Why I can't make bootable windows usb with balena etcher on mac?

Why You Might Face Issues with balenaEtcher

• Partition Scheme Limitation: BalenaEtcher tries to make a bootable USB drive using the ISO file directly, but Windows ISOs require a specific partition scheme (MBR for BIOS boot or GPT for UEFI boot). If your USB drive is formatted in a way that doesn’t match the ISO's requirements, you might run into issues.
• File System Compatibility: Windows typically uses NTFS, while macOS uses APFS and HFS+. BalenaEtcher may not handle this conversion properly for Windows boot files.

How to make bootable windows USB with balena etcher Mac?

If you can find Boot Camp Assistant, follow these steps (note that it's different from making a Windows installation USB):

• Open Boot Camp Assistant from Applications > Utilities.
• Follow the prompts. At some point, it should ask you to create a Windows installation USB.
• Select your Windows ISO, and it will create the bootable USB for you.

To make bootable Windows USB drive with Balena Etcher on a Mac. Please ensure that your USB drive is properly formatted before you start. The formatting step is critical as it prepares the drive for the OS installation. Depending on your Mac's security settings, you may need to allow Balena Etcher access to the USB drive. This USB drive can now be used to install Windows on a compatible PC. Insert it into the target machine, boot from the USB drive, and follow the installation prompts.

Bootcamp is not an option on an M-series Mac.

Even if you have Bootcamp Assistant, it will only work for Windows 10 since Windows 11 is not compatible with any Macs due to extra TPM requirements which the Mac cannot meet.

Etcher is not an option because it just writes the raw contents of the .img/.iso file to a USB stick. Windows installers are not created to be used this way.

The easiest way to create a bootable Windows installer is to use another working Windows system to download the Windows 11 installer direct from Microsoft. This will present the user with a Windows online tool to automatically create a bootable Windows USB installer.

I'm not sure, but it may be possible to use UNetbootin to make a bootable Windows USB installer, but I am not certain if that applies to using UNetbootin on macOS.

Before making bootable windows USB with balena etcher on Mac. Please make sure you’re using the correct Windows ISO file. Sometimes people accidentally download the wrong version (like an older one or an ISO that’s not bootable). Stick to the official Microsoft website for the cleanest download. Before you start making bootable windows USB with balena etcher on Mac, always format the USB drive to FAT32 or exFAT. If you don’t, you might run into issues later when the bootloader tries to read the drive. Just open Disk Utility, select your USB, erase it, and choose the right format. Super quick!

After the flashing process, make sure to eject the USB properly (you don't wanna just yank it out). Balena Etcher should prompt you to do this, but if it doesn’t, just right-click the USB on your desktop and select "Eject." It saves you from potential corruption or data loss. Sometimes, running Etcher without the proper permissions can cause issues. If you get any error messages, try running it as an admin. Just right-click the app and choose “Run as Administrator” (even though it’s not labeled like that on Mac, you get the idea).

CuthbertsonB:

skippie80:

Have either of you ever even used Etcher to make a bootable Windows USB stick? Or read the Etcher documentation? FYI, when posting here on the Apple forums, the user should have already confirmed their instructions & tips actually work.

The Etcher documentation clearly states that the Etcher app is not able to make a bootable Windows USB stick. I already explained why in my previous post, but you can review Etcher's own documentation here as well:

https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/blob/master/docs/USER-DOCUMENTATION.md?d_id=92e06341-01fc-4a38-a96b-16e28fc39aa8&s_id=1672837261619#why-is-my-drive-not-bootable

I found that link to the Etcher documentation under the FAQ "Can Etcher write Windows ISO?"

https://etcher.balena.io/#FAQs

Yes, the Etcher app is available on Windows to generally make bootable Linux based USB sticks (usually installers), but it will also work for some other items as well such as using a MemTest86 .img file as a source for Etcher to make a bootable MemTest86 USB stick.

However, the Etcher app is not able to make a bootable Windows USB stick.