What you need to install Windows 10 on Mac
- MacBook introduced in 2015 or later
- MacBook Air introduced in 2012 or later
- MacBook Pro introduced in 2012 or later
- Mac mini introduced in 2012 or later
- iMac introduced in 2012 or later1
- iMac Pro (all models)
- Mac Pro introduced in 2013 or later
The latest macOS updates, which can include updates to Boot Camp Assistant. You will use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10.
64GB or more free storage space on your Mac startup disk:
- Your Mac can have as little as 64GB of free storage space, but at least 128GB of free storage space provides the best experience. Automatic Windows updates require that much space or more.
- If you have an iMac Pro or Mac Pro with 128GB of memory (RAM) or more, your startup disk needs at least as much free storage space as your Mac has memory.2
An external USB flash drive with a storage capacity of 16GB or more, unless you're using a Mac that doesn't need a flash drive to install Windows.
A 64-bit version of Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro on a disk image (ISO) or other installation media. If installing Windows on your Mac for the first time, this must be a full version of Windows, not an upgrade.
- If your copy of Windows came on a USB flash drive, or you have a Windows product key and no installation disc, download a Windows 10 disk image from Microsoft.
- If your copy of Windows came on a DVD, you might need to create a disk image of that DVD.
How to Dual-Boot Windows and macOS on a Mac. Every time the Mac starts, you can also toggle between OS X and Windows by holding down the Option (Alt) key immediately upon startup. Dual Booting is the process of loading OS beside another. With the help of Dual Boot, you can install two or even more operating systems in a single computer. In almost all the computers and beside every operating system we can Dual Boot another operating system and you can definitely change, delete or update it. Clover is an operating system boot loader for computers already equipped with an UEFI firmware and for those equipped with legacy BIOS firmware. An operating system (OS) may support (U)EFI (macOS, Windows 7, 8, or 10, Linux) or not (Windows XP). Legacy boot is used for the last one, that is, the old BIOS system is used to handle boot sectors.
How to install Windows 10 on Mac
To install Windows, use Boot Camp Assistant, which is included with your Mac.
1. Check your Secure Boot setting
Learn how to check your Secure Boot setting. The default Secure Boot setting is Full Security. If you changed it to No Security, change it back to Full Security before installing Windows. After installing Windows, you can use any Secure Boot setting without affecting your ability to start up from Windows.
2. Use Boot Camp Assistant to create a Windows partition
Open Boot Camp Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Follow the onscreen instructions.
- If you're asked to insert a USB drive, plug your USB flash drive into your Mac. Boot Camp Assistant will use it to create a bootable USB drive for Windows installation.
- When Boot Camp Assistant asks you to set the size of the Windows partition, remember the minimum storage-space requirements in the previous section. Set a partition size that meets your needs, because you can't change its size later.
3. Format the Windows (BOOTCAMP) partition
When Boot Camp Assistant finishes, your Mac restarts to the Windows installer. If the installer asks where to install Windows, select the BOOTCAMP partition and click Format. In most cases, the installer selects and formats the BOOTCAMP partition automatically.
4. Install Windows
Unplug any external devices that aren't necessary during installation. Then click Next and follow the onscreen instructions to begin installing Windows.
5. Use the Boot Camp installer in Windows
After Windows installation completes, your Mac starts up in Windows and opens a ”Welcome to the Boot Camp installer” window. Follow the onscreen instructions to install Boot Camp and Windows support software (drivers). You will be asked to restart when done.
- If the Boot Camp installer never opens, open the Boot Camp installer manually and use it to complete Boot Camp installation.
- If you have an external display connected to a Thunderbolt 3 port on your Mac, the display will be blank (black, gray, or blue) for up to 2 minutes during installation.
How to switch between Windows and macOS
Restart, then press and hold the Option (or Alt) ⌥ key during startup to switch between Windows and macOS.
Learn more
If you have one of these Intel-based Mac models using OS X El Capitan or later, you don't need a USB flash drive to install Windows:
- MacBook introduced in 2015 or later
- MacBook Air introduced in 2017 or later3
- MacBook Pro introduced in 2015 or later3
- iMac introduced in 2015 or later
- iMac Pro (all models)
- Mac Pro introduced in late 2013 or later
To remove Windows from your Mac, use Boot Camp Assistant, not any other utility.
For more information about using Windows on your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant and click the Open Boot Camp Help button.
1. If you're using an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) or iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) or iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) with a 3TB hard drive and macOS Mojave or later, learn about an alert you might see during installation.
2. For example, if your Mac has 128GB of memory, its startup disk must have at least 128GB of storage space available for Windows. To see how much memory your Mac has, choose Apple menu > About This Mac. To see how much storage space is available, click the Storage tab in the same window.
3. These Mac models were offered with 128GB hard drives as an option. Apple recommends 256GB or larger hard drives so that you can create a Boot Camp partition of at least 128GB.
Updated: January 1, 2021 Home » Freeware and Software Reviews
How to dual-boot Linux and Windows on the same hard disk? Typically a computer will have a single operating system installed on them, for those that wants to dual-boot multiple OS such as a combination of Windows and Linux, you will need to make some changes and enable the option to choose which OS to boot from during startup.
Related Article ➤ 3 Free Boot Camp Alternatives – Run Windows Applications And Games On macOS
You can install 2 operating system provided that you partition your SSD or Hard Disk into 2 drives. When you install a Linux distribution, it typically installs the Grub boot loader. Grub loads instead of the Windows boot loader at boot time if Windows was already installed, allowing you to choose the operating system you want to boot by modifying the Boot Configuration Data.
↓ 01 – Grub2Win | Free
Grub2Win supports 64 and 32 bit EFI and BIOS on Windows 10, 8, 7 and XP. Safely dual boot Windows and Linux from GPT or MBR disks. Grub2Win boots native GNU Grub version 2 code. Everything is contained in a single 20 MB directory on your Windows C: drive. On EFI systems a few small modules are installed to your EFI partition.
Using the simple Windows GUI and instructions you can install Grub2Win quickly and safely. Select from many OS choices. Supports Antergos, Android, Ubuntu, Debian, Suse, Fedora, Mint, Clover and Windows. Also boots ISO files. You can enter your own custom commands for each menu entry.
Dual Boot Mac Os On Pc
- Supports 64 and 32 bit EFI as well as BIOS firmware.
- Installs to Windows 10, 8, 7 and XP.
- Requires just one directory on the Windows C: drive, about 20 MB disk space.
- Simple Windows GUI easily sets up Grub2Win in seconds.
- Lets you set your EFI firmware boot order from within Windows.
- Preview and customize the 9 included graphic background themes.
- Works with all filesystems including Mac hfs and Btrfs.
- Can search for and boot a partition by it’s label. Supports advanced scripting.
- Works with both GPT and MBR disks – up to 128 primary partitions per drive.
- Supports extremely large (over 40 TB) disks and partitions.
- Safely multiboot Windows, Antergos, Android, Ubuntu, Debian, Suse, Fedora, Mint, Clover and more.
- Grub customization is done from Windows – Configuration in Linux is not required.
↓ 02 – EasyBCD | Free Personal
Take control of your boot loader, EasyBCD supercharges your Windows PC, allowing you to dual-boot to your heart’s content. Also boot into legacy systems Microsoft doesn’t support: MS-DOS, Windows 9x, Windows ME, and Windows 2000!
EasyBCD is geared for users of all kinds. Whether you just want to add an entry to your old XP partition or want to create a duplicate for testing purposes; if youre interested in debugging the Windows Kernel or septuple-booting your seven test operating systems, EasyBCD is the key.
- Boot anything – Windows, Linux, macOS, & BSD! Boot both from and into USB drives, ISO images, virtual disks, and more.
- Boot anywhere – Create bootable USB sticks with repair utilities that you can take with you anywhere.
- Protect against disaster – Create entries to boot into recovery utilities or safe mode to prepare for a rainy day.
- Painless editing – Add, rename, remove, configure, and reorder entries at whim.
- Solve difficult problems – Use EasyBCD to troubleshoot Windows, back up and repair the bootloader, and more.
- Powerful scripting with NeoGrub – You’ll have the power to hide partitions, change active flags, and create complex boot scenarios.
↓ 03 – rEFInd Boot Manager | Free
rEFInd is a fork of the Small rEFIt boot manager for computers based on the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and Unified EFI (UEFI). Like rEFIt, rEFInd is a boot manager, meaning that it presents a menu of options to the user when the computer first starts up, as shown below. rEFInd is not a boot loader, which is a program that loads an OS kernel and hands off control to it.
↓ 04 – Clover EFI bootloader | Free
This is EFI-based bootloader for BIOS-based computers created as a replacement to EDK2/Duet bootloader. Clover is an operating system boot loader for computers already equipped with an UEFI firmware and for those equipped with legacy BIOS firmware. An operating system (OS) may support (U)EFI (macOS, Windows 7, 8, or 10, Linux) or not (Windows XP). Legacy boot is used for the last one, that is, the old BIOS system is used to handle boot sectors.
- Boot macOS, Windows, and Linux in UEFI or legacy mode on Mac or PC with UEFI or BIOS firmware
- Boot using UEFI firmware directly or CloverEFI UEFI firmware emulation
- Customizable GUI including themes, icons, fonts, background images, animations, and mouse pointers.
- Ability to boot previously selected boot entry after default timeout
- Boot entries menu scrolls if screen resolution is too low for menu
- Create custom boot entries for personalizing boot entries and add support for other operating systems
- Create Clover boot entry in NVRAM with tool from GUI
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