Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant

With Boot Camp, you can install Microsoft Windows 10 on your Mac, then switch between macOS and Windows when restarting your Mac.

What you need to install Windows 10 on Mac

• MacBook introduced in 2015 or later
• MacBook Air introduced in 2012 or later
• MacBook Pro introduced in 2012 or later
• Mac mini introduced in 2012 or later

• iMac introduced in 2012 or later 1
• iMac Pro (all models)
• Mac Pro introduced in 2013 or later

The latest macOS updates, which can include updates to Boot Camp Assistant. You will use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10.

64GB or more free storage space on your Mac startup disk:

• Your Mac can have as little as 64GB of free storage space, but at least 128GB of free storage space provides the best experience. Automatic Windows updates require that much space or more.
• If you have an iMac Pro or Mac Pro with 128GB of memory (RAM) or more, your startup disk needs at least as much free storage space as your Mac has memory. 2

An external USB flash drive with a storage capacity of 16GB or more, unless you’re using a Mac that doesn’t need a flash drive to install Windows.

A 64-bit version of Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro on a disk image (ISO) or other installation media. If installing Windows on your Mac for the first time, this must be a full version of Windows, not an upgrade.

• If your copy of Windows came on a USB flash drive, or you have a Windows product key and no installation disc, download a Windows 10 disk image from Microsoft.
• If your copy of Windows came on a DVD, you might need to create a disk image of that DVD.

How to install Windows 10 on Mac

To install Windows, use Boot Camp Assistant, which is included with your Mac.

1. Check your Secure Boot setting

Learn how to check your Secure Boot setting. The default Secure Boot setting is Full Security. If you changed it to No Security, change it back to Full Security before installing Windows. After installing Windows, you can use any Secure Boot setting without affecting your ability to start up from Windows.

2. Use Boot Camp Assistant to create a Windows partition

Open Boot Camp Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Follow the onscreen instructions.

• If you’re asked to insert a USB drive, plug your USB flash drive into your Mac. Boot Camp Assistant will use it to create a bootable USB drive for Windows installation.
• When Boot Camp Assistant asks you to set the size of the Windows partition, remember the minimum storage-space requirements in the previous section. Set a partition size that meets your needs, because you can’t change its size later.

3. Format the Windows (BOOTCAMP) partition

When Boot Camp Assistant finishes, your Mac restarts to the Windows installer. If the installer asks where to install Windows, select the BOOTCAMP partition and click Format. In most cases, the installer selects and formats the BOOTCAMP partition automatically.

4. Install Windows

Unplug any external devices that aren’t necessary during installation. Then click Next and follow the onscreen instructions to begin installing Windows.

5. Use the Boot Camp installer in Windows

After Windows installation completes, your Mac starts up in Windows and opens a ”Welcome to the Boot Camp installer” window. Follow the onscreen instructions to install Boot Camp and Windows support software (drivers). You will be asked to restart when done.

• If the Boot Camp installer never opens, open the Boot Camp installer manually and use it to complete Boot Camp installation.
• If you have an external display connected to a Thunderbolt 3 port on your Mac, the display will be blank (black, gray, or blue) for up to 2 minutes during installation.

How to switch between Windows and macOS

Restart, then press and hold the Option (or Alt) ⌥ key during startup to switch between Windows and macOS.

Learn more

If you have one of these Intel-based Mac models using OS X El Capitan or later, you don’t need a USB flash drive to install Windows:

• MacBook introduced in 2015 or later
• MacBook Air introduced in 2017 or later 3
• MacBook Pro introduced in 2015 or later 3

• iMac introduced in 2015 or later
• iMac Pro (all models)
• Mac Pro introduced in late 2013 or later

For more information about using Windows on your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant and click the Open Boot Camp Help button.

1. If you’re using an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) or iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) or iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) with a 3TB hard drive and macOS Mojave or later, learn about an alert you might see during installation.

2. For example, if your Mac has 128GB of memory, its startup disk must have at least 128GB of storage space available for Windows. To see how much memory your Mac has, choose Apple menu  > About This Mac. To see how much storage space is available, click the Storage tab in the same window.

3. These Mac models were offered with 128GB hard drives as an option. Apple recommends 256GB or larger hard drives so that you can create a Boot Camp partition of at least 128GB.

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.

Running Windows on Mac is Easy with these Software

Mac users can resonate with the awesome experience it provides to its users.

But it’s also true that nothing in the world can be 100% effective or flawless. That means your precious Mac also has some shortcomings.

The tech giant Apple prefers to go with things in its own style, and in the process of doing so, it might annoy its customers.

Modern-day businesses are dominated by Windows computers. Many important applications and programs that a number of industries use can only run on Microsoft Windows.

Example – the Microsoft Office for Windows has the Access database, which is not available for Mac.

Understanding this, Apple offers its users the choice between macOS or Windows for that matter.

Fortunately, there are different ways you can run Windows on Mac in order to access all those professional applications, software tools, Access, and mind-boggling Windows games.

So, when you feel the urgency for switching to Windows, you can invest a few dollars on buying software, which allows you to run Windows instead of buying another laptop or desktop.

There are many benefits; let’s explore them.

Performance

When you first install Windows on your Mac and start working on it, you could feel a bump in its performance. If you want to use the system for utilizing useful software tools or applications, it will work wonders for you.

Additionally, if you want to play high-end video games on it, you can enjoy a smooth gaming experience for hours without a hitch.

Great for developers

Developing websites, applications or software is tricky, and testing them is more time-consuming and frustrating. Developers know the pain of finding errors, bugs, or other complications that require their immediate attention and fixation.

Besides, they have to check their functionality across different operating systems, which further burden them. So, if they do not separate macOS and Windows computers, they can install Windows on their Mac and test the programs.

Windows works best on Mac

This is hard, but true!

Windows works best on Mac computers because of the robustness of Apple and powerful performance like greater graphics, fewer lags, and high frame rates of Windows. Both technologies make Windows on Mac work smooth like butter and fast like lightning.

Reduced costs

You don’t require investing in a Windows computer. Hence, it cuts down extra expenses, which is a huge relief for individual or small business.

Are you convinced yet?

Let’s explore some of the software you can use to run Windows on your Mac computer.

Parallels

An application that delivers fast performance and easy to use is desirable. And Parallels has got it covered for you!

Run Windows on your Mac system without rebooting it. It includes over 30 utilities that simplify your tasks on both Windows and Mac.

Keep accessing and using data and apps from any operating system and device from anywhere. You can develop and test across different OSes for Mac in a VM, access MS Office for Internet Explorer and Windows. Move your files, applications, etc. quickly from a PC to your Mac.

The software is compatible with various Mac versions, including MacBook Pro, MacBook, iMac Pro, Mac Pro, or Mac mini. Share files, copy & paste images as well as text, drag & drop files from Windows applications and Mac seamlessly.

Parallels are easy to set up and offer fast performance, with apps running effortlessly with no slowdowns. You can select your view and utilize features like:

• Greater flexibility of working with Windows 7, 8.1, and 10, OS X, Linux, macOS Server, and Unix
• Touch Bar to get instant access as well as customization
• Works well with Boot Camp
• 1-click tuning to optimize VM performance and settings for software development, testing, design, productivity, and games
• Free upgrades for the latest versions

What’s more – students can save 50% through a special Parallel academic version for desktop. It includes 40+ 1-click productivity tools where you can minimize distractions, take screenshots, etc. you also get 30-day premium support 24/7 through phone and emails.

VMware Fusion

With VMware Fusion, you can choose 100s of operating systems that are supported on it. It includes the latest Windows 10, latest macOS, and even Linux distributions.

The common platform of VMware lets you connect with ESXi, vSphere as well as Workstation servers to manage, launch and control the physical hosts and virtual machines alike. You can transfer VMs easily from the data center of vSphere to your Mac desktop to run it in Fusion.

Additionally, Fusion Pro also has a RESTful API for integrating with advanced development tools such as Docker, Ansible, Chef, Vagrant, and more.

Hence, VMware is capable of aligning with modern DevOps-oriented and Agile-based production pipelines. Its features are:

• Run any OS on macOS 10.15 Catalina and avoid rebooting
• Supports Dark Mode
• Sidecar feature to drive Windows using iPad
• It uses the graphics technology – Apple Metal for accelerated 3-D graphics
• Supports complex and GPU-intensive apps and games
• Unity View Mode to hide your Windows desktop, allowing to use Windows applications same as Mac applications

Boot Camp

Boot Camp is a Mac utility, allowing you to switch between Windows and macOS. If you want to use Windows on your Mac, just download a Windows 10 copy and let the utility do the rest. The Boot Camp Assistant helps you install the operating system.

Boot Camp is also referred to as dual-booting that makes you run macOS and Windows on a single hard drive side by side. This method offers better performance as compared to virtual machines as Windows can leverage all the resources of the system.

The steps involved in Windows installation powered by Boot Camp Assistant:

• Create a Windows partition and set its size based on your requirements. Note: You cannot change the size later
• Format your Boot camp partition
• Now, install the Windows
• After Windows installation, follow the instruction on the screen to install Windows drivers and Boot Camp

VirtualBox

VirtualBox is one of the powerful virtualization products that both enterprises and home users can leverage.

The feature-rich, Open Source software is an Intel64/AMD64 and x86 virtualization product and exhibits high performance. It is licensed under GNU GPL.

It supports multiple guest OS, including Windows 7, 8, 10, Vista, XP, 2000, Server 2003, and NT 4.0 along with Linux 4.x, 3.x, 2.6, and 2.4; DOS/Windows 3.x, OpenSolaris, Solaris, OpenBSD, and OS/2.

VirtualBox is constantly evolving with frequent releases, features, platforms on which it runs, support for OS, etc. It is as a result of dedicated effort by the community boosted with encouragement to contribute more. And Oracle always ensures that VirtualBox meets quality criteria to continue serving the consumers.

CrossOver

Run Windows smoothly on your Mac using CrossOver. It runs 1000s of Windows applications on Mac, including software for utility, productivity, design, games, and more.

With CrossOver, you require no VMs or Windows licenses. Just enjoy native functionalities like keyboard shortcuts, copy and paste, mission control, etc.

CrossOver is simple to set up with 1-click installation and use applications at top speed. Available at a starting price of just $39.95, the software is an economical choice. It also saves plenty of your computer resources and occupies only the space the Windows programs need while saving you from hassles of rebooting.

It is compatible with popular accounting software such as Quicken, office and business software like MS Office, gaming software such as Steam, and many more. Its features are:

• Compatible with Catalina
• works at native speed
• Simple installation
• Integrates seamlessly with a desktop environment
• ‘Bottles’ – a CrossOver feature that allows individual Windows environments such as Windows 7, XP, etc. for getting packaged and contained with your existing programs.

PlayOnMac

PlayOnMac lets you install and then use multiple software and games easily that are designed to run on Windows.

The software is FREE as compared to other solutions like VMs and Boot Camp, whose licenses require you to invest hefty money on them. It is user-friendly and does not compromise on performance. In addition, it integrates seamlessly with different OS types and requires no reboot.

Many alternatives for running Windows on Mac use Windows OS for running Windows-based programs. However, Wine stands out from the league. It is a kind of compatibility layer that allows you to run your Windows applications on different POSIX-compliant OS like macOS, BSD, and Linux.

Are you wondering why it is named as ‘wine’?

Originally, ‘Wine’ is an acronym used in the place of “Wine Is Not an Emulator”.

So, as the name suggests, Wine translates API calls of Windows into POSIX calls on-the-go, rather than simulating the internal logic of Windows like an emulator or virtual machine. Consequently, the memory and performance penalties associated with other methods arise.

Hence, by using Wine, you can integrate your Windows applications cleanly into your macOS. For improved experience and convenience, you can also try Wine with a 3rd-party WineBottler.

Conclusion

To all the Mac users wanting to leverage the power of Windows on the same computer, try any of the above-explained software. Choose the one based on your requirements and budget and keep enjoying all sorts of software compatible on both macOS and Windows.