When you need to install a fresh copy of Windows 11 on a PC, it will be helpful to have a
bootable USB flash drive. Your PC may crash or something may go wrong and cannot be fixed,
or your system may need to be repaired. Having such a bootable USB drive can make it easy to
install and get back to business.
Having a bootable Windows 11 USB flash drive is an excellent way to install the latest version of
the operating system. So, how do you go about creating such a useful installation drive? Find
out in this guide.
Things You Will Need
When you want to create a bootable USB flash drive, you will be required to have a PC that runs
Windows 11 and a USB drive with at least 8GB of storage space.
How to Create the Bootable Flash Drive?
Microsoft provides you with Media Creation Tool, which makes it easy for anyone to create a
Windows 11 bootable USB flash drive. When the Windows 11 ISO is downloaded, the media
creation tool will be required on the PC. Next, you should insert the USB drive for creating the
bootable drive.
The main steps in the process are as follows:
USB Drive Preparation
Insert the USB drive that needs to be made the bootable drive. Make sure it has 8GB or
greater capacity.
Navigate to Windows Explorer
Right-click on the drive and click on ‘formation’
Format the USB Drive
Choose the File System to be FAT32
Give a name to the drive from the Volume label
Choose the ‘Quick Format’ option
Select Start
Go through the prompts and click on ‘ok’ to confirm. This will format the drive using the FAT32
partition and enable the UEFI mode. This will complete the USB drive preparation step.
Create the Installation Media
Now that the USB drive is ready, you should create the installation media.
Go to the Windows 11 download page on Microsoft’s website
Look for the option ‘Create Windows 11 Installation Media’ section
Click on ‘Download Now’ under this section
Launch the Media Creation Tool
Choose the ‘accept’ option when the terms and conditions page appears
Choose the preferred language from the drop-down menu
Select the proper Windows edition to be installed
You may select the box against ‘Use the recommended options for this PC’ to implement
the settings currently applying to your PC
Select ‘Next’
A screen showing all the removal drives will appear. Select the USB flash drive and then
Next.
The Media Creation Tool will download Windows 11 on the drive.
It can take some time for the process to complete. Once the message appears that the USB
flash drive is ready, select ‘Finish’ to complete the process. This will create the Windows 11
bootable USB flash drive. Now you can plug this drive into any PC where you want to install
Windows. You can then boot in using the BIOS to initiate the installation process. It is important
to realize that a new license key will be required for a new installation.
