These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install on multiple computers without downloading the installer each time.

What you need to create a bootable installer

To create a bootable El Capitan installer drive, you need the El Capitan installer from the Mac App Store and a Mac-formatted drive that’s big enough to hold the installer and all its data. Apr 26, 2021 Follow these steps to create a bootable USB installer of El Capitan in Terminal. Connect the USB flash drive to your Mac. Give the flash drive an appropriate name. You can do this by double-clicking the device's name on the desktop and then typing a new name. Before going to start creating a new Virtual machine for Mac OS X El Capitan you need to install unlocker for VMware. If you wanna create bootable USB flash drive for Mac OS X El Capitan on Windows PC. You need a TransMac Software. That’s not a problem if you use a computer that supports legacy or UEFI. Just you need TransMac and El Capitan. As has been stated a few times in this thread specifically - reading is fundamental, folks, but reading with comprehension is a must - the topic at hand is about creating a bootable DVD (since El Capitan is so large it requires a DVD9 single sided dual layer media) - it is not about making a bootable USB stick which is easy and El Capitan's. As usual, Apple no longer supply a bootable USB Flash Drive with latest OS X releases - including the new OS X 10.11 El Capitan. Using this tutorial you will.

  • A USB flash drive or other secondary volume formatted as Mac OS Extended, with at least 14GB of available storage
  • A downloaded installer for macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or El Capitan

Download macOS

  • Download: macOS Big Sur, macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, or macOS High Sierra
    These download to your Applications folder as an app named Install macOS [version name]. If the installer opens after downloading, quit it without continuing installation. To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. Enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software-update server.
  • Download: OS X El Capitan
    This downloads as a disk image named InstallMacOSX.dmg. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.

Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal

  1. Connect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer.
  2. Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
  3. Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is in your Applications folder, and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace MyVolume in these commands with the name of your volume.

Big Sur:*

Catalina:*

Mojave:*

Dmg

High Sierra:*

El Capitan:

* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the --applicationpath argument and installer path, similar to the way this is done in the command for El Capitan.


After typing the command:

Capitan
  1. Press Return to enter the command.
  2. When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
  3. When prompted, type Y to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal shows the progress as the volume is erased.
  4. After the volume is erased, you may see an alert that Terminal would like to access files on a removable volume. Click OK to allow the copy to proceed.
  5. When Terminal says that it's done, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Big Sur. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.

Use the bootable installer

Determine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:

Apple silicon

  1. Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
  2. Turn on your Mac and continue to hold the power button until you see the startup options window, which shows your bootable volumes.
  3. Select the volume containing the bootable installer, then click Continue.
  4. When the macOS installer opens, follow the onscreen instructions.

Intel processor

  1. Plug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
  2. Press and hold the Option (Alt) ⌥ key immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac.
  3. Release the Option key when you see a dark screen showing your bootable volumes.
  4. Select the volume containing the bootable installer. Then click the up arrow or press Return.
    If you can't start up from the bootable installer, make sure that the External Boot setting in Startup Security Utility is set to allow booting from external media.
  5. Choose your language, if prompted.
  6. Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.

Learn more

A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the internet, but it does require an internet connection to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model.

El Capitan Create Bootable Usb

For information about the createinstallmedia command and the arguments you can use with it, make sure that the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter the appropriate path in Terminal:

El Capitan Create Bootable Usb Windows 10

How do I Create a Bootable Disk of MacOS X?

It’s possible to use an external disk or secondary disk for a startup disk to set up the Mac operating system.

These complex steps are mostly for system administrators and individuals that are knowledgeable about the control line. You do not require a bootable installer to update macOS or even reinstall macOS, but it may be helpful once you would like to install it on multiple computers without needing to install the installer every time.

Create a Bootable Disk of MacOS X: Download macOS X

Os X El Capitan Create Bootable Usb

Download: macOS Big Sur, macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave or macOS High Sierra

These can be downloaded into your Application folder as a program named Install macOS [variant name]. In case the installer opens following downloading, stop it and do not continue the setup. To acquire the right installer, download the files from the Mac that’s utilizing macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or after, or El Capitan 10.11.6. server.

Download: OS X El Capitan
This can be downloaded as a disc image named InstallMacOSX.dmg. On a Mac that’s compatible with El Capitan, start the disk image and then run the installer inside, which includes the title InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs a program called Install OS X El Capitan in your Programs folder. You may make the bootable installer out of this program, not in the disc image or. pkg installer.

Click Launch Pad and open App Store

In search, type macOS Catalina and search.

Click View and then Get

Click the Download button

You will find the downloaded file in the Application section

When the installer opens, close it without continuing the installation.

Create a Bootable Disk of MacOS X: Use Terminal App

Then use the createinstallmedia command in the Terminal program

Once you’ve downloaded the installer, plug in a USB flash drive or other volume used for the downloader. Make sure at least 12GB is available on the media.
Open the Terminal program in the “Utilities” folder of the Program folder.
Enter the next team in the Terminal program. In the example, the installer is supposed to be in the Program folder, and the volume used for the downloader is called MyVolume.

If you use a volume with a different name, replace MyVolume with the volume you’re using.

After entering the command, press the Return key.

Big Sur:*

Bootable

Catalina:*

Mojave:*

High Sierra:*

El Capitan:

* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the --applicationpath argument and installer path, similar to the way this was done in the command for El Capitan.

El Capitan Create Bootable Usb Windows 10

When a query appears, enter the administrator’s password and press “Typing” again. When you enter a password, the Terminal program does not display the characters that are entered.
When a query appears, press Y to confirm that all the data on the volume has been deleted, then the Input key. When the loader is being created, the Terminal program displays a performance indicator.
At the end of the process, close the Terminal program. The downloadable installer is now ready for use on compatible Mac computers.