How to Make a Bootable USB Drive for Mac

When you need to update macOS, usually you need to click on Software Update on your computer, check the system update information, and then start the update. This method is the choice of most people, however, you can also make a bootable USB drive. With a bootable macOS USB, you can perform a clean install or reinstall the macOS when your Mac won't boot into Recovery Mode.

Step 1. Install and run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac on another Mac computer, and select "Unbootable Mac > Start".

Step 2. Then, choose a prepared USB drive to create the bootable disc. Select "Next" to start creating the bootable disk.

Step 3. The program starts to create a 2GB space and save the boot files. The rest space on the USB can be still used for storage.

Step 4. Once it completes, please follow the guide to boot the corrupted Mac from the bootable disc and start the recovery. We suggest you restore the data to an external hard drive.

Step 5. After booting the Mac, launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac. Select the disk location (an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) where you lost data and files. Then, this recovery tool will scan for lost files automatically.

Note: Before data recovery, you'd better create a backup of your Mac to avoid further data loss. After backing up, the software can recover data from the Mac backup, and your computer can wirte new data again.

What You Need for Making a Bootable USB Drive

Before starting to make a bootable USB drive, you need to prepare for it. Below are the tools you need to prepare.

1. A macOS compatible USB drive with at least 14GB of available storage space. And this drive should be formatted to Mac OS Extended.

2. Click the corresponding link to download the macOS installer. (Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, or High Sierra.)

How to Create a Bootable Installer with macOS 

After downloading the macOS installer, connect the prepared USB flash drive to your Mac. Again, make sure it is empty and has at least 14GB of free space. The next steps are a bit more complicated, as the Mac Terminal's 'createinstallmedia' command will be used. Make sure the computer is fully charged or connected to the power cord, and do not turn off the computer in the meantime.

Go to Application > Utilities > Terminal. Below is the command line required to create a bootable USB drive, find the version of macOS you want to install and paste it into Terminal.

Monterey:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

Big Sur:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

Catalina:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

Mojave:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

High Sierra:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume

El Capitan:
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app

Press Return to enter the command. Enter your administrator password in the prompted box and press Return again. Follow the on-screen wizard to confirm the following process. Type Y to confirm that you want to erase the USB flash drive, and then click OK to allow the creating process.

When the whole process is finished, the USB's name will be changed to the installer's name, such as Install macOS Monterey. Quit Terminal now and eject your USB drive.

Install macOS with Created Mac Bootable USB

To use the created bootable USB on Mac, the steps will be different on computers with different chips. There are two types of chips used in Mac computers: Apple silicon and Intel processors. First, determine which chip your computer is equipped with, and then follow the corresponding steps to use the bootable installer.

Mac computers with Apple silicon:

• MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021)
• MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021)
• iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
• Mac mini (M1, 2020)
• MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020)

The Bottom Line

With a bootable USB drive, you are able to install specific macOS according to your needs. The whole process is a bit complicated, but don't worry, follow the guide step by step.