How to get Windows 11 onto a bootable USB flash drive

If you want to install Windows 11 on a new device, you’re likely to need a bootable USB drive, and here are two ways to create one.

How to create a bootable USB of Windows 11 with the Media Creation Tool

The Media Creation Tool is the easiest method to create a bootable media to upgrade or clean install Windows 11.

To create an installation media with the Media Creation Tool, connect a USB flash drive of at least 8GB of space, and use these steps:

1. Open Windows 11 download page.
2. Under the “Create Windows 11 Installation Media” section, click the Download now button to save the file on the device.
3. Double-click the MediaCreationToolW11.exe file to launch the tool.
4. Click the Accept button to agree to the terms.
5. (Optional) Clear the Use the recommended options for this PC option.
6. Select the correct language and edition of Windows 11.
7. Click the Next button.
8. Select the USB flash drive option.
9. Click the Next button
10. Select the USB flash drive.
11. Click next then finish

How to create bootable USB of Windows 11 with Rufus

To create a USB media with an existing Windows 11 ISO file, connect a flash drive of at least 8GB of space, and use these steps:

1. Open Rufus download page.
2. Under the “Download” section, click the link to save the latest release on your device.
3. Double-click the Rufus-*.exe file to launch the tool.
4. Under the “Device” section, select the USB flash drive.
5. Under the “Boot selection” section, click the Select button on the right side.
6. Select the Windows 11 ISO file from the folder location.
7. Click the Open button.
8. Use the “Image option” drop-down menu and select the Standard Windows installation (TPM 2.0, Secure Boot) option.
9. Use the “Partition scheme” drop-down menu and select the GPT option.
10. Use the “Target system” drop-down menu and select the UEFI (non CSM) option.
11. Under the “Show Advanced drive properties” section, do not change the default settings (unless you know what you are doing).
12. Under the “Volume label” field, confirm a name for the bootable media — for example, “win11_usb.”
13. In the “File system” and “Cluster size” options do not change the default settings.
14. Click the Show advanced format options button.
15. Check the Quick format option.
16. Check the Create extended label and icon files option.
17. Click the Start button.
18. Click the OK button to confirm.
19. Click the Close button.