How to Create macOS Catalina USB Bootable Drive?

Apple has released mac OS 10.15 Catalina to Mac users. You can now download mac OS Catalina by going to Mac App store. Before downloading, you must remember to Create mac OS catalina USB Bootable drive. A very important tip you should remember is, Once you started updating your mac, after the restart, you won’t be able to access the mac OS Catalina setup file.

So remember to take backup of the downloaded mac OS Catalina file before clicking on “Install Update” button.

create mac os catalina usb

There are 100+ features coming to your mac computer through this update. After long waiting time, several developer beta’s and public beta’s, we now have our hands on mac OS 10.15 Catalina.

It is ok to update directly from your mac app store. However, if you encounter any issues after the update, then it is recommended to perform clean installation of mac OS Catalina.

Macbook, Macbook Pro, iMac and Mac mini computers across the world are getting ready to install the latest mac OS Catalina software update. It is not easy to download the setup file if something goes wrong.

Keeping a mac OS catalina bootable usb drive will help you to freshly install in your mac computer, whenever you want to. Alright, the steps to create are pretty simple.

create mac os catalina usb

Once you copied and pasted the mac OS Catalina install file somewhere safe (in Documents or Folder you created), follow the below steps to create bootable usb drive.

Step 1: Launch Terminal by pressing “CMD+Spacebar” and then type “Terminal“.

Step 2: Navigate to the directory you have your backup copy of “Install mac OS Catalina” file is located. Or, if you haven’t started the installation yet, then the following command should work without any changes.

Step 3: Insert a Flash Drive to your Mac’s USB Port and remember, this drive will be completely formatted before the files copying process.

Step 4: Now copy, paste the following code to your Terminal Window and press “Enter“.

Depending on the mac OS version you are in, the following piece of code changes,

Catalina:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled

Mojave:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled

High Sierra:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled

Sierra:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Sierra.app

El Capitan:

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app

Note: Rename “Untitled” in the above command to suit your Flash Drive name.

Step 5: Your Flash drive will be formatted now and installation files will be moved to your Flash Drive. Wait for few minutes and once done, you will see the 100% transfer complete in terminal window.

Congratulations! You’ve created mac OS Catalina USB Bootable Drive.

Now proceed with the update and whenever you need a mac OS Catalina Flash drive for update or installation, you don’t have to depend on Internet connection. Simply use this flash drive to perform the installation.

I hope this simple tutorial to create mac OS Catalina Bootable USB Drive helped you. Now it’s your time to help more people. Share this post with your friends and followers at Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Have a productive day.

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About the Author: Robin C

Security Consultant, Engineer, Technology Enthusiast and Blogger.

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4 Comments

  1. Running into an error in terminal “/Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app does not appear to be a valid OS installer application.” after copying and pasting the provided code.

  2. This only satisfies the easiest use case.

    How do you create a bootable USB drive for El Capitan if you’re already running Catalina? I have the .dmg file for El Capitan.

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