How to Dual boot Windows 10 and Linux (Beginner’s Guide)

You will learn everything you need to know about dual-booting Linux and Windows.

I assume you already have Windows installed on your computer and you only need to install Linux to dual boot. This post will guide you through the following key points of the dual boot installation:

• Essential BIOS settings for successful dual boot.
• How to shrink your Windows partition to get free space for Linux.
• How to install Linux, using Linux Mint as an example.
• How to set the boot order in your computer to see the menu where you can choose between Linux and Windows to boot.
• Finally, I will explain why I am not a fan of dual-booting and why I recommend using Windows in a virtual machine as I showed in this post.

NOTE: Before you apply any actions from in this post, please back up all your important data.

BIOS settings

Unfortunately, most of the computers have BIOS configured specifically for Windows, and likely you won’t be able to install Linux on it without changing some settings. BIOS interface may differ from one computer to another but the main settings are the same.

I will use the BIOS of my Acer Swift 1 laptop as an example here.

Get into BIOS

First, you need to get into BIOS, usually, you just need to press a specific key during the boot. In my Acer Swift 1, I press F2. Just google your computer model and bios key term, and you will find the key you need to press. Sometimes, you may also see it on the screen during the boot:

Set the BIOS password

Next, you may need to set a password in your BIOS because it won’t allow you to change any security settings without a password. This is the menu to set the password on my Acer Swift 1:

You should be able to find the same in your BIOS. It is also possible that you can proceed without setting a password.

Disable Secure booting and change the Boot order

Next, you need to go to the Boot menu and disable Secure booting and move your bootable USB flash drive to the first place in the boot order:

Check this description of the commands on the right or bottom of your BIOS interface, it explains how to navigate and change options in your BIOS.

I am not going to stop here on how to create a bootable USB drive. I have already explained how to create a bootable USB from the command line or using graphical programs.

Save BIOS settings

In the end, go to the exit menu and exit BIOS with saving the changes:

If you have done everything correctly, you should boot in your Live USB Linux system:

Get free space for Linux

Boot into Live Linux session

Boot from the Live Linux USB. I will use Linux Mint installer as an example here, if you use Ubuntu or any Ubuntu-based distro, the process will not differ at all. If your distro is not Ubuntu-based, you still need to do the same steps as you will see in this post but the installer may look slightly different.

To install Linux alongside Windows, you can actually select such an option in the installation wizard:

It will automatically find free space on your hard drive and install Linux there. However, if you want to have little more control over how much space you allocate to Windows and Linux, you can get free space and assign it for Linux manually.

Shrink the Windows partition with GParted

Most of the Linux distros have GParted included in a Live ISO. If it is not, install it from the Software Center. Then open GParted and select the hard drive with your Windows installed:

Your Windows hard drive will be partitioned similarly to the one you see above. Most likely it will have the EFI partition, and this means you need to install Linux in the EFI mode too.

To shrink the Windows partition to get free space for Linux, you need to select the largest partition, click on the Partition menu in GParted, and select resize.

All white space is free space. So, you can shrink this partition with your mouse, or by selecting its size precisely with the number. You can take a maximum of free space for Linux if you aim to use mainly Linux, but leave some free space for Windows too, because it may not be able to work without free space left.

Click resize. Read this warning to know the risk and click OK. You will see how your partitions will look like after you apply the resizing:

So far, no changes to your hard drive have been applied. It is only a plan of action. You still can cancel everything, if you have done a mistake somewhere. However, if you are happy with this partition table. Click apply. This action will be irreversible.

Resizing will take some time. Hopefully, it will finish successfully and you can proceed with the installation.

Install Linux

To install Linux, click on the Install icons on your desktop or in your menu. The installation process is pretty standard.

I recommend to include the third party software in the installation:

Select Manual partitioning

As I mentioned before, you can select the option to Install Linux alongside Windows automatically, but I personally prefer the manual way. That’s why we shrank the Windows partition and released some free space for Linux. Manual way not only gives more control but it also helps to understand what happens to your system when you install two systems alongside each other. So, select Something else here:

Create Linux Partition

The new screen will show you the partitions of your hard drive. You need to select the free space we have created in the previous step. Then click on the add sign, to create a Linux partition in this free space:

You can keep all the options at default here but importantly you need to assign / as a mounting point to this partition.

You can also split this free space into two parts and assign one to the system / and one to /swap . But I believe it is much better to use a swap file instead. Ubuntu installer creates a swap file by default. I already explained the difference between a swap file and swap partition previously.

Check the EFI partition

Next, you need to select the EFI partition, it is usually of several hundred megabytes in size. Make sure it is detected as EFI:

Boot loader installation

Boot loader installation doesn’t matter here because it will be UEFI installation, so the boot loader will be installed in the EFI partition. You can keep the default selection.

Format column

Finally, check that only the new Linux partition will be formatted in the Format column. Because if you have other partitions selected for formatting, be careful you will lose all the data stored in those partitions. If everything is fine, click Install.

Finalize the installation

While the system is installing, select your location, provide your user information, set the password, etc.:

And then just wait until the system is installed.

After the installation, reboot the system and do not forget to remove your installation USB when you are requested to do so:

Boot into the new system

You should see this GRUB menu after the reboot. Here you can select between Linux, which will boot by default in 10 sec, and Windows:

Boot options in BIOS

If it happened that after the reboot, you booted directly in your Windows and you did not see any Linux menu, do not get upset. Likely, you have done everything right and you just need to change the boot order in your BIOS. Like I had to do in my Acer Swift 1.

Enable the Boot menu

In the Main tab, find the Boot menu and enable it:

Change the Boot order

Then go to the Boot order and you should see an additional boot option there that appeared after you installed Linux. In my case, it is still called Windows Boot Manager without the code in brackets. This is actually my Linux boot file. I do not know why BIOS branded it as Windows. So, I make it a first boot option:

And save the BIOS changes. After the reboot, you should see the GRUB menu with the choice of boot options.

Test the Boot menu

If you still boot into Windows by default, try to open the boot menu during the start of your system by pressing the F12 key (or whatever key is assigned to your BIOS Boot menu). It should bring this BIOS boot menu:

Where I can choose Ubuntu and my Linux Mint will boot. So, the BIOS Boot menu helps to make sure that Linux works, you just need to check your boot order settings, maybe Linux is not the first option there. Try different orders until you get Linux booting the first.

Why I do not recommend dual-booting

There are three main reasons I stopped dual-booting and this is also why I do not recommend dual boot.

If you use Windows in dual boot, it is possible that some updates of Windows may break your Linux installation. Theoretically, it should not happen, but it happens. Maybe Windows changes the Linux bootloader in the UEFI partition. I do not know.

If you dual boot, you will never switch to Linux. If you are used to Windows, you will tend to boot into Windows more often and you won’t like to reboot to get to Linux. So, you will not use Linux much and thus will never switch to Linux completely.

On the other hand, if you prefer Linux, Windows will just take to much space on your hard drive that is never used. So, this is not good either.

I recommend using Windows in a Virtual machine such as VirtualBox. This way your Windows can be accessed from within Linux. Windows will be less powerful than if it was installed in dual boot, but you still can do most of the things you would normally do. A virtual machine also isolates your Windows file system and this provides better protection against viruses. You can read my post on how to install Windows 10 in VirtualBox and maybe you will like that option more than dual-booting.

How To Dual Boot Linux Mint And Windows 10 [Beginner’s Guide]

Last updated November 12, 2020 By Abhishek Prakash 526 Comments

Brief: This guide shows you how to dual boot Linux Mint with Windows 10 and enjoy both Linux and Windows together in one system.

So you have decided to switch to Linux. Good decision! And if you chose to use Linux Mint, that’s even a better decision.

Linux Mint is one of the best Linux distributions for beginners. Using Linux Mint is fairly easy and installing Linux Mint is no rocket science either. In this tutorial, we’ll see how to install Linux Mint along side Windows 10.

Before that let me recap you a few things about installing Linux Mint. There are a few ways you can start using any Linux based operating system.

• Use Linux inside Windows in a virtual machine: This runs a Linux OS like any other application within Windows. This is also one of the safest ways to get a feel of Linux. However, this will utilize your system resources and if you have less than 4Gb of RAM, I won’t advise using it extensively.
• Use a live version of Linux: In this method, you put Linux on a USB or DVD and you boot from it. This is usually slow and your changes done to the Linux system are (normally) not saved. This is particularly useful if you just want to see what Linux feels like.
• Remove Windows and Linux: If you have backed up your data and have a recovery or installation disk of Windows ready with you or if you are determined that you are not going back to Windows, you can remove Windows completely and use only Linux.
• Install Linux alongside Windows: This method is called dual booting Linux with Windows. Here, you install Linux on a system that already has Windows. And when your system powers up, you can choose if you want to use Windows or Linux. This involves touching the disk partition and sometimes boot order. Absolute beginners often find it complicated but this is the best way to use Linux and Windows together in one system. And in this article, we’ll see how to dual boot Linux Mint with Windows 10.

Will dual booting Linux with Windows slow down your system?

I was asked this question several times in the Linux Users Group. So, the short answer is no. Dual booting Linux and Windows won’t slow your system in any way.

The only delay is in boot time that too because you get 10 seconds of buffer time to select between Linux and Windows. Once you have booted into either of Linux or Windows, it will work the same as if it is the only OS in the system. No impact on the usability of your system. Dual boot won’t slow down your system.

Install Linux Mint in dual boot with Windows:

Before we proceed to see the procedure to dual boot Linux Mint with Windows, let me give you some optional yet recommended safety instructions:

• Back up your data: You are going to touch disk partitions. Normally, it’s not a big issue but just in case if you touched wrong partition etc, you may lose data. So my advice is to back up your important files, documents, music, movies etc to an external disk or cloud, whichever suits you.
• Have a boot repair disk: If your boot gets messed up, you can try to repair it with boot repair disk. If you have an extra USB or CD, you can use that to create boot repair disk.
• Have a live or recovery disk of Windows ready: If your boot gets messed up and despite all efforts, you ended with an unbootable system, you can use the Windows disk to reinstall Windows.

I am not discouraging you. I am asking you to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

Remember that this article applies to computers that have Windows 10 already installed on the system. You are installing Linux Mint on an already installed Windows system, not the other way round.

I have created a detailed video tutorial on installing Linux Mint alongside Windows 10. You can refer to it if you want to see all the steps in even more details. I also advise you to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Linux tutorials.

Follow the steps below to install Linux Mint in dual boot with Windows:

Step 1: Create a live USB or disk

Go to Linux Mint website and download ISO file. This ISO file is the disk image that you can burn to a USB or DVD.

There are several versions of Linux Mint available. The default is Cinnamon. If your computer supports 64 bit, go with 64 bit Linux Mint 19.3 Cinnamon. If you know about other desktop environments, you can make your mind and choose whichever Mint version you want.

Once you have downloaded the Linux Mint ISO, you need a tool to write the image to a disk. I recommend using a free tool called Universal USB Installer in Windows:

It’s an executable exe file. Just double click on it to run the software and browse it to the ISO. Make sure that you have your USB key plugged in:

If you need more hints, here is a screenshot tutorial on how to create a live USB for Linux.

Step 2: Make a new partition for Linux Mint

This is where you have to be cautious. If you have multiple partitions (not the recovery ones), you can either use one of them or create a new partition from an existing partition. Your existing data will be safe if you have enough free space. Typically, you install Linux in under 10 Gb, however, if disk space if not a concern, I advise using 30-40Gb at least. This way you can have more space at your disposal for downloading and keeping various files.

In Windows 10, go to start menu and type ‘partition’. This will bring up Disk Management utility. Now carefully select the disk in which you’ll make some free space by shrinking the volume:

In my case, I only had the C Drive with 223Gb of space on it. So I shrunk it to make 110Gb of free partition on it. I recommend watch the video to see the exact steps you need more hint.

Step 3: Boot in to live USB

Plug the live USB or disk into the computer and restart the computer. While booting the computer press F10 or F12 function key (defers from computer to computer) to go to the boot menu. Now, choose the option to boot from USB or Removable Media.

Important Note: If your computer came with Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 and you upgraded your system to Windows 10, you may have to disable secure boot. Most modern system with Windows 10 should not need this step, especially with Linux Mint or Ubuntu.

Step 4: Start the installation

It takes some time to boot from the live USB or disk. Have some patience. Once it boots in to live disk, you’ll be provided to Try Linux Mint or Install Linux Mint. Even if you choose to try it, you can find the install option on the desktop:

In next few screens, you’ll be asked to choose the language of the operating system. It will then do some checks on available space, battery and Internet connection.

Step 5: Prepare the partition

This is the most important part of the whole installation. Where to install Linux Mint?

If you see the option to Install Linux Mint alongside Windows, you can select that. Linux Mint will handle things on its own. If you do that, skip step 5 and step 6.

But as mentioned before, I prefer separate partitions for Windows and Linux. Windows is already installed here, we’ll prepare a new partition for Linux Mint. In the Installation Type window, choose Something Else:

Step 6: Create root, swap and home

Since you already created a new partition in Windows, it’s time to install Linux Mint on it. Now, there are several ways to do it. But here, I’ll show you my favorite way and that is to have a Root, a Swap and a Home.

Create a root partition first. Choose the free space available and click on +.

Here, choose the size of the root. Root is like your C drive in Windows. Installed software, updates and other system files are under this root partition. Home partition is for your personal documents, music, downloads etc.

If you have total 100 GB at disposal, give 30 GB to root. In any case, don’t give it less than 15 GB because if root runs out of space, your system will slow down and you’ll run into issues.

I opted to have 20 GB, choose ext4 file system, and mount point as / (i.e. root):

Now, next is to create the swap partition. Now the question is what should be the swap size for Linux Mint installation?

The answer depends upon your RAM size, your needs, available disk space and whether you would use hibernation or not. You can use the below suggestion:

• RAM less than 2 GB: Swap should be double the size of RAM
• RAM between 2 to 4 GB: Swap should be RAM size + 2 GB
• RAM between 6 GB to 8 GB: Swap should be size of RAM
• RAM more than 8 GB: Swap should be half the size of RAM or less

Don’t spend too much time thinking about swap. It is helpful for systems with less memory. For system with more than 8 GB of RAM and SSD, the less the swap, the better it is.

Newer version of Linux Mint utilize Swap file. It creates a special file under root and utilizes it as swap area. You can have both swap partition and swap file in a system.

The next step is to create Home. Try to allocate the maximum size to Home because this is where you’ll be downloading and keeping the files.

Once you have created Root, Swap and Home partitions, click on Install Now button.

Step 7: Follow the trivial instructions

Technically, you have crossed the main hurdle if you reached this point successfully. Now you will be taken through a number of screens to select options like keyboard layout, login credentials etc. You don’t need to be a genius to figure out what to do here afterward. I have attached screenshots for reference purpose here.

Once the installation is over, you will be presented with the option to keep trying live version or to restart the system.

And that would be it. On next boot, you will see the option of Linux Mint on the grub screen. And thus you can enjoy the beautiful and beginner-friendly Linux distribution. I hope you found this guide to Linux Mint dual boot with Windows helpful.

Here are a few common troubleshoot you might have to do after dual booting Linux Mint:

I strongly advise you to read things to do after installing Linux Mint so that you can have a good start.

If you want to remove, you can follow this guide to uninstall Linux Mint from Windows 8 dual boot.

If you have questions, suggestions or a word of thanks, feel free to drop a comment. Stay tuned for more Linux Mint tutorials. Ciao 🙂

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