Download and install Windows support software on your Mac

After using Boot Camp Assistant to install or upgrade Microsoft Windows on your Mac, you may also need to install the latest Windows support software (drivers) from Apple.

When you install Microsoft Windows on your Mac, Boot Camp Assistant automatically opens the Boot Camp installer, which installs the latest Windows support software (drivers). If that doesn’t happen or you experience any of the following issues while using Windows on your Mac, follow the steps in this article.

• Your Apple mouse, trackpad or keyboard isn’t working in Windows.
  Force Touch isn’t designed to work in Windows.
• You can’t hear audio from the built-in speakers of your Mac in Windows.
• The built-in microphone or camera of your Mac isn’t recognised in Windows.
• One or more screen resolutions are unavailable for your display in Windows.
• You can’t adjust the brightness of your built-in display in Windows.
• You’re having issues with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi in Windows.
• You’ve received an alert stating that Apple Software Update has stopped working.
• You’ve received a message stating that your PC has a driver or service that isn’t ready for this version of Windows.
• Your Mac starts up to a black or blue screen after you’ve installed Windows.

If your Mac has an AMD video card and is having graphics issues in Windows, you may need to update your AMD graphics drivers instead.

Install the latest macOS updates

Before proceeding, install the latest macOS updates, which can include updates to Boot Camp.

Format a USB flash drive

To install the latest Windows support software, you need a 16 GB or larger USB flash drive formatted as MS-DOS (FAT).

1. Start your Mac from macOS.
2. Plug the USB flash drive into your Mac.
3. Open Disc Utility, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
4. Choose View > Show All Devices from the menu bar.
5. From the sidebar in Disc Utility, select your USB flash drive. (Select the drive name, not the volume name beneath it.)
   
6. Click the Erase button or tab.
7. Choose MS-DOS (FAT) as the format and Master Boot Record as the scheme.
8. Click Erase to format the drive. When it’s finished, quit Disk Utility.

Download the Windows support software

1. Make sure your Mac is connected to the Internet.
2. Open Boot Camp Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
3. From the menu bar at the top of your screen, choose Action > Download Windows Support Software, then choose your USB flash drive as the destination to save to. When the download has been completed, quit Boot Camp Assistant.
   

Install the Windows support software

After downloading the Windows support software to your flash drive, follow these steps to install the software. (If you’re attempting to resolve issues with a Bluetooth mouse or keyboard, it may be easier to use a USB mouse or keyboard until these steps have been completed.)

1. Make sure the USB flash drive is plugged into your Mac.
2. Start up your Mac in Windows.
3. From File Explorer, open the USB flash drive, then open Setup or setup.exe, which is in the WindowsSupport folder or BootCamp folder. When you’re asked to allow Boot Camp to make changes to your device, click Yes.
4. Click Repair to begin installation. If you receive an alert stating that the software hasn’t passed Windows Logo testing, click Continue Anyway.
5. After the installation has been completed, click Finish, then click Yes when you’re asked to restart your Mac.

Learn more

If you can’t download or save the Windows support software:

• If the assistant states that the Windows support software could not be saved to the selected drive or that the USB flash drive can’t be used, make sure your USB flash drive has a storage capacity of at least 16 GB and has been formatted correctly.
• If the assistant can’t see your USB flash drive, click Go Back and make sure the drive has been connected directly to the USB port on your Mac – not to a display, hub or keyboard. Disconnect and reconnect the drive, then click Continue.
• If the assistant states that it can’t download the software because of a network problem, make sure your Mac is connected to the Internet.
• Make sure your Mac meets the system requirements to install Windows using Boot Camp.

If a Mac feature still doesn’t work after updating the Windows support software, search for your symptom on the Apple support website or Microsoft support website. Some features of your Mac aren’t designed to work in Windows.

Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested by Apple, is provided without recommendation or endorsement. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance or use of third-party websites or products. Apple makes no representations regarding third-party website accuracy or reliability. Contact the vendor for additional information.

How to install Windows on Mac

• There are two ways how can install windows on external hard drive SSD/HDD for Mac, you can use Boot Camp or you can use a virtual machine . If you decide to use Boot Camp you can create a separate partition just for Windows 10, and you can boot your iMac directly into Windows 10.
• Using Boot Camp also has some benefits such as improved performance because it uses the full hardware power of your iMac .
• Do you want to be up to date with the latest news and tips about Windows 10? Then go straight to our Windows 10 category.
• It’s never late to learn some new things about everything connected to your software and devices. Our Tech Tutorials Hub is the perfect place to start that.

Windows 10 is here as a free upgrade for many PC users, but what if you’re a Mac user? If you are Mac user and you want to run Windows 10 on iMac, today we’re going to show you two ways how can you do that.
There are two ways how can you run Windows 10 on iMac, you can use Boot Camp or you can use a virtual machine. If you decide to use Boot Camp you can create separate partition just for Windows 10, and you can boot your iMac directly into Windows 10.

Using Boot Camp also has some benefits such as improved performance because it uses the full hardware power of your iMac.

Before we start, you should know that most Macs from late 2012 can run Windows 10, but make sure that your computer is on the list here. Our previous guide was referring to the preview version of Windows 10 and not the final one.

How can I install Windows 10 on iMac using Boot Camp?

Firstly you need to download the 64-bit version of Windows 10 Disc Image from here. Next, you’ll need a 16GB or more USB flash drive to add Windows 10 installer to it. Great thing is that Boot Camp is now updated and it supports Windows 10 on 64-bit iMacs, but make sure that you check for all available updates.

Also, make sure that you have at least 30GB of free space on your hard drive.

If you have Windows 10 ISO downloaded open the Boot Camp Assistant and check Create a Windows 10 install disk, and Install Windows 10. Connect your USB drive and select Windows 10 .iso file.

Now Boot Camp will transfer Windows 10 install to your USB along with some of its drivers. This process might take some time, so you’ll need to be patient.

This is crucial, you need to partition your hard drive since one partition will be used to run Windows 10, while others will run Mac OS. Like we said earlier 30GB or more should be enough for Windows 10. When you have this completed you can click Install and Windows 10 installation will start.

During the installation process, your Windows might restart a few times, and you might have to wait on We’re getting our apps ready screen for 10 on more minutes.

After all of this is finished your computer will reboot into Windows 10, but if it doesn’t you can hold Option / Alt key and choose which operating system you want to run Mac OS or Windows 10. Enter your product key and select Windows Boot Camp partition to install Windows on.

Follow the installation and you should boot into Windows 10 when you’re finished.

In the end, you need to locate Boot Camp drivers that are on your USB stick and install them.

How do I install Windows 10 on iMac using VirtualBox?

Another way of installing Windows 10 on your iMac is by using virtual machine. There are all sorts of solutions available, but we’ll show you how to install it using a freeware tool called VirtualBox.

Before we start make sure that you have downloaded VirtualBox and Windows 10 ISO.

1. Press the New button in the VirtualBox toolbar and name your virtual machine, for example, Windows 10, and in the Type field select Microsoft Windows. Then click Continue.
2. As you may know, virtual machine software runs with your OS, so it needs to borrow some of your computer’s resources.
3. Select the amount of memory that you want to assign to the virtual machine, for example, 2GB or more, and then click Continue.
4. Now, you’ll be asked to assign hard drive space to your virtual machine. The recommended amount of hard drive space is usually enough. Choose Create a virtual hard disk now and click Create. You’ll be asked what kind of drive you want to create, and VDI is usually the best option.
5. Next screen will ask you if you wish to dynamically assign memory when needed or do you wish to assign all of it right away. Usually the better option is to choose Dynamically allocated.
6. You have now created your virtual machine. Now just press Start to start it.
7. Next find your Windows 10 ISO file.
8. Follow the instructions and complete the installation.

That’s all, now you know how to install Windows 10 on iMac with both Boot Camp and using Virtual Box.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you install windows on a mac?

Yes, you can, and the best tool you can do that with is Boot Camp. You can also use a virtual machine like VirtualBox.

How to install windows 7 on mac?

Open Finder and go to Applications > Utilities and double click on Boot Camp Assistant. Next, set the partition size for Windows. After you create the partition, you will see the BOOTCAMP icon on your desktop. Next, insert your Windows 7 DVD and click on Start installation. When you are prompted, select the Bootcamp partition to install Windows.

What os x utility allows you to install and run windows on a mac computer?

The best way to running Windows on a Mac is by using the Boot Camp tool. However, you will not be able to run both systems at the same time. You will have to switch from one to another. If you want to run both of them at the same time you will have to use virtualization software like VirtualBox.

Install Windows on your newer Mac using Boot Camp

You can use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10 on your Intel-based Mac.

Newer Mac computers use a streamlined method to install Windows on your Mac. To find out whether your Mac uses this method, see the “Learn more” section in the Apple Support article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant. If your Mac is an older model that requires an external USB drive, follow the instructions in Install Windows on your older Mac using Boot Camp instead.

What you need

The keyboard and mouse or trackpad that came with your Mac. If they aren’t available, use a USB keyboard and mouse.

A full-installation, 64-bit version of Windows 10 on a disk image (ISO file) or other installation media.

Sufficient free storage space on your startup drive. For information about the amount of free space needed, see the Apple Support Article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant.

Before you begin

Before you install Windows, make sure you back up important files.

You can use Time Machine or any other method to back up your files. For information about backing up files, see Back up your files with Time Machine and Ways to back up or protect your files.

Perform the installation

On your Mac, do the following steps in order.

Step 1: Check for software updates

Before you install Windows, install all macOS updates.

On your Mac, log in as an administrator, quit all open apps, then log out any other users.

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Software Update, then install all available macOS updates.

If your Mac restarts after installing an update, open Software Update again to install any additional updates.

Step 2: Prepare your Mac for Windows

Boot Camp Assistant prepares your Mac by creating a new partition for Windows named BOOTCAMP and downloading the Boot Camp support software.

Important: If you’re using a Mac notebook computer, connect it to a power source before continuing.

On your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant , located in /Applications/Utilities.

At the Introduction screen, click Continue.

The system is checked for total available disk space. Older Time Machine snapshots and cached iCloud files are removed to make space for Boot Camp. This process may take a long time to complete (you can click the Stop button to skip this process).

If you have only one internal disk, choose the Windows ISO image, specify the partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions, then click Install.

Important: You can’t resize the partition later.

If you have multiple internal disks, follow the onscreen instructions to select and format the disk you want to install Windows on and to choose the Windows ISO image.

If you select your startup disk: You can create an additional partition for Windows. Specify the partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions.

If you select an APFS-formatted disk: You can either create an additional partition on the disk for Windows, or erase the entire disk and create a partition for Windows. If you choose to create an additional partition, specify the partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions.

If you select a non-APFS-formatted disk: You can erase the entire disk and create a partition for Windows.

If Boot Camp is already present on the disk you select, you also have the option to uninstall it.

Important: You can’t resize the partition later.

When this step is complete, the Windows installer starts.

Step 3: Install Windows

In the Windows installer, follow the onscreen instructions.

When the installation is finished, your Mac automatically restarts using Windows.

Follow the onscreen instructions to set up Windows.

Step 4: Install Boot Camp on Windows

After installing Windows, Boot Camp drivers that support your Mac hardware start installing.

Note: If the support software doesn’t install automatically, you need to install it manually. For instructions, see the Apple Support article If the Boot Camp installer doesn’t open after using Boot Camp Assistant.

In the Boot Camp installer in Windows, follow the onscreen instructions.

Important: Do not click the Cancel button in any of the installer dialogs.

If a message appears that says the software you’re installing has not passed Windows Logo testing, click Continue Anyway.

You don’t need to respond to installer dialogs that appear only briefly during installation, but if a dialog asks you to install device software, click Install.

If nothing appears to be happening, there may be a hidden window that you must respond to. Look behind open windows.

When the installation is complete, click Finish.

After your Mac restarts, follow the instructions for any other installers that appear.