How to Burn ISO to USB on Mac Big Sur

Bootable or Live USB can be a great help if your computer crashed or need a fresh install of OS. The fact is that there are dozens of free tools available on Windows, but it is not easy to get one on Mac (mostly are for DVD burning). The situation becomes even harder on latest macOS Big Sur as some of the existing apps such as UNetbootin still does add support for Big Sur. That’s the reason why we wrote a post on how to burn ISO to USB on Mac if you are searching for an solution to create bootable USB from ISO image.

Before we begin, make sure you now have a USB flash drive. We recommend you acquire a USB drive with a USB-C connector. Another thing to keep in mind is that make sure your USB drive now has at least 16GB of storage space. More importantly, make sure there is nothing important on the drive because the process involves formatting your USB stick, meaning all your data will be wiped.

Update: UUByte ISO Editor for Mac is now able to create bootable USB from latest Windows 10 ISO downloaded from Microsoft website. This will fix install.wim file too large issue when burning Windows 10 ISO to USB on macOS, which is a common problem according to user feedback.

Terminal: The Built-in Utility to Burn ISO to USB on Big Sur

Terminal is the command line interface that comes pre-installed on every Mac. It basically helps you take control of macOS operating system and complete all kinds of tasks without visual interface. Of course, you are going to need admin access to open Terminal app on your Mac. If this is the first time you are using Terminal, don’t worry, it’s easy to burn ISO to USB drive with Terminal.

Great for burning all kinds of ISO images.

In this case, you can use Terminal app to burn ISO to USB on macOS Big Sur. The process involves entering some command lines, so make sure you follow our guide below.

Step 1: Launch Terminal on your Mac. You can fire it up from the Dock or head over to the Applications folder and locate it in the Utilities folder.

Step 2: We recommend you move your ISO file to user folder (default folder in Terminal) for easy access. You can save it to the desktop and rename it to something you remember.

Step 3: If your ISO file is already in the desktop, type in the following command and hit Enter after each command line:

cd desktop

Step 4: Once you are done, run the following command and press Enter on your keyboard:

hdiutil burn filename.iso

Make sure you replace filename with the name of your ISO file.

Step 5: The ISO file will be burned to your default USB drive or your inserted external drive if you already have one.

Terminal is a great way to burn an ISO file to USB on a Mac Big Sur if you don’t want to install any additional third-party software onto your machine. However, the process mainly involves some kind of command line work, which is not straightforward to newcomers.

Etcher: Burn ISO to USB on Mac Big Sur with Etcher

If the above method does not work for you, then you can use Etcher to burn ISO image files to USB on macOS Big Sur. For those who may not know, Etcher is a handy tool that allows you to flash OS images to SD cards or USB drives with some simple clicks. The process involves selecting your image file and burning it, which is safe and easy. Here is how.

Great for burning Linux and Raspberry Pi based ISO image.

Before we get started, make sure you have already turned on App Store and identified developers on your Mac. To do this, open System Preferences > Security & Privacy and check the box next to “App Store and identified developers”.

Step 1: Download Etcher from its download page and then install it on your Mac. The best thing about Etcher is that it can run in place, without the need to drag the installer into the Applications folder.

Step 2: From its user interface, click on Select Image, then select the macOS Big installer file you downloaded earlier and select your target drive.

Step 3: Once everything is ready, hit the Flash button. Etcher will start writing the ISO file to your inserted USB drive. The process may take several minutes.

UUByte ISO Editor: Best for Burning Windows ISO on Big Sur

For creating Windows bootable USB on Mac, UUByte ISO Editor is currently best choice. According to our test, there are errors and problems to burn Windows 10 ISO with Terminal and Etcher because Windows kernel uses a different booting scheme.

Actually, UUByte ISO Editor is a reliable tool that allows you to burn, create, and edit ISO files on both Windows and Mac. The coolest part is that it now supports macOS Big Sur. The process is simple and you can follow our guide below. You can now burn Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7 ISO on Big Sur.

Great for burning Windows 10 ISO

Step 1: Download UUByte ISO Editor onto your Mac and then install it

Download link: https://www.uubyte.com/download/uubyte-iso-editor.dmg

Step 2: From the main user interface, select Burn and then select the macOS Big Sur ISO file you downloaded earlier.

Step 3: Now, insert your USB drive into your Mac and select it when it shows up in the main user interface.

Step 4: Hit the Burn button and ISO Editor will start burning the iOS image file to your USB drive.

Step 5: Once it is done, make sure you eject the drive from your Mac.

That’s it! We have rounded up the best ways to burn ISO file to USB on macOS Big Sur. If you have got a favorite, let us know.