pentangle Author

Level 1

10 points

How can I copy the Big Sur installer to a flash drive or external disc?

When I drag and drop the installer to an external drive, it creates an alias. How can I copy the full installer to have as a backup? I do have Time Machine, and I assume it's on there as well, but I may want to install Big Sur on my wife's MacBook Pro, without having to do another download as we have satellite internet and it's painfully slow.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Nov 19, 2020 1:54 PM

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Nov 19, 2020 2:00 PM in response to pentangle

To create an actual installer in a thumb drive or usb disk there are specific instructions. It is not enough to drag it.

Just search online for “create big sur installer disk”

and follow the instructions-for example here:

https://www.macworld.com/article/3566910/how-to-create-a-bootable-macos-big-sur-installer-drive.amp.html

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Community+ 2026

Level 10

743,129 points

Nov 19, 2020 1:58 PM in response to pentangle

Click here and follow the instructions.

(186434)

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Level 10

136,379 points

Nov 19, 2020 1:59 PM in response to pentangle

Select the file, copy (cmd+C), navigate to the external, paste with (option cmd V).

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How can I copy the Big Sur installer to a flash drive or external disc?

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