Creating El Capitan Bootable Usb

15-09-2021
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FonePaw - Solution - - 3 Ways to Create a Bootable Install USB Drive for macOS or OS X
  1. Create El Capitan Bootable Usb On Windows
  2. Create El Capitan Bootable Usb From Mojave
  3. Create El Capitan Bootable Usb From Windows
Creating

In the following words, I will show the instructions of how to make Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan USB installer very quick in either Windows or Mac OS X. DOWNLOADSYou need to prepare an USB (8 GB. You can use an external drive or secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system.

To install macOS or OS X from USB, you need to create a bootable install USB drive for Mac operating system. This tutorial will introduce you three ways to create bootable USB drive for macOS High Sierra, macOS Sierra, Mac OS X El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks and more.

Use 'createinstallmedia' Command in Terminal

The most recommendable way to create a bootable install USB drive for Mac OS is using 'createinstallmedia' Command with Terminal application.

Step 1: Download macOS or OS X

The first thing to do is to download the Mac operating system that you need. To install the latest Mac OS, for example, macOS High Sierra, you can search and download the installer from App Store.

To download the older Mac OS X version, you can go to App Store > Purchases to download the Mac OS X El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks that has been previously downloaded.

However, Apple has decided that macOS Sierra and later will no longer be listed in Mac App Store's Purchased. To download the installer of macOS Sierra, go to Apple Support.

Note: After downloading the Mac OS installer, do not install the OS but quit the installer.

Step 2 Get A USB Drive with Sufficient Storage

You should have a USB drive with at least 8 GB of storage and insert the USB drive into your Mac. If you need to create a bootable USB drive of macOS High Sierra, 16 GB USB flash drive is suggested. In fact, USB drives with larger storage, like 32 GB to 64 GB, tend to show better performance.

IMPORTANT: The contents of the drive will be erased after creating a bootable installer drive. Therefore, make sure there is nothing important on your flash drive before you continue with the following steps.

Step 3 Check the Name of Your Flash Drive

The following command is to create a bootable copy of Mac OS installer on a USB drive named FlashInstaller. If your USB drive has a different name, replace FlashInstaller in the command with the name of your USB drive. If you don't want to modify the command, change the name of your flash drive into FlashInstaller.

Step 4 Create A Bootable USB Drive of macOS/OS X

Launch Terminal enter the following command according to the version of Mac operating system that you are dealing with.

macOS High Sierra Installer

sudo /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/FlashInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app --nointeraction

macOS Sierra Installer

sudo /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/FlashInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install macOS Sierra.app --nointeraction

OS X El Capitan Installer

sudo /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/FlashInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app –nointeraction

OS X Yosemite Installer

sudo /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/FlashInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app –nointeraction

Capitan

OS X Mavericks Installer

sudo /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/FlashInstaller --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app –nointeraction

Tip: If you didn't download the installer from Mac App Store, you must modify the file path after 'applicationpath'.

After pasting the command on the Terminal, hit Enter key. You'll be asked to enter your Mac's password. Enter the password and hit Enter.

Then you need to check the name and path of your USB drive. If it is correct, press 'y' then hit 'Enter'. The Mac will begin to create a bootable install drive for macOS High Sierra, macOS Sierra, Mac OS X El Capitan/Yosemite/Mavericks. When it is done, Terminal will shows 'Done'.

To install macOS or OS X from the USB flash drive, check how to clean install Mac OS from USB(opens new window).

Make A Bootable Installer for macOS via DiskMaker X or Install Disk Creator

Create El Capitan Bootable Usb On Windows

If you think it is too much trouble to use Terminal to make a bootable installer on a USB drive, you can use tools like DiskMaker X, Install Disk Creator. Both the tools can make an install drive for macOS Sierra, OS X El Capitan, OS X Yosemite and more.

DiskMaker X: When you launch the application, it will try to find the downloaded macOS or OS X installers program on your Mac. And you just need to follow its on-screen instructions to create a bootable USB drive by clicking a few buttons.

Install Disk Creator: Once you run the application, select a USB drive, choose a Mac OS installer, and click Create Installer to begin to create an install USB drive.

Disk Utility to Create a Bootable macOS/OS X Installer

Before using createinstallmedia command, people used to use Disk Utility to create a bootable installer drive manually. But the process is much more complicated than the Terminal method. So Apple also suggests you make a bootable install drive via Terminal.

Just in case that you don't want to use Terminal, you may follow these steps to build a USB drive for Mac OS X or macOS.

  • Mount the Mac OS installer to get .DS_Store, BaseSystem.chunklist, and BaseSystem.dmg. Files from InstallESD.dmg file.
  • Use Disk Utility's Restore feature to create a copy of the OS Install ESD image.
  • Modify the copy of the OS Install ESD image to make it boot successfully.

Do you have other question about making a bootable USB drive for macOS or Mac OS X? Leave your comment below.

These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and people who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install it on multiple computers without having to download the installer each time.

What you need to create a bootable installer

  • A USB flash drive or other secondary volume formatted as Mac OS Extended, with at least 14 GB of available storage
  • A downloaded installer for macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra or El Capitan

Download macOS

  • Download: macOS Big Sur, macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave or macOS High Sierra
    These will be downloaded to your Applications folder as an app called Install macOS [version name]. If the installer opens after download, quit it without continuing the installation. To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. For enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software update server.
  • Download: OS X El Capitan
    This will be downloaded as a disk image called InstallMacOSX.dmg. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, which has the name InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.

Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal

Creating El Capitan Bootable Usb
  1. Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer.
  2. Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
  3. Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is in your Applications folder and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace MyVolume in these commands with the name of your volume.
Create el capitan bootable usb from dmg

Big Sur:*

Catalina:*

Mojave:*

High Sierra:*

El Capitan:

Create El Capitan Bootable Usb From Mojave

* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the --applicationpath argument and installer path, similar to the way this was done in the command for El Capitan.


After typing the command:

  1. Press Return to enter the command.
  2. When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
  3. When prompted, type Y to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal displays the progress as the volume is being erased.
  4. After the volume has been erased, you may see an alert stating that Terminal would like to access files on a removable volume. Click OK to allow the copy to proceed.
  5. When Terminal says it's finished, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Big Sur. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.

Use the bootable installer

Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:

Apple silicon

Create El Capitan Bootable Usb From Windows

  1. Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the Internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
  2. Turn on your Mac and continue to hold the power button until you see the startup options window, which shows your bootable volumes.
  3. Select the volume containing the bootable installer, then click Continue.
  4. When the macOS installer opens, follow the onscreen instructions.

Intel processor

  1. Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the Internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
  2. Press and hold the Option (Alt) ⌥ key immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac.
  3. Release the Option key when you see a dark screen displaying your bootable volumes.
  4. Select the volume containing the bootable installer. Then click the up arrow or press Return.
    If you can't start up from the bootable installer, make sure the External Boot setting in Startup Security Utility has been set to allow booting from external media.
  5. Choose your language, if prompted.
  6. Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.

Learn more

A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the Internet, but it does require an Internet connection to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model.

For information about the createinstallmedia command and the arguments you can use with it, make sure the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter the appropriate path in Terminal: