How to Install Windows 10 on Your Mac With Boot Camp
The Problem With Boot Camp Assistant
The Boot Camp Assistant is the Apple operating System's own dual-boot helper tool. It comes prebuilt into macOS and it is meant to help you create a bootable USB drive, download all the important drivers, and re-partition your internal storage drive for use with Windows. Boot Camp Assistant formats your USB installation media to the FAT32 file system. The problem with FAT32 is that it cannot store files that are bigger than 4GB.
The latest Windows 10 disk images are greater than 5GB in size and are made up of a single install .wim file that is over 4GB in size. Microsoft has tutorials for splitting this file into several parts, but they need to be done on Windows. On a Mac, you are out of luck.
If you try to create a regular USB installer by using the Boot Camp Assistant, you will receive an error telling you that there is not enough space on the disk. This is a confusing error that does not make a lot of sense if, like me, you are using a 32GB USB stick.
The solution is to create your own USB installer and ditch FAT32 entirely.
Download Everything You Need
First, get yourself a genuine copy of Windows from Microsoft. You can download Windows 10 on Microsoft’s Software Download website. For reasons related to security, you should only ever download Windows from Microsoft.
You will also need Apple’s drivers for Windows. The downloads that are made available on Apple’s own website are outdated, so download them using your Mac:
- Launch Boot Camp Assistant.
- In the menu bar click Actions > Download Windows Support Software.
- Select a location to save the file, then wait for the download to complete.
Create Your Own Bootable USB Installer
Microsoft suggests that an install medium of 5GB or larger should be used. Some users recommend using an 8GB USB 2.0 flash drive.
Insert your USB drive and open up Disk Utility. Choose your drive from the list that is on the left and click on Erase. From the dropdown box, choose exFAT as your file system. Give your USB drive a name like WININSTALL and click Erase.
Next, double-click the Windows ISO you downloaded to mount it. The image you mounted should open automatically (otherwise look in your Finder sidebar). Click and drag to select all the Windows 10 installation files, then copy them (Cmd + C).
Now paste those files onto the USB drive you just created (Cmd + V). Navigate to the drivers that you downloaded earlier. Copy the contents of the WindowsSupport folder to the root directory of your USB installer. Don’t just drag the WindowsSupport folder to the drive copy of the contents instead.
Prepare Your Mac’s Internal Drive
With your USB drive still connected, launch Boot Camp Assistant again. Click Continue to begin the process, then uncheck Create a Windows 7 or later install disk and Download the latest Windows support software from Apple. You’ve already done both of these.
Leave Install Windows 7 or later version checked, then click Continue. On the next screen, you’ll be asked to assign space to your Windows partition. Click and drag the slider (or click Divide Equally) to decide how this space is shared between your macOS and Windows partitions.
Click Continue when you’re ready to start the process, then input your administrator password. macOS will start partitioning your drive. Input your administrator password one more time, then your Mac will restart and begin the Windows installer.
If you receive an error about missing Windows support software, make sure you’ve copied the contents of the WindowsSupport folder you downloaded to the root of your USB drive. If folders like $WinPEDriver$ and BootCamp aren’t in the root USB folder, Boot Camp Assistant will refuse to repartition your drive.
Now Install Windows on Mac
Your Mac should restart and launch the Windows installer automatically. If it does not, or you canceled for some reason, you can restart the process:
- Insert your Windows 10 USB installer.
- If your Mac is running, restart it.
- While your Mac boots, press and hold Option on your keyboard to reveal the boot menu.
- Select EFI Boot and click on the arrow to begin the installer.
Be patient while the installer loads. When prompted for a product key, you can click I don’t have a product key to install Windows 10 regardless. You’ll also need to select a version of Windows to install.
Eventually, you’ll need to specify where you want to install Windows. You should see a partition called BOOTCAMP on the list. Click on it, then click Format and proceed. Once you’ve formatted the partition, you should be able to click Next and continue installing Windows.
The installer will restart your Mac a few times while the installation takes place. Make a cup of coffee and sit back while it completes.
