[Updated: Official Windows 11 ISO available] How to Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Drive [Guide]

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The last operating system to be released by Microsoft is Windows 10. Windows 10 was launched back in 2015 and then Microsoft stated that Windows 10 would be the last Windows OS and it would continuously be receiving updates. However, that doesnโ€™t seem to be the case anymore. A Windows 11 ISO leaked recently and has been doing a lot of rounds on the internet and people are excited to try it out. And if you also want to try Windows 11, here is how to create Windows 11 bootable USB drive.

Of course, it does come as a shocker that Microsoft decided to change their own statement of making Windows 10 the last Windows OS version with unlimited updates. Well, it’s not official yet, so no words on that. Anyways, Windows 11 comes with a lot of changes both in terms of visuals and performance. And yes, it is Windows 11 thatโ€™s going to be the new operating system for many of the years to come, now that Windows 10 is set to retire on the 24th of October, 2025 (listed on Windows official site).

Note: The Preview build 10.0.22000.51 (co_release) of Windows 11 is now live for Insiders on the Dev Channel to download and install.

Now, of course, the only reason why anyone would want to try out a new operating system is solely out of curiosity. And given that Windows 11 got new features like a revamped taskbar and start menu, rounded corners, and even aesthetic wallpapers. You can check out the Windows 11 wallpapers here. The leaked Windows 11 ISO comes with a 21996.1 build number and weighs 4.75GB. If you are curious enough, you can learn how to create a bootable Windows 11 USB drive.

Steps to Create Windows 11 bootable USB drive

Gone are the days when Windows ISO files used to weigh under 2-3GB. With the Windows 11 ISO weighing at 4.75GB, you will require at least an 8GB or 16GB USB drive. So, start with looking for the USB Pendrive with enough storage to store Windows 11.

Format USB drive

Plugin the USB pendrive into your Windows PC. If youโ€™ve got any kind of data on the said USB drive, copy those files over to your system or any other place. To format your USB drive, open up the File Explorer, right-click the USB drive, and click on Format. Now click on the Start button to begin the formatting. This should take less than a minute.

how to create windows 11 bootable usb drive

Download Windows 11 ISO file

The most important part. Now of course you simply wonโ€™t find the link on Microsoftโ€™s download page as itโ€™s not been released yet. However, you can look around through Twitter or Google for Windows 11 ISO. Remember to verify the download links so as to ensure you donโ€™t download some malware or virus on the pretext of the Windows 11 ISO. Remember the file weighs 4.75GB and will be in an ISO format only.

Download Rufus

Rufus is popular software that lets you create a bootable USB drive very easily, Windows 11 bootable drive in this case. Since it is a portable installer, it wonโ€™t take up any space on your systemโ€™s storage drive. You can use this link to download the latest version of Rufus for creating a Windows 11 bootable pendrive.

Create Windows 11 Bootable Drive

  1. Now that youโ€™ve downloaded Rufus, open it up. You will see the name of your USB drive, its capacity, boot selection, and format options.
  2. Next to boot selection, you will see a button that says Select. Click on it to locate your downloaded Windows 11 ISO file.
    how to create windows 11 bootable usb drive
  3. Once youโ€™ve selected the Windows 11 ISO file, you will see all the options being automatically selected. It should look something just like the below screenshot.
    how to create windows 11 bootable usb drive
  4. If everything is perfect and alright, you should see the status as ready.
  5. Click on the Start button to begin the formatting and the writing of the Windows 11 ISO file onto your USB drive. This should take a few minutes depending on your USB drive and the port to which it is being connected.
  6. And thatโ€™s it! You have created Windows 11 bootable USB drive.

Now that youโ€™ve got a bootable Windows 11 USB drive, you can use it to install it on an older system or on your current system itself. Do note that this is a leaked build and there are bugs in it, so itโ€™s not recommended as a daily driver for your system. You can use this method to create a bootable USB drive for any operating system, be it Windows or Linux.

If you have a system that doesn’t have TPM 2.0, you can always replace a few files by copying them from the Windows 10 ISO into the Windows 11 setup folder. Doing this will help you bypass the TPM 2.0 requirement.

Update 20th August 2021: Windows 11 official ISO now available to download

Microsoft has finally made the Windows 11 ISO file available to the public for download. The iSO file has Windows 11 Insider Preview with build 22000.132. You can choose to download the Dev channel or the beta channel version. The Windows 11 ISO files weigh 5.1 GB.

Update 5th October 2021: Official Public ISO for Windows 11 now available

It’s finally good news! You can now download the full stable release of Windows 11 starting today. The ISO can be downloaded from the Microsoft Website by heading here.

You May Also Like – All about Windows 11 Leaked ISO

For some reason, if you are not able to install Windows 11 with a bootable drive, you can also install Windows 11 on a virtual machine. Read this guide to know how to install Windows 11 on a VMWare Workstation. With less than a week to go, we will be seeing the official Windows 11 launch by Microsoft and its release somewhere between October and November. So that’s all on how to create Windows 11 bootable USB drive. Enjoy Windows 11.

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AUTHOR.

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Joshua D'souza

Enjoy games, 90's hip-hop, and tech. Loves exploring the infinite world of laptops and food. Every ready to provide assistance in anything that rocks his boat. Will gladly enjoy capturing memories through various lenses. Worked previously at PiunikaWeb as an author and researcher.

2 thoughts on “[Updated: Official Windows 11 ISO available] How to Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Drive [Guide]”

  1. Nice post, only rufus says it needs to be booted without… secure boot,
    which windows 11 needs to even get installed…
    well done, this will help… thanks for all the hard work there.

    Reply
    • Hi,
      That’s right. For secure boot, you will find it in your system’s BIOS settings. Rufus doesn’t show it probably because for most older Windows OS installs it isn’t a requirement, and secondly there are a majority of people out there who use Rufus to create bootable Linux drives. So, when you install Linux, it requires that the secure boot is off. Maybe we could see it in a future Rufus update that might ask the user to ensure Secure Boot enabled while creating a Windows 11 bootable drive.

      Reply

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