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The Apple Support Community will permanently close on November 20, 2026. Starting today, the site will no longer accept new posts and is available in a read-only state.
You can continue to find trusted guidance and support on the official Apple Support site.
We want to thank the community members who have contributed their time and expertise to help others with their Apple products.
Hello everyone, how can I install Windows 10 on a mid-2011 21-inch iMac without using a flash drive? I heard that this can be done through a partition on the disk, but I'm not sure about the specifics. I'm using macOS 10.13.6.
Hello DeRolta,
Unfortunately, your iMac is not compatible with the USB-free installation of Boot Camp.
This article — Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant - Apple Support — states :
If you have one of these Intel-based Mac models using OS X El Capitan or later, you don't need a USB flash drive to install Windows:
Hello DeRolta,
Unfortunately, your iMac is not compatible with the USB-free installation of Boot Camp.
This article — Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant - Apple Support — states :
If you have one of these Intel-based Mac models using OS X El Capitan or later, you don't need a USB flash drive to install Windows:
Thank you for the response. Can I bypass this restriction, and what is the reason behind the necessity of using a flash drive? Is it possible to trick Boot Camp into recognizing my Mac as a newer model?
It’s not possible to override the model year of your iMac. Why is the use of a USB a problem in your situation?
I don't have a big enough usb I don't use. So I want to figure out what can I do to install windows 10 on my mac. I can’t buy usb flash drive now. Do you have any idea?
Could you borrow one large enough?
How to install windows 10 on iMac mid 2011 21 inch without usb flash using bootcamp
