Create Macos El Capitan Bootable Usb

  


It to the InstallMACOSX.pkg. Double-click on that and you will get an installer window. (this does not install El Capitan), follow the prompts and it will create the Install OS X El Capitan.app. In your Applications folder. Now you should be able to use the createinstallmedia command to create. Your bootable USB. Nov 24, 2019 3:55 PM. Bootable USB Installers for OS X Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, and Sierra First, review this introductory article: Create a bootable installer for macOS. Second, see this How To outline for creating a bootable El Capitan installer.

It does not matter whether you use macOS or Windows 10. It’s just a matter of time until your device will refuse to start, which could happen for many reasons, including (and not limited to) file corruption, hardware failure, and buggy update. If the unexpected happens with an Apple computer, you can use a macOS bootable USB with the installation media to repair it.

This is one of the main reasons you should consider making a macOS bootable USB when your device is working properly. However, if none of your devices (MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Pro, or Mac Mini) aren’t working when you need them the most, then you can use a PC to rescue your Apple device. You can use a Windows 10, Windows 8.1, or Windows 7 device to quickly create a USB bootable installation media to reinstall macOS Catalina or Big Sur on your Mac.

In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to create a macOS Catalina bootable USB installation on Windows 10, which you can use to reinstall or upgrade the Apple OS.

Requirements

  • Dec 05, 2019 There are 2 Methods to Create a Bootable USB drive of Mac OS on your Windows PC. Method 1: Using TransMac. Download TransMac’s latest version for Windows from this link. Connect your USB drive; Right Click on your USB drive option in TransMac and select Format Disk for Mac; After that, right-click the USB Drive and select Restore with Disk Image.
  • Jan 28, 2021 If you have problems creating the bootable media, you can get a USB flash drive that comes with macOS Sierra, El Capitan, Catalina, etc., on it with the link mentioned below. (I haven’t tried it personally, but it’s worth the try if nothing works.).
  • For those who failed to create bootable USB with TransMac, take a look at UUByte DMG Editor. I managed to create two bootable USB from macOS Mojave and Catalina DMG file and successfully installed them on respect Mac. First, make sure the dmg file you downloaded is valid.

Before proceeding, you’ll need the following:

  • Broken Mac computer running macOS (version 10.12, 11, or later).
  • A trial copy of the TransMac software.
  • One high-quality USB flash drive with 16GB of storage.
  • Copy of macOS (DMG file).

Create macOS bootable USB installation media

To create a bootable USB drive with macOS, use these steps:

  1. Download and install TransMac on the Windows 10 device.

    Quick note: This is a paid software, but it gives you a 15-day trial, which is more than enough time. (If this works for you and you want to support the developer, you can purchase the full version.)
  2. Connect the USB flash drive. (If you have any data on the flash drive, remember to make a backup, as everything on it will be erased.)

  3. Right-click the TransMac app and select the Run as administrator option.

  4. Click the Run button. (If you’re using the trial version, wait 15 seconds.)

  5. Right-click the USB flash drive, select the Format Disk for Mac option from the left navigation pane.

    Quick note: You want to do this before creating the bootable media because there is a good chance that the drive was formatted using a Windows device. If this is the case, the chances are that it’s using an MBR partition, and the USB drive needs a GPT partition to work on a Mac.
  6. Click the Yes button to format the drive on the warning message.

  7. Confirm a name for the drive. For example, “macOS bootable USB.”

  8. Click the OK button.

  9. Click the Yes button.

  10. Click the OK button.

  11. Right-click the USB flash drive and select the Restore with Disk Image option from the left navigation pane.

  12. Click the Yes button to confirm the erase of the USB flash drive data.

  13. Click the browse button on the right.

  14. Select the .dmg file with the macOS installation files.

  15. Click the Open button.

  16. Click the OK button.

  17. Click the Yes button.

Once you complete the steps, you can now insert the USB flash drive on your Mac computer to install, reinstall, or upgrade the operating system to the latest macOS version, which can be Sierra, Catalina, Big Sur, or higher.

Create a GPT partition on USB flash drive

Create macOS Mojave bootable USB from Windows with Clover Boot Disk June 6, 2017 Tu Nguyen 209 Comments Clover Boot Disk includes tools and partition images to help you create macOS Mojave bootable USB from Windows in just a few clicks.

If the USB flash drive is not working with TransMac, it could still be a partition problem. In this case, you may need to redo the entire process again. However, this time you should use the following steps to use the Diskpart command-line utility on Windows 10 to create the appropriate GPT partition, and then follow the above instructions.

To create a GPT partition on a removable drive, use these steps:

  1. Open Start.

  2. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as an administrator option.

  3. Type the diskpart command and press Enter.

  4. Enter the list disk command to view all drives connected to your computer and press Enter.

  5. Type the select disk command followed the number assigned for the USB flash drive (for example, select disk 4), and press Enter.

  6. Enter the clean command and press Enter.

  7. Type the convert GPT command and press Enter.

  8. Enter the create partition primary command and press Enter to complete the process.

How To Make A Bootable Usb Drive

Once you formatted the USB flash drive with a GPT partition, you can use the instructions mentioned above to use TransMac to create a bootable media, but this time skip steps No. 5 through 10 and continue on step 11.

After the process completes, which can take up to an hour, connect the USB flash drive and power on your Mac holding down the Option key, select the USB drive to begin installing macOS.

If you have problems creating the bootable media, you can get a USB flash drive that comes with macOS Sierra, El Capitan, Catalina, etc., on it with the link mentioned below. (I haven’t tried it personally, but it’s worth the try if nothing works.)

Mac operating system’s twelfth major version is the El Capitan Installer (version 10.11). All the Mac computers which don’t have the privilege to upgrade to MacOS High Sierra or the computers that need to upgrade to El Capitan first, can download this twelfth version on the computer. This is the very last version of the Mac operating system which comes under the name OS X. And it is named as ‘El Capitan’ after the formation of a rock in the Yosemite National Park. El Capitan Installer is the post version to the Yosemite, and it was built by adding up more improvements to the Yosemite. In this version of the Mac operating system, the Apple Inc. has focused on the performance, stability, and security of the computer. Anyone who is interested can download it on the Mac PC.

How to download El Capitan Installer?

If you want to upgrade to OS X El Capitan, first you have to collect gather your Mac PC and then download the El Capitan Installer. That’s what we are going to do now.

  1. Go to the App Store and open the El Capitan page there.
  2. Then you must click on the ‘Download; button on the El Capitan Page.
  3. If your Mac PC is compatible to perform this upgrade, a file named ‘Install OS X El Capitan’ will download to your Applications folder.
  4. The installer will open automatically after finishing the download process. All you have to do next is click on the ‘Continue’ button and follow the onscreen instructions.

Upgrade Mac OS Version with El Capitan Installer while Protecting your Data

Before executing the Upgrade, you must prepare the Mac PC for the El Capitan Update. For that, gather these requirements first.

  • The Mac PC must have at least 2GB of memory and 8.8GB of storage space.
  • The PC must have at least 45% of battery life.
  • Connect the Mac PC to Wi-Fi or any other internet connection.
  • The Mac Apps must be up to date with the latest versions.
  • Take backups of all your personal data and present OS of the Mac PC.

Important! It is very important to backup your important data on the Mac PC to an external storage device because it will help you to avoid the data loss issues. If any case, you forgot to backup the data, your data may be lost while executing the El Capitan Installer update. So make sure you make a backup of the device data.

How to use El Capitan Installer for a Clean Install?

01. El Capitan Clean Install on Empty Volume with El Capitan Installer

This is the easiest method for the clean install. Here, you can install the OS X El Capitan Installer onto an empty volume, or you can use a storage space that has the content which no longer needed and don’t mind removing. What it matters here is that you don’t use the current startup volume as the destination here. What makes this method easier is the fact that it is possible to perform this clean install while booted from the current startup drive. You don’t need a special, custom-made startup environment for the empty volume clean install. All you have to do is, start up the installer and go.

02. El Capitan Clean Install on Startup Volume with El Capitan Installer

This is the most common method of the two. Usually, the clean install process deletes the contents of the destination drive. Therefore, if you choose the startup drive method to perform the clean install of El Capitan Installer, you have to follow some extra steps as well.

  • First, you have to create a bootable USB flash drive that has the Installer of OS X El Capitan.
  • Then erase the startup drive.
  • After then, start the clean install process.

How to Create El Capitan Installer with USB?

Requirements

  • The USB flash drive must be at least 8GB
  • El Capitan Installer must be on the Mac PC’s Applications folder.

Process

  • Plug the USB drive into the Mac PC with the Installer of the El Capitan on it.
  • Rename the USB driver using an easy to remember and use name. (For the ease of the steps ahead, I will rename it as ‘ElCaptIns’)
  • Be sure that the Installer of the El Capitan named ‘Install OS X El Capitan.app’ is in its default location (Applications folder).
  • Select and copy the text of the below-mentioned terminal command.
  • sudo/Applications/InstallOSXElCapitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/ElCaptIns --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app
  • Now you can launch the terminal in the Applications/Utilities/
  • In this step, it deletes the data in the destination drive. So make sure it doesn’t contain any valuable data and paste the copied command into the terminal, then press ‘Return’.
  • When the windows prompted, enter the admin level account password of yours and press to Return.
  • Then a message telling “To continue we need to erase the disk at /Volumes/ElCaptIns. If you wish to continue, type (Y) then press return:” will emerge. You can type ‘Y’ and press to return to continue. You are already set if you don’t see this message.
Create Macos El Capitan Bootable Usb

USB installer and El Capitan Installer in Apple Store

El Capitan Installer is only available in the Mac App Store. So you can only download it from the App Store. By the way, having a USB installer to perform the El Capitan is a good idea. Because having a copy of the OS version in a separate device ensures that you always have a backup plan to install it or re-install it on the PC. When you have the USB installer with the El Capitan Installer in it, you no longer need the internet connection or the access to the Mac App Store to perform the upgrade.

What is createinstallmedia?

Create Macos El Capitan Bootable Usb Drive

“createinstallmedia” is a unix program hidden inside the OS X Installer which is provided by the Apple Inc. to create a bootable installer drive. createinstallmedia is the ideal and the easier to use tool if you are comfortable to use the terminal. This is only available for the OS versions of Lion (OS X 10.7) and above.


Create El Capitan Bootable Usb From Windows 7

System and Hardware Requirements for El Capitan Installer

System Requirements

  • iMac models from mid 2007 or later
  • MacBook models from late 2008 or later
  • MacBook Pro models from mid 2007 or later
  • MacBook Air models from late 2008 or later
  • Mac mini models from early 2009 or later
  • Mac Pro models from early 2008 or later
  • Xserve models from early 2009

Hardware Requirements

  • OS X v10.6.8 or later
  • 2GB of memory
  • 8.8GB of available storage
  • Some features require an Apple ID (terms apply)
  • Some features require a compatible Internet service provider (fees may apply)

FAQs:-

01. What is the best method to install El Capitan?

You can either use the default method to upgrade install or clean install methods to get El Capitan Installer but, without any doubt, Clean Install is the best method to upgrade your Mac OS. I hope all the above facts prove that.

02. How to save previous data when upgrading the OS X?

Simply, take a backup by using the Time Machine.

  1. Open the Time Machine app.
  2. Click on the ‘Select Backup Disk’.
  3. Select the external drive or internal location where you want to save the files.
  4. Click on the ‘On’ to turn on the Time Machine.
  5. Click on the Arrow Clock icon in the Finder Bar at the top of your screen and select ‘Backup Now’.

Bootable Usb Windows 10

03. Is it secure to install El Capitan without Apple Store?

Bootable

Create El Capitan Bootable Usb From Windows Xp

No, it is not safe to get El Capitan Installer outsider of the Apple Store. It is only safe to get this OS upgrade from the Mac App Store. Besides, there is no such external place to get this OS upgrade. I have provided the steps to install El Capitan in the above of this site. Just follow those steps and upgrade your Mac PC to the El Capitan.


Customers get Software upgrades for Mac computers through the online app store ever since the release of macOS Lion. Be it a clean install or upgrade, Mac App store require you connect to the internet to download whole installation files. The online OS update is OK if you have stable broadband connectivity and enough bandwidth. Apple also provides an option for internet recovery of macOS if your computer fails to boot. But there are situations where you can’t download the OS from the Apple servers. Having a macOS offline installer or a bootable USB disk is the only solution in such scenarios.

Download macOS offline Installer

Installing macOS without internet requires a bootable USB disk. And you need to download a full-size macOS installer for making this disk. Hence, before anything, we will tell you how to download macOS offline installer directly from Apple to your Mac using a GitHub script.

Create Macos El Capitan Bootable Usb

Download the gibMacOS script from this link and extract it to your Mac. From the extracted folder, run the script called gibMacOS.command — it will open the Terminal as shown below.

Wait for the script to fetch the macOS download catalogue from Apple. When the list is ready choose a number as per your OS option and press the Return/Enter key. You can use this script to download macOS Big Sur (11.1), Catalina (10.15), Mojave (10.14), and High Sierra (10.13.6). A new folder “macOS downloads” appears in the “gibMacOS-master” as you provide a download option, and the OS starts downloading as you can see in the video.

The OS gets downloaded as parts, PKGs, DMGs and other files. For macOS versions up-to Big Sur, you need to use another script “BuildmacOSInstallApp.command” in the main folder to join all the downloads and make the full macOS installer app. All you need is to drag and drop the downloaded macOS folder to the terminal window. The script will build the offline installer and save it to the same folder.

Bootable flash drive creator

You don’t need to use the second script if your choice is macOS Big Sur. Because, for macOS Big Sur you get a full-size installer from Apple in PKG format. Double-click and open the InstallAssistant.PKG to save the “Install macOS Big Sur.app” to the Applications folder.

Apart from this, some older versions of macOS are available for direct download from Apple (Sierra, EL Capitan, Yosemite) in DMG format.

How to make a macOS bootable USB installer

It is possible to create a backup macOS installer on a DVD or USB drive but later is the best choice. Most of the Macs these days don’t have DVD slots, and the installation through a disc is very slow. Hence we discuss only about making macOS recovery installer on a USB disc. For this you need a Mac and a USB pen drive of at least 8 GB space, and a third-party app called DiskMaker.

  1. First, download a copy of Disk Maker from the official website.
  2. Choose a version as per your requirement. For example, if you want make USB installer for macOS Catalina 10.15, download Disk Maker X 9.
  3. I use an MacBook Pro with High Sierra. Hence, I’m downloading disk maker X 7.
  4. The next step is to download full macOS installer from the App Store to your Applications folder.
  5. Run Disk Maker DMG installer and copy the app to the Applications.
  6. The application will automatically detect the downloaded macOS as shown in the screenshot. Select “Use this Copy” if you would like to proceed with it.
  7. Next is setting the USB pen drive for creating the bootable installer. Choose the third option ” An 8 GB USB Thumb drive.”
  8. The app will list all drives in your system. Pick the one you would like use as macOS USB installer.
  9. Ignore the warning message and proceed to Erase and Create macOS USB disk. Don’t forget to provide your admin password when it prompts.
  10. Keep checking notifications tab for progress. When it completes you will find Install macOS Mojave (or High Sierra) mounted to your desktop as a USB disk.
  11. That’s your backup. Unmount and keep the USB installer to a safe place.

Create Macos El Capitan Bootable Usb From Windows


Unfortunately, the above app is not compatible with macOS Big Sur 11 and above. Check the instructions on Apple website, the manual method to make macOS offline USB installer.

What is the alternative if I don’t have usable Mac at the moment?

This method is applicable when you have a Mac, and the internet recovery fails. But think about a situation when your only Mac stops to boot, and you don’t have USB installer or TimeMachine backup! Downloading MacOS DMG file might save you. If you have a macOS DMG, you can create bootable USB disk from a Windows PC — use a software like TransMac for this purpose.

Clean installing or restoring a Mac offline with USB pen drive

As said earlier, you could use the macOS USB installer to do a clean install or restore it upon a boot failure. Just connect the USB disk and press the Option/Alt Key when you hear the boot sound. The Mac will then display all the startup disks available.

Pick the USB drive starting with the label “Install macOS” and follow on-screen instructions to complete the installation. If you need, use the Disk Utility to format the drive for doing a clean install.