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.

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.

Manage windows on Mac

When you open an app or the Finder on your Mac, a window opens on the desktop. Only one app at a time is active; the name of the app (in bold) and the app menus are shown in the menu bar.

Some apps, such as Safari or Mail, let you open multiple windows or different types of windows at the same time. macOS provides several ways to manage open apps and windows.

Move, align and merge windows

On your Mac, do any of the following:

Move a window: Drag the window by its title bar to where you want it. Some windows can’t be moved.

Align windows: Drag a window close to another one — as the window nears the other one, it aligns without overlapping. You can position multiple windows adjacent to each other.

To make adjacent windows the same size, drag the edge you want to resize — as it nears the edge of the adjacent window, it aligns with the edge and stops.

Merge an app’s windows into one tabbed window: In the app, choose Window > Merge All Windows.

To make a tab a separate window again, select the tab, then choose Window > Move Tab to New Window, or just drag the tab out of the window. See Use tabs in windows.

Maximise or minimise windows

On your Mac, do any of the following in a window:

Maximise a window: Press and hold the Option key while you click the green maximise button in the top-left corner of an app window. To return to the previous window size, Option-click the button again.

You can also double-click an app’s title bar to maximise the window (as long as the option to do so is set to “zoom” in Dock & Menu Bar preferences).

Minimise a window: Click the yellow minimise button in the top-left corner of the window or press Command-M.

You can set an option in Dock & Menu Bar preferences to have a window minimise when you double-click its title bar.

Most windows can be manually resized. Drag the window’s edge (top, bottom, or sides) or double-click an edge to expand that side of the window.

Quickly switch between app windows

On your Mac, do any of the following:

Switch to the previous app: Press Command-Tab.

Scroll through all open apps: Press and hold the Command key, press the Tab key, then press the Left or Right arrow key until you get to the app you want. Release the Command key.

If you change your mind while scrolling through the apps and don’t want to switch apps, press Esc (Escape) or the Full Stop key, then release the Command key.

Close windows

On your Mac, do any of the following:

Close a single window: In a window, click the red Close button in the top-left corner of the window, or press Command-W.

Close all open windows for an app: Press Option-Command-W.

Closing one or all windows for an app does not close or quit the app. To do so, press Command-Q, or click the app’s name in the menu bar, then choose Quit [App]. See Quit apps.

You can hide the active app by pressing Command-H.

Use Mission Control to quickly arrange open windows and spaces in a single layer to easily spot the one you need.