Computers are commonly used devices that a variety of manufacturers make computers with slightly different features, hardware, and software and sometimes with a huge difference like Mac. Almost any user who has at least seen computers could differentiate between Mac and other computers and operating systems easily. But not only from inside and even from outside, but there is also probably difference between Mac and Windows which doesn’t every Mac user knows about. That’s why most Mac users like and are curious enough to put some time aside and dive into Windows. Here’s how to How to Install Windows 10 on MacOS without Boot Camp.
From a fresh Catalina (and up to day) installation I downloaded a windows 10 iso from the web (now only a november edition available). I installed it running boot camp, then after restart finished the windows install without network driver (no WiFi) or Bluetooth. Then in the windows desktop, boot camp tried to finish install. Boot Camp is a utility provided with the Apple OS X v10.5 operating system (aka “Leopard”) that enables you to create a separate hard drive partition (on Intel-based Apple computers) on which you can install a Microsoft Windows OS. Boot Camp allows you to specify which operating system to boot when starting the computer. After Windows is done installing, your Mac will start up in Windows and open a ”Welcome to the Boot Camp installer” window. Follow the on-screen instructions to install Boot Camp and Windows.
Unlike Windows that Apple doesn’t allow macOS to be installed on, Windows allows Mac users to test and try out macOS completely. Any Mac user can thoroughly download Windows and install it with or without Boot Camp. Even they can install Windows 10 on macOS through virtual machines such as VMware and VirtualBox. We’ve one of those and we’ll also cover installing Windows 10 with Boot Camp. In this post, I’ll show how to Install Windows 10 on macOS without Boot Camp.
While there are numerous ways to install Windows on Mac, one of the popular ones is installing Windows 10 without Boot Camp. One of the most common reasons why Mac users would like to install Windows on macOS without Boot Camp is because not many users know about Boot Camp. Imagine a user bought a new mac but she knows nothing about the features and difference of Mac with other computers or operating systems. But after a long time, she comes to know about Windows and would like to make a try Windows around Mac. In the meantime, she doesn’t have information to install Windows 10 on MacOS without Boot Camp.
Install macOS Catalina on VirtualBox on Windows PC; While there are numerous ways to install Windows on Mac, one of the popular ones is installing Windows 10 without Boot Camp. One of the most common reasons why Mac users would like to install Windows on macOS without Boot Camp is because not many users know about Boot Camp. No, Bootcamp only supports ISO files for Windows 10 or later. This was tested on MacOS Catalina 10.15 Beta. This link outlines a way to install Ubuntu as a dual-boot system on a Mac. I think it is possible to install Ubuntu on Macs (without destroying OS X) using Bootcamp.
Windows 10 is one of the most used operating system around the world and it has been in the use of developers and people since July 29, 2015. But up from that time, it has received many updates since the release. The latest update was rolled out in November 2019.
A user can install Windows 10 on Mac with Boot Camp but there are more exciting and interesting ways to do it. If a user wants to install Windows 10 on macOS, she wants to have more fun and use more interesting features but if she does this work with the help of Boot Camp, she can’t experience most features.
What You’ll Need
In order to successful installation, you’ll need a handful of files we’ve listed.
- Backup everything especially your personal files which might likely remove everything
- Create a USB Pen Drive
- Download the Boot Camp Support Drive from Apple official website
- Get Windows 10 ISO – You need to download Windows. After you’re there, select the edition. I have selected Windows 10 Enterprise Edition. Click on the blue confirm button then choose the language. Click confirm and it will lead you to choose the version. You should choose 64-bit. After you have chosen the version it will automatically start downloading.
Install Windows 10 on MacOS without Boot Camp
Inserting USB drive is the first step for installing Windows in Mac without Boot Camp. To do this, you need to press the “Option” key from the keyboard. Then Hold the Option key for some seconds until the USB drive should appear on the screen.
After holding for a while, you will see the USB icon so choose the USB icon which will be EFI or Windows.
From this part, the process is pretty simple. Go ahead and Next with the installation.
Now select Install Now.
These are the licenses and conditions of Windows. Click on Next to consent with the terms.
Decide on which drive to install Windows 10 on. You can choose any drive but if you have a backup of your files in one of the drives, so choose another disk and format it. After you are done click Next.
The installation process will soon begin so be patient.
After that step, the installation is completed and the computer will be restarted. You will see a page like here. This page is asking you to choose your drive. Our drive is the EFI Boot/Windows.
Select your country and click Yes.
Choose the layout for your keyboard but if you have no ideas you can simply skip that.
Type a name as the user name for your PC. Then type a password for the account so others couldn’t access your account.
After you proceed with a few settings, you are done now. When you’ve installed the Windows on Mac, a series of services won’t work such as Sound, Internet, Graphics and other. You can install it with Boot Camp. Go to Boot Camp and install the drivers of Windows with the help of boot camp.
Once that’s done, you’ll have all the services you had on your Mac like Wifi, Graphic sound and other.
Now you have Windows installed on a Mac computer. This is the easiest and most possible way to install Windows on Mac without Boot Camp. I hope these instructions work and be useful. You are open to comment, make suggestions or ideas for us, we’ll happily read that. You also can ask any questions or put the problems out in the comment section.
However, with the release of Boot Camp 5.0 for Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion in version 10.8.3, only 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows 8 are officially supported. Boot Camp 6.0 added support for Windows 10. Boot Camp 6.1, available on macOS 10.12 Sierra and later, will only accept new installations of Windows 7 and later; this requirement. Install Windows 10 on an external HDD or SSD with Boot Camp on Catalina (10.15) or Big Sur (11.1) UPDATE 01/2021.
Boot Camp Assistant User Guide
Catalina Bootcamp Windows 10 Error
You can use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10 on your Intel-based Mac.
You need an external USB drive to install Windows on older Mac computers. To find out whether you have a Mac that requires an external USB drive, see the “Learn more” section in the Apple Support article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant. If your Mac is a newer model that doesn’t require a USB drive, follow the instructions in Install Windows on your newer Mac using Boot Camp instead.
What you need
The keyboard and mouse or trackpad that came with your Mac. (If they aren’t available, use a USB keyboard and mouse.)
A blank 16 GB or larger external USB 2 flash drive, formatted as MS-DOS (FAT).
To format an external USB drive as MS-DOS (FAT), use Disk Utility, located in /Applications/Utilities. In Disk Utility, choose View > Show All Devices, select the USB drive in the sidebar, then click Erase in the toolbar. In the dialog, enter a name for the drive, choose MS-DOS (FAT) from the Format pop-up menu, choose Master Boot Record from the Scheme pop-up menu, then click Erase.
A full-installation, 64-bit version of Windows 10 on a disk image (ISO file) or other installation media.
You can download a Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File) from Microsoft.
Sufficient free storage space on your startup drive. For information about the amount of free space needed, see the Apple Support Article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant.
Before you begin
Before you install Windows, make sure you back up important files.
Install Bootcamp On Mac Catalina Free
You can use Time Machine or any other method to back up your files. For information about backing up files, see Back up your files with Time Machine and Ways to back up or protect your files.
Perform the installation
Do the following steps in order.
Step 1: Check for software updates
Before you install Windows, install all macOS updates.
On your Mac, log in as an administrator, quit all open apps, then log out any other users.
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Software Update, then install all available updates.
If your Mac restarts after installing an update, open Software Update again to install any additional updates.
Step 2: Prepare your Mac for Windows
Boot Camp Assistant prepares your Mac by creating a new partition for Windows named BOOTCAMP and downloading the Boot Camp support software.
Important: If you’re using a Mac notebook computer, connect it to a power source before continuing.
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Connect an external USB drive or insert a flash drive into the USB port on your Mac; keep it connected or inserted while you install Windows and the Windows support software.
On your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant , located in /Applications/Utilities.
At the introduction screen, click Continue.
The system is checked for total available disk space. Older Time Machine snapshots and cached iCloud files are removed to make space for Boot Camp. This process may take a long time to complete (you can click the Stop button to skip this process).
At the Select Tasks step, select all the tasks, then click Continue.
At the Create Bootable USB Drive for Windows Installation step, choose the Windows ISO image and the USB drive, then click Continue.
The Windows files are copied to the USB drive. This process may take a long time to complete (you can click the Stop button to interrupt this process).
At the Create a Partition for Windows step, specify a partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions. If you have multiple internal hard drives, you can select a different hard drive from the one running macOS and create a single partition on that drive to use solely for Windows.
Click Install.
When this step is complete, the Windows installer starts.
Step 3: Install Windows
In the Windows installer, follow the onscreen instructions.
When you’re asked where to install Windows, select the BOOTCAMP partition (you may need to scroll through the list of partitions to see it), then click Next.
WARNING: Do not create or delete a partition, or select any other partition. Doing so may delete the entire contents of your macOS partition.
Continue following the onscreen instructions to finish installing Windows.
After you install the Windows software, your Mac automatically restarts using Windows.
Follow the onscreen instructions to set up Windows.
Step 4: Install Boot Camp on Windows
After installing Windows, Boot Camp drivers that support your Mac hardware start installing.
Note: If the support software doesn’t install automatically, you need to install it manually. For instructions, see the Apple Support article If the Boot Camp installer doesn't open after using Boot Camp Assistant.
In the Boot Camp installer in Windows, follow the onscreen instructions.
Important: Do not click the Cancel button in any of the installer dialogs.
If a message appears that says the software you’re installing has not passed Windows Logo testing, click Continue Anyway.
You don’t need to respond to installer dialogs that appear only briefly during installation, but if a dialog asks you to install device software, click Install.
If nothing appears to be happening, there may be a hidden window that you must respond to. Look behind open windows.
When the installation is complete, click Finish, then click Yes to restart your Mac.
After your Mac restarts, follow the instructions for any other installers that appear.
Boot Camp Assistant User Guide
You can use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10 on your Intel-based Mac.
Newer Mac computers use a streamlined method to install Windows on your Mac. To find out whether your Mac uses this method, see the “Learn more” section in the Apple Support article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant. If your Mac is an older model that requires an external USB drive, follow the instructions in Install Windows on your older Mac using Boot Camp instead.
What you need
Catalina Bootcamp Windows 10 Issues
The keyboard and mouse or trackpad that came with your Mac. If they aren’t available, use a USB keyboard and mouse.
A full-installation, 64-bit version of Windows 10 on a disk image (ISO file) or other installation media.
You can download a Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File) from Microsoft.
Sufficient free storage space on your startup drive. For information about the amount of free space needed, see the Apple Support Article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant.
Before you begin
Before you install Windows, make sure you back up important files.
You can use Time Machine or any other method to back up your files. For information about backing up files, see Back up your files with Time Machine and Ways to back up or protect your files.
Perform the installation
On your Mac, do the following steps in order.
Step 1: Check for software updates
Before you install Windows, install all macOS updates.
On your Mac, log in as an administrator, quit all open apps, then log out any other users.
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Software Update, then install all available macOS updates.
If your Mac restarts after installing an update, open Software Update again to install any additional updates.
Step 2: Prepare your Mac for Windows
Boot Camp Assistant prepares your Mac by creating a new partition for Windows named BOOTCAMP and downloading the Boot Camp support software.
Install Bootcamp On Mac Catalina Os
Important: If you’re using a Mac notebook computer, connect it to a power source before continuing.
On your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant , located in /Applications/Utilities.
At the Introduction screen, click Continue.
The system is checked for total available disk space. Older Time Machine snapshots and cached iCloud files are removed to make space for Boot Camp. This process may take a long time to complete (you can click the Stop button to skip this process).
If you have only one internal disk, choose the Windows ISO image, specify the partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions, then click Install.
If you have multiple internal disks, follow the onscreen instructions to select and format the disk you want to install Windows on and to choose the Windows ISO image.
If you select your startup disk: You can create an additional partition for Windows. Specify the partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions.
If you select an APFS-formatted disk: You can either create an additional partition on the disk for Windows, or erase the entire disk and create a partition for Windows. If you choose to create an additional partition, specify the partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions.
If you select a non-APFS-formatted disk: You can erase the entire disk and create a partition for Windows.
If Boot Camp is already present on the disk you select, you also have the option to uninstall it.
Catalina Boot Camp Windows 10 64-bit
When this step is complete, the Windows installer starts.
Step 3: Install Windows
In the Windows installer, follow the onscreen instructions.
When the installation is finished, your Mac automatically restarts using Windows.
Follow the onscreen instructions to set up Windows.
Install Bootcamp On Mac Catalina Update
Step 4: Install Boot Camp on Windows
After installing Windows, Boot Camp drivers that support your Mac hardware start installing.
Note: If the support software doesn’t install automatically, you need to install it manually. For instructions, see the Apple Support article If the Boot Camp installer doesn't open after using Boot Camp Assistant.
How To Install Bootcamp Catalina
In the Boot Camp installer in Windows, follow the onscreen instructions.
Important: Do not click the Cancel button in any of the installer dialogs.
If a message appears that says the software you’re installing has not passed Windows Logo testing, click Continue Anyway.
You don’t need to respond to installer dialogs that appear only briefly during installation, but if a dialog asks you to install device software, click Install.
If nothing appears to be happening, there may be a hidden window that you must respond to. Look behind open windows.
When the installation is complete, click Finish.
After your Mac restarts, follow the instructions for any other installers that appear.