If you ever have problems with your operating system and need to reinstall it, creating a bootable USB stick is always a smart idea. Bootable USBs are also useful because of their tremendous portability and compatibility. Moreover, creating one is not a difficult task anymore. There are many tools that can carry out this task with minimum user intervention. Today we are going to learn how to create a bootable Windows 11 USB Drive using Rufus.

  • How to Create Bootable Windows 11 USB Drive
  • Step I: Download & Install Rufus & Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO)
  • Step II: Make Bootable USB Drive for Windows 11
  • Pro Tip: How to Check BIOS Type in Windows 11

How to Create Bootable Windows 11 USB Drive

You can make a USB drive bootable with a popular tool called Rufus. To do so, you need the following:

  • Download Rufus tool,
  • Download & install Windows 11 ISO file.
  • USB drive with at least 8 GB of available storage space.

Step I: Download & Install Rufus & Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO)

  1. Download Rufus from its official website linked here .
Download options for Rufus. How to create a bootable USB drive for Windows 11 - 1
  1. Download the Windows 11 ISO file from the official Microsoft website .
Download option for Windows 11 ISO - 2

  1. Plug-in 8GB USB device into your Windows 11 PC.

  2. Run Rufus .exe file from File Explorer by double-clicking on it.

  3. Click on Yes in the User Account Control prompt.

  4. Select the USB Drive from the Device drop-down list in Drive Properties section, as shown.

select usb device in Rufus window - 3
  1. From the drop-down list for boot selection, select Disk or ISO image (Please select) option.
Boot selection options - 4
  1. Click on SELECT next to Boot selection. Then, browse to select Windows 11 ISO image downloaded before.
Selecting Windows 11 ISO. How to create a bootable USB drive for Windows 11 - 5

Step II: Make Bootable USB Drive for Windows 11

After the said installations, follow the given steps to create a bootable Windows 11 USB Drive with Rufus:

  1. Click on the Image option drop-down list & select the Standard Windows 11 installation (TPM 2.0 + Secure Boot) option.
Image options - 6
  1. Choose MBR, if your computer runs on legacy BIOS or GPT, if it uses UEFI BIOS from Partition scheme drop-down menu.
Partition scheme - 7
  1. Configure other options like Volume label, File system, & Cluster size under Format Options .

Note: We believe it is best to leave all these values to default mode to avoid any issues.

Different settings under Format Options - 8
  1. Click on Show advanced format options . Here, you will find the given options:
  • Quick format
  • Create extended label and icon files
  • Check the device for bad sectors .

Leave these settings checked as it is.

Advanced format options present in Rufus | How to create a bootable USB drive for Windows 11 - 9
  1. Lastly, click on START button to create bootable Windows 11 USB Drive.
Start option in Rufus | How to create a bootable USB drive for Windows 11 - 10

Pro Tip: How to Check BIOS Type in Windows 11

To know which BIOS is installed on your computer and make an informed decision for Step 10 above, follow the given steps:

  1. Open the Run dialog box by pressing Windows + R keys together

  2. Type msinfo32 and click on OK , as shown.

msinfo32 run - 11
  1. Here, find the BIOS Mode under System Summary details in System Information window. For instance, this PC runs on UEFI , as depicted below.
System information window - 12

Recommended:

  • How to Download Themes for Windows 10
  • How to Change Wallpaper on Windows 11
  • How to Update Apps on Windows 11
  • How to Enable God Mode in Windows 11

We hope you found this article interesting and helpful about how to create bootable Windows 11 USB Drive . You can send your suggestions and queries in the comment section down below. We would love to know which topic you want us to explore next.