Subscribe

How to Create a Bootable Windows 10 USB in

Linux
Abhishek Prakash
11 Jan 2023 9 min read

Brief: This tutorial shows you how to create a bootable Windows 10 USB in Linux with and
without a GUI tool called Ventoy.

I have talked a lot about creating bootable USB of Linux in Windows. How about the other way
round? How about creating a bootable Windows 10 USB in Linux?

If you are uninstalling Linux from dual boot or if you want to reinstall Windows completely or
you simply want to have a Windows installation disk ready, you’ll need a bootable Windows 10
USB or DVD.

In this tutorial, I am going to show you how to create a Windows 10 bootable USB in Linux. I am
using Ubuntu for this tutorial but the steps should be valid for other Linux distributions as well.

There are two ways to do that and I have discussed both in this tutorial.

The first method is mounting the ISO image of Windows to a USB disk formatted in ExFAT
 system. This works most of the times but there could be instances where it wouldn’t boot.

The second method is to use a tool like Ventoy. It creates a UEFI compatible bootable disk.

Creating a Bootable Windows 10 USB in Linux

Prerequisite: Get Microsoft Windows 10 ISO and a USB of at

least 8 GB in size
You can download Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft’s website. You have to specify the Windows
10 version, language and then you should see the link to download Windows 10.

Note that the Windows 10 ISO download link is valid for 24 hours only. So use a download
manager in Linux to download the ~5-6 GB file and finish it within 24 hours.

Download Windows 10 ISO

Since the ISO and its content are more than 4 GB in size, I recommend a USB of at least 8 GB in
size.

I have also made a video of this tutorial so that you can see the steps in action.

How to Create Bootable Windows 10 USB in U…

Watch later Share
 Watch later Share

Subscribe to Our YouTube Channel for More Linux Videos

Step 2: Properly format the USB for creating bootable
Windows USB
Insert your USB. You have to format it so make sure that you don’t have important data on the
USB key.

In Ubuntu, press Super key (Windows key) and search for ‘Disks’. You have to use this tool to
format the USB key.

Disks Tool in Ubuntu

In the Disks tool, make sure to select your USB drive and hit format.
 Format USB before creating Windows 10 Bootable USB

It will ask to choose a partitioning scheme. It could be either MBR or GPT. Select one of them
and hit Format.

Choose either of MBR or GPT

It will show you a warning that you data will be erased.

 Format the USB

The formatting of USB is not over yet. Now, you need to create a partition on the newly
formatted USB.

Create a partition on the formatted USB

Select the entire USB disk as the partition size.

Creating partition on USB

Give a name to your USB and hit Create button.

Give a name and hit Create

Once done, your USB should be automatically mounted. It is now ready for creating bootable
Windows 10 USB disk.

Tip: Files larger than 4 GB?

Newer Windows 10 ISO might have files larger than 4 GB. In that case, FAT filesystem won’t
work as it doesn’t allow a single file of size greater than 4 GB.You should then format the USB in
ExFAT format.

This newer format allows files bigger than 4 GB. Use this tutorial to learn how to format a USB in
ExFAT format in Linux.

Step 3: Copy the content of the ISO to USB

Now it’s time to copy the content of the Windows 10 ISO to the newly formatted USB.

You may ask, Abhishek, there is only one file and that is the ISO file itself. What are you talking
about?
ISO is basically an archive format and you can see it’s content like any zip file in Linux. But to do
that, you need to use ‘Disk Image Mounter’ tool that is installed by default in Ubuntu.

Go to your Windows 10 ISO, select it and right click on it. Now select ‘Open with other
application’.

Mount the Windows 10 ISO

In the applications list, select Disk Image Mounter:

 Mounting Windows 10 ISO

The ISO will be mounted. You may not see it in the left sidebar but if you click on the Other
Locations, you should see it. Click on it to enter this mounted ISO folder.

Windows 10 ISO Mounted

You’ll see its content. All you need to do is to select all the files (Ctrl+A), copy it (Ctrl+C) and
paste it in the USB drive (Ctrl+V).
 Windows 10 ISO Content

Wait for the copying process to finish as it may take some time in copying 4-5 GB of data. Once
it’s done, you have a bootable Windows 10 USB in your hand. Take out the USB and use it to any
system you want, restart the system and change the boot settings to boot from the USB.

Method 2: Create bootable Windows 10 USB using

Ventoy
Ventoy is an open source tool for making live USBs. You can use it to create a multi-boot USB,
persistent Linux live USB and bootable Windows USB.

I find Ventoy an unorthodox tool. It is slightly tricky to use and this is the reason I am writing this
step-by-step tutorial.

Step 1: Prepare your USB drive

Ventoy formats the USB disk while creating the bootable disk. However, I noticed it failed to do
so for an already bootable Linux disk. For this reason, I advise you to format the USB disk before
you proceed further.

Plug in and then format the USB disk. You can do that by right-clicking on the mounted disk and
then selecting the format option.
It doesn’t matter which filesystem you choose during formatting. It will be formatted again by
Ventoy in the later steps.

Once it is formatted, keep it plugged in and go on to the next step of installing Ventoy.

Step 2: Download and install Ventoy on Linux

Ventoy is a mix of GUI and CLI tool. It can be used on any Linux distribution. Download Ventoy
for Linux from the release page of its GitHub repository.

Download Ventoy for Linux

You’ll find the .tar.gz file with Linux in its name. This is the file you should download.
Once downloaded, extract the tar gz file. Simply right click on it and extract it.

Go inside the extracted folder, and you’ll find a few scripts in it. You need to run one named
VentoyWeb.sh. To do that, you’ll have to use the command line.

Now if you are familiar with Linux command line, I presume that you can easily find your way to
the file by using the cd command.

Alternatively, you can use the “open in terminal” feature of the file manager to open the location
in a terminal.
Once you are in the correct directory in the terminal, use the following command to run Ventoy:

sudo ./VentoyWeb.sh

Ventoy runs inside a browser. It will give you the URL when you run it. Copy this URL and paste
it in a browser.
It will open a web page with Ventoy running in it and if the USB is already plugged in, it should
recognize it. If not, press the refresh button.

Step 3: Use Ventoy to create bootable Windows 10 USB disk

Though Ventoy has the option to create a bootable disk with secure boot, it is experimental and
may not work.

Considering you are going for a UEFI installation, it will be wise use GPT for partitioning scheme.

Once things are set, hit the install button. It will show you a couple of obligatory warnings. If the
installation completes successfully, you should see a success message.
Note: If you do not see Ventoy disk mounted after the successful installation, please plug out
the USB and then plug it in again.

When you hit the install button, it creates two partitions on the USB disk.

VTOYEFI: A small partition for the UEFI files.

Ventoy: A big, empty partition in ExFAT format where you’ll copy the ISO image.

Yes. That’s what you need to do. Copy the ISO image of the Windows 10 into the bigger ExFAT
partition on the USB disk.
Once the copying finishes, DO NOT RUSH to plug out the USB just yet. Click on the unmount
option from the file manager. Chances are that some files are still being written and it may show
an error message.

Wait for a few more minutes and you should see a message that it is safe to remove the disk.
Now you can unplug it and use it on whichever system you want.

Step 4: Using the bootable Windows 10 disk

Alright! You are almost there. Plug in your bootable Windows USB you created in the previous
section. Start the computer and go to the BIOS setting by using the F2/F10 or F12 key at the
time you see the logo of your computer’s manufacturer.

In here, look for the secure boot settings and disable it. If the secure boot is enabled, chances
are that your system won’t allow you to boot from the USB disk (to secure your system and
data at boot time).
 Disable secure boot in BIOS

After disabling the secure boot, go into the boot order and then choose the UEFI USB Disk to
boot from. Some systems will give this option after you press F12 or F10 button.
It takes a couple of minutes to start the Windows disk. You should see a screen like this and it
will give you the option to repair boot or install Windows.

Booting into Windows ISO image with Ventoy

I think you can take things from here. Enjoy it :)

There is another popular tool WoeUSB that can also be used for this purpose.

Step 4: Using Windows 10 bootable USB

Once the bootable USB is ready, restart your system. At boot time, press F2 or F10 or F12
repeatedly to go to the boot settings. In here, select to boot from USB.
You’ll see that Windows 10 is being booted and it gives you the option to install or repair your
system. You know what to do now from here.

I hope you find this tutorial useful for creating bootable USB of Windows 10 in Linux. If you
have questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment.
 Linux Ubuntu

Tweet Share Share Email Copy

Featured

Best Accessories to Supercharge Your Raspberry Pi

 36 Raspberry Pi Project Ideas to Put Your Pi to Some Good Use

Share Your Keyboard and Mouse Between Linux and Raspberry Pi

Latest

The Ultimate Guide to i3 Customization in Linux

25 Apr 2023
 Rust Basics Series #5: Functions in the Rust Programming Language
24 Apr 2023

FOSS Weekly #23.16: Fedora 38 & Ubuntu 23.04 Released, ChatGPT in

Terminal and More
21 Apr 2023

Become a Better Linux User

With the FOSS Weekly Newsletter, you learn useful Linux tips, discover applications,
explore new distros and stay updated with the latest from Linux world

Your email address

Subscribe
 READ NEXT

How To Recover Deleted Files In Linux [Beginner's Guide]

Reduce Computer Eye Strain With This Nifty Tool In Linux

How to Backup and Restore Linux System Settings With Timeshift

How to Verify Checksum on Linux [Beginner Guide]

How to Run C/C++ Programs in Linux [Terminal & Eclipse]

Become a Better Linux User

With the FOSS Weekly Newsletter, you
learn useful Linux tips, discover applications,
explore new distros and stay updated with
the latest from Linux world

Your email address SUBSCRIBE

Making You a Better Linux User

Your email address Subscribe

Navigation

Home
About
Contact us
News
Policies
Linux Server Side
Community Forum
It's FOSS en Español

Resources Social

Distro Resources Facebook

Twitter

RSS

Instagram

Telegram

Youtube

©2023 It's FOSS. Published with Ghost & Rinne. System