexchange.com
September 24, 2022
Any way to make a MacOS installer on windows for free
You should be able to boot it to Internet Recovery, Cmd/R at the chimes will go straight to IR if there is no Recovery partition on the computer already - connect it via Ethernet for least trouble. Otherwise, see Stack Exchange - How can I download an older version of OS X/macOS? Includes links to access downloads with or without https & utilities to build a USB stick, on Mac or Win. That Mac will Run Catalina, 10.15. Disk Must be formatted GUID/APFS, which you should be able to do once booted from Recovery or the USB stick. In Disk Utility, press Cmd/2 so you can see devices not just volumes & Erase the new disk right from its top level. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/mac
19
6
July 14, 2024
🌐
Microsoft Community Hub
techcommunity.microsoft.com › microsoft community hub › communities › products › windows › windows 10
How can I create a macOS bootable usb on Windows 10? | Microsoft Community Hub
Can anyone guide me through the steps or recommend reliable tools or methods tailored for Windows 10 users that can help achieve this without needing extensive Terminal knowledge? Your guidance would be invaluable. ... I have encountered the same problem as you before, and I found many ways to solve it. In the end, I used UltraDMG. It can create a macOS bootable USB directly on Windows, and you don't need to do any complicated command line operations.
🌐
GitHub
gist.github.com › advixity › 16fb1e940ff8469f64cc944844af1375
A (relatively) simple guide to create a Bootable MacOS installer USB on Windows · GitHub
October 16, 2025 - A (relatively) simple guide to create a Bootable MacOS installer USB on Windows - Create a MacOS installer USB (on Windows).md
🌐
Apple Support
support.apple.com › en-us › 101578
Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support
October 15, 2025 - If you're using a Mac with the ... or removable media. Choose your language, if prompted. Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions....
🌐
Spiceworks
community.spiceworks.com › hardware & infrastructure
How can i create a macOS 10.15 USB installer from Windows 10? - Hardware & Infrastructure - Spiceworks Community
December 31, 2020 - My Macbook pro 2017 with OS X 10.14.2 won’t boot anymore - it simply freezes after the initial jingle. I already tried resetting NVRAM and SMC, but to no avail. I don’t have any time machine backups. However, I still have a disc image of macOS 10.15 sitting on an USB drive, and access to ...
Top answer
1 of 4
21

This answer is summarized below.

  • MBR partition a 16 GB or larger flash drive to contain a FAT32 volume and an ExFAT volume.
  • Copy all the files, except sources/install.wim, from the mounted Windows ISO file to the FAT32 volume on the flash drive.
  • Copy sources/install.wim from the mounted Windows ISO file to the ExFAT volume on the flash drive.
  • Boot from the flash drive and enter a command to split the install.wim on the ExFAT volume to two files placed on the FAT32 volume.
  • The result is an USB flash drive which can be used to install Windows 11.

The steps are given next.

  1. Goto Microsoft's Download Windows 11 website and download the Windows 11 disk image (ISO) for x64 devices. In my case, the Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso file was downloaded to my Downloads folder. If your file name is different, then make the appropriate substitutions when entering the commands below.

    Insert a 16 GB or larger flash drive in an USB port on or connected to the Mac.

  2. Open a Terminal application window.

    Use the command below to determine the identifier for the USB flash drive. I my case, this was disk2. If your identifier is different, the make the appropriate substitutions in the following commands.

    diskutil list external
    

    Enter the command below to format the flash drive.

    diskutil partitiondisk disk2 mbr fat32 MYFAT32 8G exfat MyExFAT R
    

    Enter the command below to remove all extended attributes from the Windows ISO file. This will remove the quarantine placed on the file when it was downloaded.

    xattr -c ~/Downloads/Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso
    

    Enter the command below to mount the Windows 11 ISO file. In my case, the output from the command shows the file was mounted on /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9. If your folder name is different, then make the appropriate substitutions when entering the commands below.

    hdiutil attach ~/Downloads/Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso
    

    Enter the command below to change the current directory to /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9.

    cd /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9
    

    Enter the commands below to copy the files from the mounted ISO to the flash drive. Note: Since the install.wim file is very large, the cp command can take a while to complete.

    rsync -r -t --exclude=sources/install.wim . /Volumes/MYFAT32
    cp sources/install.wim /Volumes/MyExFAT
    

    Enter the commands below to unmount the Windows 11 ISO file.

    cd ~
    hdiutil detach /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9 
    

    Enter the command below to eject the flash drive. Afterwards, you can remove the flash drive.

    diskutil eject disk2
    

    You can quit the Terminal application.

  3. Using the computer where Windows is to be installed, UEFI boot from the flash drive. You should get a window similar to the one shown below. You can ignore the contents of this window.

  4. Press the shift+F10 key combination to open Command Prompt window.

    Enter the command below. From the output, determine the drive letters for the MYFAT32 and MyExFAT volumes. In my case, the was C and D respectively. If your letters are different, the make the appropriate substitutions for c:\ and d:\ when entering the dism command given below.

    echo list volume | diskpart
    

    Enter the command below to create the install.swm and install2.swm files in the c:\sources folder. Note: This command will take a while to complete.

    dism /split-image /imagefile:d:\install.wim /swmfile:c:\sources\install.swm /filesize:4000
    

    Enter the command below to close the Command Prompt window.

    exit
    
  5. Close the window. When the popup shown below appears, select "Yes". The computer will reboot.

    The next time you UEFI boot from this USB flash drive, you should encounter the following window. You then can proceed and install Windows 11.


Example of Using the Terminal Window

Last login: Sun Mar  9 09:16:57 on console
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % diskutil list external
/dev/disk2 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *15.9 GB    disk2
   1:                 DOS_FAT_32 ⁨MYFLASHDRV⁩              15.9 GB    disk2s1

davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % diskutil partitiondisk disk2 mbr fat32 MYFAT32 8G exfat MyExFAT R
Started partitioning on disk2
Unmounting disk
Creating the partition map
Waiting for partitions to activate
Formatting disk2s1 as MS-DOS (FAT32) with name MYFAT32
512 bytes per physical sector
/dev/rdisk2s1: 15594504 sectors in 1949313 FAT32 clusters (4096 bytes/cluster)
bps=512 spc=8 res=32 nft=2 mid=0xf8 spt=32 hds=255 hid=2048 drv=0x80 bsec=15625000 bspf=15230 rdcl=2 infs=1 bkbs=6
Mounting disk
Formatting disk2s2 as ExFAT with name MyExFAT
Volume name      : MyExFAT
Partition offset : 15628288 sectors (8001683456 bytes)
Volume size      : 15370240 sectors (7869562880 bytes)
Bytes per sector : 512
Bytes per cluster: 32768
FAT offset       : 2048 sectors (1048576 bytes)
# FAT sectors    : 2048
Number of FATs   : 1
Cluster offset   : 4096 sectors (2097152 bytes)
# Clusters       : 240096
Volume Serial #  : 67cdc143
Bitmap start     : 2
Bitmap file size : 30012
Upcase start     : 3
Upcase file size : 5836
Root start       : 4
Mounting disk
Finished partitioning on disk2
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % xattr -c ~/Downloads/Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % hdiutil attach ~/Downloads/Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso
/dev/disk3                                              /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % cd /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9 
davidanderson@Davids-Mac CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9 % rsync -r -t --exclude=sources/install.wim . /Volumes/MYFAT32
davidanderson@Davids-Mac CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9 % cp sources/install.wim /Volumes/MyExFAT
davidanderson@Davids-Mac CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9 % cd ~
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % hdiutil detach /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9
"disk3" ejected.
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % diskutil eject disk2
Disk disk2 ejected
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % 

Example of Using the Command Prompt Window

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26100.1742]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

X:\sources>echo list volume | diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.26100.1150

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: MININT-NBNQP5I

DISKPART>
  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     E                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
  Volume 1     C   MYFAT32      FAT32  Removable   7629 MB  Healthy
  Volume 2     D   MyExFAT      exFAT  Removable   7505 MB  Healthy

DISKPART>
X:\sources>dism /split-image /imagefile:d:\install.wim /swmfile:c:\sources\install.swm /filesize=4000

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.26100.1150

The operation completed successfully.

X:\sources>exit
2 of 4
3

User Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight posted the following comment.

I'm leaving this as a comment since without access to a Mac I don't feel I could write a complete answer. Instead of directly creating a bootable windows installer USB, create a Ventoy bootable USB. Once you do that you can copy bootable drive images in all the major formats on as ordinary files, and then start them from a basic menu system that Ventoy shows when it boots. It's slightly more work the first time, but as long as you don't reformat the USB it'll make any future uses much easier since it reduces the operation to a simple copy/paste. ventoy.net/en/index.html

I decided to post this answer in response to the above comment. Note that the question does not explicitly rule out posting a solution which uses third party tools.

This answer is summarized below.

  • Download Ventoy live CD image (ISO) file, then copy this file to an 8 GB or larger flash drive.
  • Boot from the flash drive and install Ventoy to the same flash drive.
  • Download the Windows 11 ISO file and copy to the flash drive.
  • Boot from the flash drive and install Windows 11. If necessary, first enroll the key in MOK manager.

The steps are given next.

  1. Goto SourceForge's Ventoy project files website and download the Ventoy live CD image (ISO) for x64 devices. In my case, the ventoy-1.1.05-livecd.iso file was downloaded to my Downloads folder. If your file name is different, then make the appropriate substitutions when entering the commands below.

    Insert an 8 GB or larger flash drive in an USB port on or connected to the Mac.

  2. Open a Terminal application window.

    Enter the command below to remove all extended attributes from the Ventoy live CD image (ISO) file. This will remove the quarantine placed on the file when it was downloaded.

    xattr -c ~/Downloads/ventoy-1.1.05-livecd.iso
    

    Use the command below to determine the identifier for the USB flash drive. I my case, this was disk2. If your identifier is different, the make the appropriate substitutions in the following commands.

    diskutil list external
    

    Enter the commands below to copy the Ventoy live CD image (ISO) file to the flash drive. Note: Using rdisk2 instead of disk2 usually results in a quicker copy.

    diskutil unmountdisk disk2
    sudo dd if=$HOME/Downloads/ventoy-1.1.05-livecd.iso bs=1m of=/dev/rdisk2
    

    Enter the command below to eject the flash drive. Afterwards, you can remove the flash drive.

    diskutil eject disk2
    
  3. Using the computer where Windows is to be installed, UEFI boot from the flash drive.

    Note
    You will need to disable Secure Boot.

    When the following Grub menu appeared, I choose the first entry, which is the default.

    Ventoy2Disk is loading completely into RAM disk. This allows the flash drive to be overwritten. In my case, to install to the same flash drive, I just needed to select "Install" button shown below, then the "OK" button in the following popups.

    After installation to the flash drive has successfully completed, the following is displayed.

    At this point, either manually shutdown the computer or reboot by closing the window. If you choose to reboot and are successful, then the following will appear.

    Shutdown the computer by pressing the F5 key, then selecting "Power" and finally selecting "Halt".

    Remove the flash drive.

  4. Goto Microsoft's Download Windows 11 website and download the Windows 11 disk image (ISO) for x64 devices. In my case, the Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso file was downloaded to my Downloads folder. If your file name is different, then make the appropriate substitutions when entering the commands below.

    Insert the same flash drive in an USB port on or connected to the Mac.

  5. Use the same or a new Terminal application window to enter the following commands.

    Enter the command below to remove all extended attributes from the Windows ISO file. This will remove the quarantine placed on the file when it was downloaded.

    xattr -c ~/Downloads/Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso
    

    Use the command below to determine the identifier for the USB flash drive. I my case, this was disk2. If your identifier is different, the make the appropriate substitutions in the following commands.

    diskutil list external
    

    Enter the command below to copy the Windows ISO file to the ExFAT formatted volume named Ventoy on the flash drive.

    cp ~/Downloads/Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso /Volumes/Ventoy
    

    Enter the command below to eject the flash drive. Afterwards, you can remove the flash drive.

    diskutil eject disk2
    
  6. If necessary, enroll key in MOK manager as described in this step.

    Using the computer where Windows is to be installed, UEFI boot from the flash drive.

    Note
    You should have Secure Boot enabled before UEFI booting from the flash drive.

    If you encounter the following display, select OK, otherwise proceed to the step 7.

    The next display should appear as shown below. Before the timer expires, press any key.

    Select Enroll key from disk, as shown below.

    Select VTOYEFI, as shown below.

    Select ENROOL_THIS_KEY_IN_MOKMANAGER.cer, as shown below.

    Select Continue, as shown below.

    Select Yes, as shown below.

    Select Reboot, as shown below.

  7. Install Windows 11.

    If you have not already done so, UEFI boot the computer where Windows is to be installed from the flash drive.

    Note
    You should have Secure Boot enabled before UEFI booting from the flash drive.

    When the display below appears, press the F5 key.

    Select Temporary Control Settings, as shown below.

    This answer assume Windows 11 is being installed on supported hardware. Normally, when booting from the Windows 11 installer, the following would be set to 0, as shown in the image below. You need to decided whether the following need to be set to 0 or 1.

    • Bypass CPU/TPM/SecureBoot check when installing Windows 11 This allows includes bypassing the 4 GB RAM check.
    • Bypass online account requirement when installing Windows 11

    When finished, press the esckey twice.

    Select Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso, as shown below.

    Select Boot in normal mode, as shown below.

    Note
    When message Press any key to boot from CD or DVD. appears, you may need to press any key.

    When the display shown below appears, proceed with the installation of Windows 11.


Example of Using the Terminal Window

Last login: Thu Mar 13 17:46:02 on ttys001
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % xattr -c ~/Downloads/ventoy-1.1.05-livecd.iso
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % diskutil list external
/dev/disk2 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *15.9 GB    disk2
   1:                 DOS_FAT_32 MYFLASHDRV              15.9 GB    disk2s1

davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % diskutil unmountdisk disk2                                               
Unmount of all volumes on disk2 was successful
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % sudo dd if=$HOME/Downloads/ventoy-1.1.05-livecd.iso bs=1m of=/dev/rdisk2 
186+1 records in
186+1 records out
195702784 bytes transferred in 4.038241 secs (48462383 bytes/sec)
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % diskutil eject disk2
Disk disk2 ejected
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % xattr -c ~/Downloads/Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % diskutil list external
/dev/disk2 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *15.9 GB    disk2
   1:               Windows_NTFS Ventoy                  15.8 GB    disk2s1
   2:                       0xEF                         33.6 MB    disk2s2

davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % cp ~/Downloads/Win11_24H2_English_x64.iso /Volumes/Ventoy 
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % diskutil eject disk2
Disk disk2 ejected
davidanderson@Davids-Mac ~ % 
Find elsewhere
Top answer
1 of 11
14

According to the first answer here, https://superuser.com/questions/383235/create-a-bootable-usb-drive-from-a-dmg-file-on-windows, there's a tool with a free trial called TransMac that can do it. Just make sure the USB drive is formatted with GPT and not MBR.

What might be easier, however, is that that model has support for Internet Recovery. If you boot holding Command-R and you have a WiFi connection, it can actually boot into recovery mode without a recovery partition on a drive (or even without a working drive).

Having said that, your description of a crash right after the boot chime could signify a more serious hardware problem and you may not be able to boot anything. If you boot holding the option key down, the startup disk selection screen should appear. If it crashes anyways, you may be looking at a hardware problem.

2 of 11
3

I know this question is old but it is still valid. I was never able to write a Mac installer image to my Flash Drive and have it bootable, unless I did it on a Mac. Using Michael D. M. Dryden's Link, I was able to use the Diskpart command to clean and prep a GPT partition on a flash drive for an OSX Mavericks install image.

I used TransMac on Windows 7 to restore the image file I had to the Flash Drive, it created a bootable Mac image on my flash drive. Someone had reported that the method for using DISKPART did not work, but I have done this twice and it works remarkably well, and it's the only method I could find to create a Mac-Bootable Flash. I've been trying to post this to confirm that it works for some time, I just hope it helps someone else, because it is a very easy solution.

Here are the Diskpart commands used to prep the Flash Drive, just to have them here in case my Link does not work:

diskpart
DISKPART> list disk

(Find the disk number)

DISKPART> select disk x (from result of List Disk)

Disk x is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> clean

DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.

DISKPART> convert gpt

DiskPart successfully converted the selected disk to GPT format.

DISKPART> create partition primary

Note: I use "Rufus" for all other USB writing and formatting for Windows systems, it's a great app, but I had previously tried to format the drive as GPT using that, as a Fat32 partition. When I tried to inject the image, Transmac told me that the drive was "write protected". So basically, the USB drive cannot have any high level formatting, the Windows system should detect the drive as "not formatted" for this to work, which it will if prepped right with Diskpart.

🌐
Pureinfotech
pureinfotech.com › home › how to quickly create a macos bootable usb on windows 10
How to quickly create a macOS bootable USB on Windows 10 - Pureinfotech
June 11, 2025 - Here are the steps to create a macOS bootable USB media (Ventura) with GPT partition support on Windows 10 and 11 to rescue your Mac.
🌐
iBoysoft
iboysoft.com › home › how to tips › how to create macos bootable usb from windows 10/11?(latest)
How to Create macOS Bootable USB from Windows 10/11?(Latest)
1 month ago - Summary: This guide offers step-by-step instructions to create a macOS bootable USB on Windows 11, 10, 8, or 7. If you need to create a macOS Tahoe, Sequoia, Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, High Sierra, or Catalina bootable USB on Windows, try iBoysoft DiskGeeker for Windows. ... Having a macOS bootable USB installer is valuable, especially when your Mac can't start up, or you need to install macOS on your Mac or Windows PC (Learn how to install macOS Tahoe on Hackintosh).
🌐
Kevin Muldoon
kevinmuldoon.com › home › how to create a macos boot drive using windows
How to Create a macOS Boot Drive Using Windows - Kevin Muldoon
September 8, 2021 - I explain how you can easily create a macOS boot drive in Windows using a USB flash drive or USB hard drive.
🌐
Microsoft Community Hub
techcommunity.microsoft.com › microsoft community hub › communities › products › windows › windows insider program
How can I make a bootable usb macos installer on Windows PC? | Microsoft Community Hub
July 15, 2024 - Now I want to make a bootable USB macOS installer on another Windows PC I have to reinstall the system. The problem is that I don't quite know how to make a bootable disk of macOS on a Windows system. I looked for some methods and tools online, but I couldn't find a clear and reliable guide.
🌐
YouTube
youtube.com › techy druid
Create a macOS Bootable USB on Windows PC [from DMG File] - YouTube
This guide offers step-by-step instructions to create a macOS bootable USB on Windows 11, 10, 8, or 7. Give it a try if you need to create a macOS Sonoma, Ve...
Published   March 30, 2024
Views   154K
🌐
YouTube
youtube.com › watch
Create bootable macOS USB installation media from Windows - YouTube
In this video, I will explain how to create a bootable USB drive for installation or recovery of macOS from a Windows machine. I will explain the process bot...
Published   November 27, 2024
Top answer
1 of 2
19

Note: Links to instructions for other versions of OS X/macOS can found here.

User Josué Mpindi posted a question, where this answer was confirmed to work for macOS Sierra in a comment. Note that where necessary, you would need to substitute Sierra references for El Capitan in the instructions.

Note: A version of this answer, which uses macOS to create the USB flash drive OS X El Capitan installer, can be found here.

Using Windows to create an USB flash drive OS X El Capitan installer requires third party software beyond just TransMac. The steps below outline one possible method for creating an USB flash drive OS X El Capitan installer using Windows and other free third party tools.

Note: These instructions will not work for Yosemite. For the correct Yosemite instructions, see this answer.

  1. Use Microsoft Edge (or some other web browser) to download the following installers to your Downloads folder. The file names are current as of September 22, 2022. If both 32 bit and 64 bit versions are available, the 64 bit version is given in the table.

    Product Use Installer Type
    El Capitan 10.11 Free for use on Mac computers InstallMacOSX.dmg Mac Disk Image
    7-Zip Free 7z2201-x64.exe Application
    TransMac 15 day free trial tmsetup.zip Compressed (zipped) Folder
    Paragon Partition Manager Community Edition 64bit Free for personal and home use Paragon-1081-FRU_WinInstallDemo_x64_17.9.1_000.exe Application

    If you get the message “InstallMacOSX.dmg can't be download securely”, then select “Keep”, as shown below.

  2. Install all downloads except “El Capitan 10.11”. If you wish, the installed downloads can be uninstalled from the Windows Control Panel after use.

  3. Use a 7-Zip File Manager application window to extract the OS X Install ESD folder and the InstallAssistant.icns file to your Downloads folder. From a File Explorer window, start by navigating to your Downloads folder. In this window, right click on the InstallMacOSX.dmg Mac disk image file, then select "7-Zip" > "Open archive". This should open a 7-Zip File Manager application window. In this window, right click on each file or folder in the order given in the table below, then select the corresponding action. When finished, close the 7-Zip File Manager application window.

    File or Folder Action Type Comment
    Install OS X Open Folder
    InstallMacOSX.pkg Open Inside * Package File
    InstallMacOSX.pkg Open Folder
    InstallESD.dmg Open Mac Disk Image File
    OS X Install ESD Copy To… Folder See footnote ‡
    OS X Install ESD Open Folder
    BaseSystem.dmg Open Mac Disk Image File
    OS X Base System Open Folder
    Install OS X El Capitan.app Open Folder
    Contents Open Folder
    Resources Open Folder
    InstallAssistant.icns Copy To… Apple Icon Image File See footnote ‡

    The destination should be your Downloads folder. If this Downloads folder exists on a volume that is not NTFS formatted, then see this answer.

  4. Insert a 16 GB or larger flash drive into an USB port. If prompted, you do not need to initialize the flash drive.

  5. Open the TransMac application with Administrator privileges. (In other words, right click on the TransMac icon, then choose "Run as administrator" or "More" > "Run as administrator".) In the TranMac application window, take the following actions.

    • Select "Tools" > "Settings" from the pulldown menu. In the "General" tab of the "Settings" popup, select the same copy options as shown below.

      Select OK when finished.

    • Right click on the USB flash drive icon in the treeview pane, then select "Restore with Disk Image". In the "Restore Disk Image to Drive" popup , choose to "Open" the OS X Install ESD\BaseSystem.dmg Mac disk image file in your Downloads folder as the Disk Image to restore, then select the OK button. Next, select Yes in the "Last Warning!" popup.

  6. Open the Paragon Partition Manager 17 CE application. Select to resize the partition with the Apple HFS volume on the USB flash drive to maximum size, as shown below. Next, select the "Change now" button. When finished, select the "Close" button.

    Next, select to change the volume label on this Apple HFS volume from "OS X Base System" to "Install El Capitan", as shown below. Next, select the "Change now" button. When finished, select the "Close" button.

    When finished, close the Paragon Partition Manager 17 CE application window.

  7. In the existing TranMac window, take the following actions.

    • Select "Tools" > "Refresh Drive List" from the pulldown menu.

    • Navigate to root folder on the USB flash drive volume labeled Install El Capitan, as shown below.

    • In the listview pane, right click, then select "Copy Here", as shown below.

      Select to copy the OS X Install ESD\BaseSystem.chunklist and OS X Install ESD\BaseSystem.dmg files in your Downloads folder. Repeat to copy the InstallAssistant.icns file in your Downloads folder.

    • In the listview pane, right click on the InstallAssistant.icns file, then select "Rename". Change the name to .VolumeIcon.icns. When finished, the treeview and listview panes should appear as shown below.

    • Navigate to System\Installation folder on the USB flash drive labeled Install El Capitan, as shown below.

    • In the listview pane, right click on the Packages file, then select "Delete". When prompted, select the Yes button in the popup to confirm.

    • In the listview pane, right click, then select "Copy Here", as shown below.

      Select to copy the OS X Install ESD\Packages folder in your Downloads folder. (This may take a while to complete.) When finished, the treeview and listview panes should appear as shown below.

    • Close the TransMac window.

  8. Use the File Explorer to delete the OS X Install ESD folder and InstallAssistant.icns file in your Downloads folder. If you wish, you can also delete the downloaded files. When finished, close the File Explorer window, then empty the Recycle Bin.

References

  • How do I create El Capitan installer on a Catalina (or post-El Capitan) installed Mac for use on USB boot installer?
  • TransMac Help
  • Paragon Hard Disk Manager Version 17 User Manual
  • Apple Disk Image Utilities
  • HFSExplorer
  • DMGExtractor
  • dmg2img
  • HFS+ for Windows
  • Tar and Curl Come to Windows
  • dd for Windows
  • SuperDuper
  • HOW TO QUICKLY CREATE A MACOS BOOTABLE USB ON WINDOWS 10
2 of 2
1

The instructions for using Windows to create an USB flash drive OS X El Capitan installer are given in my first answer. This answer addresses concerns posted by user Fred - with respect to my first answer.

My first answer used the "Copy To…" action to extract the OS X Install ESD folder to the users Downloads folder. Here, this Downloads folder is assumed to be in a NTFS formatted volume. However in a now deleted post†, Fred - stated the following.

And yes, my Downloads folder is NOT on the system drive and NOT NTFS but ExFAT. One reason for changing the Downloads directory is that my system drive is way too small for all the smaller or bigger downloads. I am convinced, quite a lot of people use non‑default system setups, for instance do not install programs on the system drive but on another partition (as I do whenever possible). ExFAT comes in handy for various reasons, of course not for program installations and things that require NTFS permissions, but for downloads and shared drives this is very good.

BTW, I believe the "system drive", that Fred - referred to, is actually called the "Windows partition" in Microsoft documentation.

In this answer, I used the "Copy To…" action to extract the OS X Install ESD folder to a dma\downloads folder I created on an exFAT formatted drive E:. I received the following popup with a single error message.

This message is repeated below.

Cannot open output file : The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect. : E:\dma\Downloads\OS X Installer ESD\BaseSystem.dmg:com.apple.diskimages.recentcksum

By examining the string BaseSystem.dmg:com.apple.diskimages.recentcksum, one can determine this string is referring to an alternate data stream. Since exFAT does not support alternate data streams, an error message was generated. After further testing, I can state the following.

This answer and my original answer do not require any alternate data streams which can or can not be copied from the InstallMacOSX.dmg file downloaded from Apple.

So, if this is the only error message in the popup, then you can ignore the message and proceed with creating the USB flash drive OS X El Capitan installer.


†Actually, Fred - originally posted an answer which was edited by Fred -, then me and finally a moderator. At the time of this posting, the moderator converted the answer to a comment, then deleted the answer.

Top answer
1 of 7
33

OK. Here are some instructions from Gizmodo that will put the ISO onto the flash drive with a Mac... they won't make it bootable though... read on...

  1. Open a Terminal (under Utilities)

  2. Run diskutil list and determine the device node assigned to your flash media (e.g., /dev/disk2)

  3. Run diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN (replace N with the disk number from the last command; in the previous example, N would be 2)

  4. Execute sudo dd if=/path/to/downloaded.iso of=/dev/diskN bs=1m (replace /path/to/downloaded.iso with the path where the image file is located; for example, ./windows7.iso)

  5. Run diskutil eject /dev/diskN, and remove your flash media when the command completes (this can take a few hours on slower drives)

Now... after you read all that, on the Gizmodo page it says that if you want to make it bootable you should use a utility called Live USB helper they link to (which isn't there any more) and use a Mac mounting tool (which isn't there either!) to force the ISO to mount on the Mac so you can copy the files over. So... that article may prove useful, but probably not. I can find other copies of Live USB helper out there, but they are all Windows executables.

One method that will work is to swap the hard drive out of the PC and into the Mac. Put your Windows 7 installation disc into the Mac optical drive, and install Windows 7 on that drive. Once it is up and running (don't worry about drivers yet), follow these steps.

  1. Run Command Prompt as administrator
  2. Type to Command Prompt: %windir%\System32\Sysprep\Sysprep.exe, and hit Enter
  3. In sysprep dialog that opens, choose “System Cleanup Action” as “Enter System Out-of-Box-Experience (OOBE)”, select “Generalize”, and select “Shutdown Options” as “Shutdown”. Click “OK”
  4. Sysprep generalizes now your Windows 7 setup and shuts down your computer. Do not run any other programs during this phase!
  5. Remove the drive from your Mac. Put it back into the PC.
  6. Boot the PC from sysprep generalized hard disk. You will notice Windows booting as if it was the first boot after installation, installing default and updating registry. One or two reboots are needed, depending on your system specifications
  7. When Windows finally boots up, you will need to enter all information as if this really was a new, fresh installation

All that is from here, but it applies in this situation a well, since you would be moving a Windows 7 installation from one computer to another. Considering that trying to make a Windows bootable USB stick with a Mac requires tools that either don't exist any more or are not being developed any more... this second method will most likely prove more dependable.

2 of 7
16

Assuming you have burnt your Windows CD into a ISO file with the tools like:
http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net/Pages/English/home.html

1. Jump into a folder here http://sourceforge.net/projects/unetbootin/files/UNetbootin/
2. Get the latest version of zip archive with the keyword "mac" in the filename.
3. Download and open it up on your Mac OS X desktop.
4. On Unetbootin interface, choose [Diskimage]->[ISO] and then select the Windows ISO file on your local hard drive.
5. Select the right USB Drive and then click [OK] to start writing ISO data onto your USB drive.


Once done, you're ready to boot your computer with this bootable USB drive, like a DVD installation disk.

🌐
YouTube
youtube.com › watch
How to create Mac (macOS) Bootable usb drive on Windows | Make Mac OSX bootable USB on Windows 11 - YouTube
First time ever you will learn how to create a 100% working Mac ( macOS ) bootable USB drive on Windows 11 by downloading the Mac operating system from Appl...
Published   April 28, 2023
🌐
YouTube
youtube.com › techtech channel
Creating a Bootable macOS High Sierra for Windows 10: 2023 Guide (Read Description) Part 1/2 - YouTube
Here's a tutorial for making a bootable High Sierra .DMG image file for Mac OSX on win 10. I recently worked on a MacBook Pro Retina 15" A1398. It had the fo...
Published   October 16, 2023
Views   34K
🌐
YouTube
youtube.com › tech byte tips
Creating a MacOS USB Installer using Windows - Solving the circle boot symbol - YouTube
How to install MacOS from a USB when you have a new Hard Disk.How to solve the problem while booting from a USB drive that gives you the circle (unallowed).D...
Published   March 23, 2023
Views   75K