install bootcamp from an external drive

Can I put a windows 10 disk image on an external mac formatted drive and have bootcamp install from that as opposed to a thumb drive?

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 10.15

Posted on Dec 15, 2020 6:29 PM

Similar questions

Installing Windows 10 on MacBook Pro 2017 (Catalina) Am I able to place a downloaded version from MS of Windows 10 on my hard drive and the bootcamp assistant will be able to load it from there?
223 1
Installing Windows 10 onto a USB Flash-drive using bootcamp Hey There So I need to install windows as a seperate operating system and would like to install it separately onto a usb flash drive, similarly to how you would install macOS onto a usb, plug it in and boot into it. The reason being I don't have loads of storage to partition into windows being on my machine. I was wondering if this is possible, if it is possible, what are the options and methods of doing so? I would preferably like top use bootcamp but obviously if this isn't possible on bootcamp, I would be willing to look into other options. Any help would be greatly appreciated :)
1032 10
Bootcamp Win 10 with El Capitan, 10.11.6 on a 2009 MacBook Pro I'm running El Capitan, 10.11.6. Can I install Win 10 using Bootcamp on my Mac? I have run Win 7 for 12 years, but can't move to Win 10. Bootcamp install seems to hang and say the Win 10 ISO image to too big to fit on 128GB flash drive. Not sure how to get the Win 10 ISO image onto the flash drive, as when I downloaded it from MS, I wasn't offered the flash drive, it just went into my Downloads folder.
5534 7

1 reply

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Dec 15, 2020 9:09 PM in response to Loran Kary

For Macs, that require an external storage to create the Windows installer, a USB2 Flash drive of 16GB is recommended.

Be aware that macOS High Sierra and older versions do not handle W10 1903 and later ISO files correctly. You can either use an older W10 ISO, or upgrade to macOS Mojave.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

install bootcamp from an external drive

Welcome to Apple Support Community

A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.

Learn more Sign up