There are several reasons why you might want to create a Windows 8.1 bootable USB flash drive on your Mac. Maybe you decided to install Windows 8.1 on Mac without Boot Camp.
Or maybe your PC is not bootable and you want to prepare a bootable USB with the ISO file that you have on your external hard drive. or you simply want to create the bootable Windows 8.1 USB without installing new tools.
How to Create a Windows 8.1 Bootable USB on Mac
If you’re using a newer version of Mac OS X, preparing Windows 8.1 USB is relatively easy and can be done without installing additional software on your Mac. The only thing is that you need to have a Windows 8.1 ISO image file to prepare the bootable Windows 8.1 USB on your Mac.
Follow the instructions below to create a bootable USB-USB-USB-8 on a Mac:
Step 1:Connect your USB flash drive to Mac and back up your files as all data will be formatted during the process.
Step 2:Next, transfer the Windows 8.1 ISO file to your Mac. If you already have a copy of the ISO file on your Mac, you can skip this step. If you don’t have ISO on Mac, you can follow our guide on transferring files between Windows and Mac to quickly transfer the ISO file.
If the PC is not bootable, you can follow our guide to back up data from a non-bootable PC (the easy way) to first copy the ISO file to the USB drive and then copy it to your Mac.
Step 3:Start the Boot Camp Assistant software. To do this, click thelaunchpadicon, clickOther,and then click theBoot Camp Assistanticon to open the Boot Camp Assistant software.
Step 4:After starting Boot Camp Assistant, click theNext button.
Step 5:Deactivate the option “Install Windows 7 or higher” (this option is used when installing Windows on Mac with Boot Camp). Also, uncheck the “Download the latest Windows support software from Apple” option when preparing this bootable Windows 8.1 drive to install Windows 8.1 on a PC.
Ensure that theCreateaninstallation disk for Windows 7 or a newer version isactivated before you click theNextbutton.
NOTE: As mentioned earlier, download the latest Windows support software from Apple option and check the box if you want to use this bootable USB on your Mac (this Mac) and not a PC.
Because the support software is designed specifically for each Mac, it may not work properly if you try to run the downloaded support software on a Mac other than the model you are using to prepare the bootable USB.
If you want to install Windows 8.1 on this Mac, activate this option to automatically download all supported software to the USB stick so that you can easily install all drivers after installing Windows 8.1 on your Mac.
Step 6:Clickyouto navigate on the following screen the Select button to the ISO image file from Windows 8.1. Select the ISO image file and clickyouonNextto continue.
Clickyouagain on the ”Next”when the warning “The drive will be erased” appears, to format the drive and then copy the Windows files. If you selected Download the latest Windows support software from Apple, Boot Camp Assistant also downloads the necessary drivers from Apple servers. Once you’ve selected this option, make sure your Mac is connected to the Internet.
Step 7:Once the Boot Camp Assistant has completed its work, the message “The selected drive has been formatted and the Windows installation image has been copied” is displayed.
If you selected Download Apple’s support software in step 5, the message “Install this Windows support software after Windows is installed” appears. Click the “Exit” button. That’s it!
You can now connect it to a PC or Mac and start installing the Windows 8.1 operating system.