This browser cannot write to a USB stick
Flasher needs Chrome or Edge on a computer. Safari, Firefox and phones do not let a web page write files to a drive.
You can still make a stick by hand. See the commands.
Test folder chosen. Flasher will write to a private folder inside this browser, not to a USB stick. Press Choose USB stick to write to a real one.
1 Choose what to install
Loading the list…
2 Prepare the stick
The stick must be formatted as FAT32. Sticks of 32 GB or less are usually FAT32 already, so you may be able to skip this.
Formatting erases everything on the stick. A web page cannot format a drive, so this part is done by you.
- Open File Explorer and right-click the stick. Choose Format.
- Set File system to FAT32 and press Start.
- If FAT32 is not offered (sticks over 32 GB), open Command Prompt and run this, changing
E:to your stick's letter. It needs Windows 11 version 24H2 or later.
format E: /FS:FAT32 /Q- Open Disk Utility. In the View menu choose Show All Devices.
- Select the stick itself (the top entry, not the volume under it) and press Erase.
- Set Format to MS-DOS (FAT) and Scheme to Master Boot Record, then press Erase.
- Open Disks, select the stick and choose Format Disk with MBR partitioning.
- Add one partition and choose the type FAT.
- Or in a terminal, changing
sdX1to your stick's partition:
sudo mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/sdX13 Get the files
Windows comes straight from Microsoft. Flasher finds the official link and your browser downloads the file. Then choose that file below.
Flasher downloads it while it writes, and checks it against the publisher's checksum. You do not need to download anything first.
The file stays on your computer. Nothing is uploaded.
4 Choose the stick
Pick the stick itself, not a folder inside it. Flasher only writes to an empty stick and never deletes anything.
No stick to hand? . It shows the whole process without writing to a drive.
5 Write
Do not unplug the stick or close this tab.
Flasher carries on from the last finished file.
The stick is ready
Next
- Eject the stick before you unplug it.
- Plug it into the PC and switch the PC on.
- Press the boot menu key straight away and choose the stick. If it is listed twice, choose the one marked UEFI.
| Maker | Key |
|---|---|
| Dell | F12 |
| HP | F9 or Esc |
| Lenovo | F12 |
| Asus | F8 or Esc |
| Acer | F12 |
| MSI | F11 |
The stick starts PCs that use UEFI, which covers most PCs made since 2012. Older PCs that only have a legacy BIOS will not start from it.
Make a stick by hand
These commands do the same job as Flasher. Use them in a browser Flasher does not support.
Mac, for a Windows ISO
brew install wimlib
diskutil list external
diskutil eraseDisk MS-DOS WIN11 MBR /dev/diskN
ISO=$(hdiutil mount ~/Downloads/Windows.iso | grep -o '/Volumes/.*')
rsync -avh --exclude=sources/install.wim "$ISO"/ /Volumes/WIN11/
wimlib-imagex split "$ISO"/sources/install.wim /Volumes/WIN11/sources/install.swm 3800
diskutil eject /dev/diskNLinux, for a Windows ISO
sudo apt install wimtools rsync
sudo mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n WIN11 /dev/sdX1
sudo mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/usb && sudo mount -o loop Windows.iso /mnt/iso
sudo rsync -rh --exclude=sources/install.wim /mnt/iso/ /mnt/usb/
sudo wimlib-imagex split /mnt/iso/sources/install.wim /mnt/usb/sources/install.swm 3800
sudo umount /mnt/usb /mnt/isoAny system, for a Linux ISO
Format the stick as FAT32, open the ISO, and copy every file and folder in it to the stick. Replace /dev/sdX with care if you use dd instead, because it overwrites the whole drive.
sudo dd if=linux.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync