How to install Windows on Mac: Step-by-step guide - MacPaw

How to get Windows on Mac ; Download CleanMyMac here. Run the app and click Scan. ; Visit the Windows 10 disk image download website. Go to the ... RussiahasattackedUkraine.Here’swhatMacPawisdoingtomakesureourteammembersandinfrastructurearesafe. CleanMyMacX OneappforallMacissues. HowTo Blog HowTo News Reviews Malwarepedia Blog HowTo News Reviews Malwarepedia Search HitReturnorEntertosearch. HowtogetWindowsonMac IgorDegtiarenko WriterandbloggeratMacPaw,curiousjustabouteverything. BeforeyoudownloadWindows RunningWindowsonaMaccancausesoftwareconflicts.That’swhyyoumaywanttocheckyourMacforoutdatedappsfirst. Sohere’satip:DownloadafreeversionofCleanMyMactofindyouroutdatedbackgroundapps.Youwillknowhowmanyunwantedappsyou’vegotandhowmuchjunktheycontain.Now,let’scheckmoreideasandsolutions. MacvsWindows.WindowsvsMac.Whychooseifyoucangetthebestofbothworldsbydualbooting?InstallWindowsonMacsoyoucanjumpbackandforthfromoneoperatingsystemtoanotheronthesamecomputer. Bynow,thepracticeiswell-establishedandWindowscanworkonMacwell.Inthisarticle,we’llhaveadeeplookatinstallingWindowsonMac.Don’tworry,we’llhaveyourbackthewholewaythrough! BootCampforMacvsvirtualizationsoftware IfyouwanttoinstallWindowsonyourMac,youhavetwooptions.YoucaneitheruseMacBootCamp,anativefeatureofthemacOSoperatingsystem,oryoucanuseathirdpartyvirtualizationprogram.Bothmethodshavetheirownprosandcons,solet’sdivein. BootCampisbuiltintotheoperatingsystemofallMacs.IfyougotoyourApplications>Utilitiesfolder,you’llseetheBootCampAssistantapp.ItmakestheseparatepartitiononyourharddriveforinstallingandrunningWindows.OnceWindowsisinstalledinBootCamp,everytimeyouturnonyourMac,youwillbeaskedtochoosetheoperatingsystemyouwanttorun.ThismeansthatinordertoswitchfrommacOStoWindows,youneedtorebootyourcomputer. Advantages builtintoyouroperatingsystemeasytouse —BootCampAssistantguidesyouthroughtheinstallationprocessputslessstrainonyourMac’smemoryandprocessingpowercompletelyfree(notWindowsofcourse)easytoupdate Disadvantages youneedtorebootyourcomputertoswitchbetweenthesystemstransferringdatabetweenoperatingsystemsisn’teasy Virtualizationprogramsarethird-partyapplicationsthatallowtoinstallaseparateoperatingsystemononemachine.TheyrunlikeanyotherapponyourMac,soyoucanseetheentireWindowsdesktopwithinawindowonyourcomputer. AmongthemostpopularvirtualizationprogramsareVirtualBox,Parallels,andVMware.Eachonehasitspeculiarities,butwe’lltrytosumupwhattheyhaveincommon. Advantages youcanrunbothoperatingsystemsatthesametimeeasyfileintegrationbetweensystems Disadvantages youneedatleast8GBofRAMforMactorunsmoothlyvirtualizationappsarenotcheapupdatesarenotfree Dependingonyourspecificneeds,youcanchoosetheoptionthatworksbestforyou.ButwesuggestusingBootCamp.It’safreenativefeatureofyouroperatingsystem,runningdirectlyonyourhardware.Therefore,itwillbefasterthananyothermethod.Andbelow,you’llfindallinformationonhowtorunBootCamponyourMac. HowtouseBootCamp:PreparingyourMac 1.Checkthesystemrequirements SomeversionsofWindowsrequireacertainprocessorandmoreharddrivespacethantheothers.Therefore,youhavetocheckthedocumentationthatcamewithyourcopyofWindowstolearnwhatyouneed. YoualsoneedtomakesurethatyourMaciscompatiblewiththeversionofWindowsyouwanttoinstall.Forinstance,Windows10issupportedonthesemodels: MacBook(2015andlater)MacBookPro(2012andlater)MacBookAir(2012andlater)iMac(2012andlater)MacMini(2012andlater) 2.Cleanupyourharddrive Youneedtohaveatleast55GBoffreediskspaceonyourstartupdriveforinstallingWindowsonaMac.Andifyoudon’tfeellikespendingthenextseveralhourscleaningyourMacmanually,youcanuseapowerfulutilityCleanMyMacX tofindandremoveallthejunkfromyourstartupdisk. CleanMyMachaseverythingtofinishthe3-hourtaskofcleaningyourharddriveinlessthan5minutes.Itwillscaneveryinchofyoursystemandremovegigabytesofjunkintwoclicks.Bytheway,CleanMyMacfindsabout75GBofjunkonaverage—morethanenoughforasmoothWindowsinstallation. Here’showtocleanyourMacwithCleanMyMacX: DownloadCleanMyMachere.RuntheappandclickScan.ClickRun. That’sit!Gigabytesofjunkaregonefromyourcomputerforever. WanttomakeyourMacfaster&moreproductive? DownloadourfreeMacspeedupguide It’sfullof: Productivityhacks Funfacts Macspeeduptips Memes DownloadFreePDF IagreetoreceiveMactipsandupdatesfromMacPaw—butnottoooften. 3.BackupyourMac Finally,youshouldalsoperformabackupofyourMacincasesomethinggoeswrong.Although,ithappensveryrarely,it’salwaysbettertobackupyourimportantdata.ThereareafewmethodsofbackingupyourMac,sochoosethemostconvenientoneforyou. YoucanmakeautomaticbackupswithTimeMachine—softwarethatcomeswithyourMac.Itbacksupalldata,soyoucanrecoverindividualfilesoryourentiresystemfromyourbackups.YoumayalsostorefilesiniCloudandaccessthemwheneveryouneed.iCloudcomeswith5GBoffreestoragebutyoucanupgradeitanytime.Ifyouhaveanexternalstoragedevice,youcancopysomefilesandfoldersonit. WedorecommendyoutobackupyourMacbeforeinstallingWindowsasitminimizesthechanceoflosingimportantdata. HowtoInstallWindowswithBootCamp Here’showtoinstallBootCamp.Theinstallationcanbealittletimeconsuming,butitisbynomeansdifficult.Checkoutthedetailsbelow. Step1:GetaWindowsdiskimage Firstofall,youneedtogettheWindowsdiskimage(ISOfile)fromtheMicrosoftwebsite.Here’showtodownloadit: VisittheWindows10diskimagedownloadwebsite.GototheSelecteditionmenuandchooseWindows10.ClickConfirm.ChoosethelanguageofinstallationandclickConfirm.Click64-bitDownloadandthenclickSave. TheISOfilenowwillbedownloadedtoyourMac. Step2:OpenBootCampAssistant BootCampAssistantguidesyouthroughinstallingWindowsonyourMac.Youjusthavetofollowtheonscreeninstructions.TolaunchtheBootCampAssistant,gotoApplications>Utilitiesfolder.ClickcontinueandBootCampforMacwillautomaticallylocatetheISOfileonyoursystem. Step3:CreateapartitionforWindows WhenyouaredonewiththeAssistant,yourMacrestartstotheWindowsinstaller.WhenyouareaskedwhereyouwanttoinstallWindows,choosetheBOOTCAMPpartitionandclickFormat. *Notethatthisstepisonlyrequiredifyou’reusingaflashdriveoropticaldrivetoinstallWindows.Inothercases,therightpartitionwillbeselectedandformattedforyouautomatically. Step4:InstallWindows Tofinishtheinstallation,youhavetofollowtheonscreeninstructions.Takealongbreath—thenext12stepsmayseemlikeclimbingEverest,butit’smucheasierthanyouthink.Here’showtoinstallWindowsonaMac: ChooseyourISOfileandclicktheInstallbutton.TypeyourPasswordandclickOK.YouwillseetheWindowsSetupscreen.Selectyourlanguage.ClickInstallNow.Typeyourproductkeyifyouhaveit.Otherwise,click"Idon’thaveaproductkey".SelectWindows10ProorWindowsHomeandthenclickNext.ClickDrive0PartitionX:BOOTCAMP.ClickNext.Windows10willbeinstalled.WhentheSetupscreenappears,clickeitherUseExpressSettingsorCustomizeYourInstallation.WerecommendyoutochoosetheCustomizebuttonanddisablemost,ifnotalloftheswitches.Thenyou’llbeaskedtocreateanaccount.Typeausername.Youcanalsoaddapasswordifyouwant.ClickNext.ChoosewhetheryouwanttousetheCortanapersonalassistantornot.YoucandisableitbyclickingNotNowbutton. Windowswillbootfullysoyoucanuseitnormally. OntheWelcometoBootCampInstallerbox,clickNextandacceptthetermsinthelicenseagreement.ThenclickInstalltoproceed.Whentheinstallercompletes,clickFinishtorebootyourmachine. Step5:RestartyourMac Bydefault,yourMacwillstillboottomacOS.ToaccessWindows,youhavetoturnyourMacoffandthenturnitonwhileholdingtheOption(Alt)key.Youwillbeaskedfromwhichdriveyou’dliketoboot. NotethatwhileinWindows,theMac’sCommandkeyfunctionsastheWindowskey,whiletheOptionkeyfunctionsastheAltkey.IfyouhaveaTouchBar,you’llseeacompletesetofbuttons,similartotheControlStripinmacOS. HowtoremoveWindowsfromyourMac Ifforsomereasonsyoudon’tneedWindowsanymore,youcanpermanentlyremoveitfromyourMac.Followthesesteps: BootintomacOS,launchBootCampAssistantandclickContinue.TheAssistantwillshowtheexistingWindowspartition.Selectit.ClickRestorewhenyouseetheRestoreDisktoaSingleVolumeoption. TheBootCampAssistantwillautomaticallyremoveWindowsfromyourMac. Warning:Alldata,includingsoftwareandfiles,storedontheWindowspartitionwillbedeleted,somakethebackupcopiesfirst. Thatmayseemlikealotofsteps,butitdoesn’ttakeallthatlongtoinstallWindowsonaMac.Nowyoucanenjoytwooperatingsystemsandswitchbetweenthemrightwhenyouneed.Cheers! Didyouenjoythispost? Shareitorsubscribetoournewsletter SubscribeNow IgorDegtiarenko WriterandbloggeratMacPaw,curiousjustabouteverything. December05,2017 Updated:September13,2021 CleanMyMacX YourMac.Asgoodasnew. FreeDownload Thesemightalsointerestyou: September04,2020 RemovedirectoryinTerminal&otherwaystodeletefilesandfoldersonMac SubscribetoknowfirstOurdeliveryowlwillbringyouourbestdealsandnewsaboutMacPawapps. Subscribe Thanksforsigningup! You’realmostdone.Now,pleasecheckyouremail. We'vemadethedecisiontostopthedevelopmentofCleanMyPC. Whatdoesitmean? YoucanstilluseCleanMyPC. Itremainssafe,stable,andfullyfunctionalonallPCsthatmeetthesystemrequirements. Windows11 isthelastoperatingsystemtobesupported. OnlycriticalbugsinCleanMyPCwillbefixedinthefuture; nonewfeaturesorimprovementswillbeadded. Readthefullinformationhere. DownloadAnyway Downloadingtheguide.Now,pleaseconfirmyouremail AsMacdevelopers,wehaveafewmoreMactrickstosharewithyou.Confirmyouremailsowecansendyouourbeststoriesandmoreguideslikethisone. Somethingwentwrong.Pleaserefreshthepage. MacPawusescookiestopersonalizeyourexperienceonourwebsite.Bycontinuingtousethissite,youagreetoourcookiepolicy.Clickheretolearnmore. OK