6 Best Ways To Run Windows On Mac In 2021 (inc. M1 Macs)

Nowadays it has never been easier to run Windows on a Mac so we’ve looked at the best ways to do so in 2021 including on M1 Macs.

Installing Windows 10 on your Mac is useful for many reasons from running Windows only software to playing PC only games.

It’s also much cheaper and more convenient than buying a separate PC or laptop just to use Windows on.

However, there’s no doubt that some ways of installing Windows 10 on a Mac are much easier, reliable and effective than others.

We’ve taken a closer look at the different options available so you can decide which one is best for you.

Are There Any Risks Installing Windows on Mac?

Because installing Windows on a Mac involves separating it into either a virtual environment or a separate partition on your hard drive, there are absolutely no risks installing Windows on your Mac.

Running Windows on a Mac effectively isolates the rest of your Mac from any potential problems with viruses, malware or adware.

If the Windows installation were to get a virus or corrupted in some way, it wouldn’t damage macOS. You can simply delete the installation and reinstall it.

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With this in mind, here then are the best ways to install Windows on a Mac of 2021 in order of ranking.

1. Virtual Machine (Best For Beginners)

A virtual machine (also known as a virtual environment or virtualization software) allows you to run Windows “virtually” within macOS.

By far the two best virtual machines for Mac users are Parallels and VMWare Fusion.

There’s also VirtualBox which is free and open source but much harder to setup and use.

Although VMWare has improved a lot, we still think Parallels is the best way to run Windows on your Mac in 2021 for its ease of installation, speed, and the way it conveniently allows you to switch between macOS and Windows instantly.

You can even install Windows on a Mac for free with Parallels as you only need to purchase a Windows 10 activation key nowadays if you want to customize it.

Or if you already have Windows 10 installed on a PC, you can use the same 25 figure activation key during the Windows installation process in Parallels to get another fully activated copy for free on your Mac.

Virtual Machines are by far the most convenient Windows on Mac solution for most users because they allow you to use your Mac as normal but switch to a a Windows application at any time when you need it.

You have full access to the rest of your Mac apps while enjoying the convenience of having the Windows available too.

Parallels has got this off to a tee nowadays with Coherence Mode blurring the line between macOS and Windows so that you can work in both with almost no separation between the two.

Apple’s latest generation of Silicon Macs use a different ARM M1 chip and Parallels is the currently the only way to run Windows on Apple silicon M1 Macs.

The main rival to Parallels is VMWare Fusion which has now released a free version for non-commercial use but we’ve found that nothing comes close to Parallels in terms of ease of setup, use and support.

Parallels costs $79.99 for a home license or $99.99 for a Pro License suitable for developers, testers and power users.

For a limited time you can also get 50% off Parallels with an educational discount for students and teachers.

If you want to learn more, check out our full Parallels Desktop review.

Pros:

• Very easy to install Windows
• Runs Windows and macOS simultaneously
• Excellent for gaming
• Fast startup and shutdown time
• Optimized for macOS Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur and Windows 10
• Now supports DirectX and Metal
• Runs Windows on M1 Macs

Cons:

• Updates aren’t free
• Requires a separate license for each Mac you want to install it on
• Subscription pricing model
• Not yet officially compatible with Apple Silicon M1 chip Macs
• Can’t accelerate graphics card for gaming as well as Boot Camp

2. Apple Boot Camp (Best For Gamers)

By far the most popular alternative to installing Windows with a virtualization software is by using Apple Boot Camp.

Using Boot Camp to run Windows and install Windows only games is especially popular with gamers because Boot Camp leverages more power from your graphics card as it doesn’t have to run a virtual machine like Parallels does.

This makes playing games like Valheim on a Mac much smoother and less choppy as there are far fewer dropped frames.

Boot Camp is a free tool in macOS which allows you to install Windows on a partition on your Mac hard drive so you can choose whether to boot your Mac in either Windows or macOS.

The advantage of this is that it dedicates all of your Mac’s resources to an application which may require a lot of RAM or processing power such as CAD software, graphic design apps or games.

Because Boot Camp only allows your Mac to boot in either Windows or macOS (rather than running both at the same time as with a virtual environment) your Mac can devote all of its resources to the high demands of games and other power hungry applications.

The other big advantage of Boot Camp is that it’s free in macOS – just search for “Boot Camp” using Spotlight on your Mac and you’ll see it.

The disadvantage of installing Windows with Boot Camp is that you’re restricted to using either Windows or macOS at one time – you can’t switch between the two instantly like with virtualization software.

Finally, be aware that Apple has confirmed that Boot Camp will not work with Apple Silicon M1 Macs which is the new chipset and ARM processors that powers new Macs from late 2020 onwards.

If you are thinking of buying a new Mac in 2021, Boot Camp is definitely not an option if you want to install Windows on it.

If you’re also interested in other ways to play Windows games on a Mac, you may also be interested in GeForce Now For Mac which is a gaming platform by NVIDIA which allows Mac users to play Windows only games in the Cloud.

How To Install Windows 10 On Mac For Free

Many Mac users are still unaware that you can install Windows 10 on Mac for free from Microsoft perfectly legally. Microsoft doesn’t actually require users to activate Windows 10 with a product key unless you want to customize the look of it.

Although you can of course purchase a Windows 10 license (which costs $119.99 from Microsoft) the only advantage of activating it is that it allows you to customize the look for Windows 10 such as the desktop, lock screen, styling, removal of watermarks etc.

For most Mac users that just want to install Windows only programs or games on macOS, this is not necessary and so you can enjoy Windows 10 for free.

Here we show you how you can easily get Windows 10 on your Mac for free in little more than 10 minutes.

How To Run Windows 10 on Mac For Free

The best way to run Windows on a Mac is to install it in a virtual machine.

A virtual machine allows you to run Windows and macOS at the same time so that you can switch between the two at any moment with just one click.

By far the best virtual environment on Mac is Parallels which makes it extremely easy to install Windows on macOS. With Parallels, you can switch between Windows games or apps and macOS instantly in just a click.

Parallels is also the only way to run Windows on M1 Macs although this is currently in a preview version and not available in the official release yet.

The alternative to a virtual machine is to install Windows separately to macOS using Apple’s Boot Camp but this means that you can only boot your Mac in either macOS or Windows at one time – you can’t run them simultaneously.

Boot Camp also does not work with Apple Silicon M1 Macs.

For the needs of most Mac users that want to run Windows only programs on Mac, using a virtual machine is by far your best option.

The only reason you may want to use Boot Camp is if the Windows program or game you want to use requires dedicating all of your Mac’s resources to. Examples include powerful CAD applications or graphic design software.

It’s also ideal if you to use Internet Explorer on a Mac to access certain websites (such as some banking sites) that will only work with it.

Note that before you start, you should have at least 15GB of hard drive space free in order to install Parallels and Windows.

However, we recommend having much more than this because that will only be enough to run Windows comfortably. If you want to install Windows only games and applications, you’ll need several hundred gigabytes of space.

The good news is that if you’re running low on space, you can get an external drive for your Mac and install Windows on that although it’s generally better to install it on your Mac hard drive if possible.

With this in mind, follow these instructions to install Windows 10 on Mac for free.

• Download Parallels for Mac. Although there are other virtual machines are available, Parallels is by far the easiest way to install Windows 10 on Mac. Parallels has been around for many years and the installation process in the latest version of Parallels is now so automated and refined then it even downloads and install Windows 10 for you. All you need to do is install Parallels itself. You don’t even need to purchase it to try it – you can download a free trial of Parallels instead.
• Double click on the Parallels installer. Note that you can’t just drag it into your Applications folder – you need to run the installer for Parallels to install in macOS. You may see a warning that “Parallels is an application downloaded from the internet. Are you sure you want to open it?” Click Open and you will then need to enter your Mac admin password in order to allow the installer to run.
• If you’ve never installed Parallels on your Mac before, when the installer is complete it will automatically launch the Windows 10 installation wizard. This conveniently installs Windows 10 on your Mac with no further action needed from you. Simply click Install Windows at the bottom and then skip to step 5 and sit back for about 10 minutes while Windows 10 downloads and installs.

• If you have previously tried installing Parallels on your Mac before, Parallels will detect this and you may not see the auto-installer above. Instead you will see the New Virtual Machine installation assistant below. Click on Get Windows 10 From Microsoft.

• You’ll be given a choice of Windows versions to choose from. Select the last option Download Windows 10 – don’t worry about the “If you have a license key” warning because as highlighted in the introduction to this tutorial, you no longer need to activate Windows 10 to actually use it.

• Parallels will then download a free ISO image of Windows 10. The ISO image is a fully functional free “unactivated” version of Windows 10. The only benefit that activation offers is the ability to customize Windows 10 with wallpapers, themes, lock screens etc and it also removes a small watermark on the lower right hand corner of Windows so you really don’t have to pay for an license if you don’t want to.

• If for any reason Parallels can’t download Windows 10, you can download the free ISO image of Windows 10 from Microsoft yourself and put it on a Pen Drive with at least 5GB of space. You would then have to select the second option in the Virtual Machine Wizard Install Windows from a DVD or Image File. If you go this route, make sure you download the 64-bit version of Windows and not the 32-bit version.

• Before the Windows installer starts, you will be prompted to create a Parallels account. This is done instantly when you enter your email and click Create Account – you don’t have to wait for any confirmation emails or anything, you just have to choose a password. You can also use your Facebook or Google account to sign-up instead.

• When you’ve created a Parallels account, you will see Windows being setup just as if you were installing it on a PC. This can take up to to ten minutes to complete and you’ll see a progress bar across the bottom.

• After the installer has run, Windows will start the final setup phase. Don’t worry if it seems to hang as it’s still working.

• Windows will then go into the final setup phase and you’ll then be warned it could take several minutes (although it should only be a few minutes at most). Make sure you don’t turn off your Mac or press anything.

• Finally, you’ll see an “Installation Complete” message and hey presto, you’ve got Windows 10 on your Mac.

• When you use Windows for the first time, you will hear and see various pop-ups in Windows as Parallels automatically detects hardware on your Mac. This is one of the best things about Parallels as it instantly integrates Windows with your Mac. With other virtual environments, you usually have to manually configure ports, hardware and sharing between your Mac and PC but Parallels automates the entire process so that your Mac and PC work in harmony from the start. You’ll even see all of your Mac desktop documents on your Windows desktop without having to do anything.
• You may also see a Windows Activation screen pop-up but you can simply click Close it unless you’ve bought a full license for Windows and have a product key.

• If you’re installing Windows only Office applications, we’ve provided full instructions on how to run Publisher on Mac and run Access on Mac. You can also install Office by going to the Windows 10 Start Menu and selecting Get Office.

And that’s it – you’ve installed Windows 10 on your Mac for free!

The only cost you’ll face is that after 14 days, the free trial of Parallels will expire. You’ll then have to choose whether to buy a license for $79.99 or you can choose an annual subscription of $79.99 per year which includes free upgrades.

Parallels is updated frequently to keep apace of updates to macOS and Windows so this may work out cheaper in the long run than having to buy a new version every year if new versions of macOS and Windows are released.

You don’t have to upgrade every year but the likelihood is you’ll need to upgrade at least every 2-3 years or so as Macs, macOS and Windows evolve.

One thing to be aware of is that you may notice that your Mac’s cooling fans go into overdrive when installing Windows via Parallels and running Windows on your Mac.

This is because running a virtual environment is a very intensive process for your Mac’s resources and Windows will need a lot of RAM and CPU power to run on your Mac.

The system requirements for Parallels are an Intel Core processor with a minimum of 4GB of RAM but it recommends 8GB of RAM.

However, even when running it on a MacBook Pro with a 2.3 GHz Intel Core iZ with 8GB, it’s still pushing it. If you check Activity Monitor, you may notice that Windows 10 sometimes uses all of your CPU resources.

Don’t be alarmed by this – your Mac can handle it but you should reduce the number of applications running on your Mac to a minimum to help Parallels and Windows operate as smoothly as possible.

The best advice is basically to use Parallels on the newest Mac possible with the most RAM possible.

The latest iMac Pros have 8, 10 or 18 Core processors which will handle Parallels virtualization software with ease.

The latest version of Parallels has some nice new touches and has been optimized for Mojave.

It supports the new Dark Mode and there’s also a handy picture-in-picture mode that allows you to keep your Windows desktop window in view at all times while you work in macOS.

Parallels is also the only virtual machine for Mac that works with the latest generation of Touch Bar MacBook Pros.

You can configure the Touch Bar to launch Windows apps such as Internet Explorer, OneNote, Chrome etc or change volume, brightness and other settings.

You can see the full set of preconfigured actions and configurations built into Parallels by default below:

You can even configure it so that your Windows Task Bar:

is the same as your Touch Bar for easier launching of apps:

You can pretty much configure the Touch Bar to work however you want although it can get quite complicated to setup specific actions as you need to know a little about XML code but you can find full instructions how to do so here.

Parallels can be used to install any operating system including Linux and older versions of Windows.

However, we don’t advise installing older versions of Windows unless you really need them, especially as old as Windows XP because it is no longer supported by Microsoft.

We hope this tutorial has shown you how easy it is to install Windows 10 on your Mac for free but if you have any questions, problems or suggestions, let us know in the comments below.

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9 Responses

Very helpful article. Appreciate the info. I am working off a MacBook Air, Big Sur OS, 1.6GHz Dual Core Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM. Do you think I will have any issues with downloading Paralles/Windows 10 and/or eventual operation?

You should have no problems at all with that spec.

I prefer to run Windows natively, I use Windows 10 a lot on my Mac’s. Apple moving to a custom ARM chip for Mac’s means that Boot Camp is no more. Parallels is working on a M1 Mac based preview but even that application will only run ARM based operating systems. So don’t count on running a X86 Windows version, possibly their ARM Windows but that is so far from perfect as a Windows OS. I won’t buy another Mac after my Intel ones have died or become unsupported. I think Apple switched to its chips purely on locking in users and making more profits. Will it work? I have my doubts since the whole platform becomes locked to Apple.

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