Quickly Create Bootable USB of High Sierra

Creating a bootable USB of macOS High Sierra offers convenient installation, system recovery, and troubleshooting capabilities. It allows for easy installation on multiple Macs, offline installation, and provides access to macOS Recovery mode for repairs and diagnostics. And if you are here for High Sierra Bootable USB creation then you are at the right place.

How to make macOS High Sierra Bootable USB?

Before we begin to create a bootable USB of High Sierra, let’s check for any prerequisites.

Are there any prerequisites?

Yes, there are some prerequisites for creating a bootable USB of macOS High Sierra:

USB Drive: You will need a USB drive with sufficient storage capacity (at least 8GB) to hold the macOS High Sierra installer.

macOS High Sierra Installer: Download the macOS High Sierra installer from the Mac App Store or from Apple’s website. Or you can download it from iTechscreen using the direct link here (Download macOS High Sierra). The installer should be in the Applications folder on your Mac.

Mac Compatibility: Ensure that your Mac is compatible with macOS High Sierra. Check the system requirements to confirm compatibility before proceeding.

Stable Internet Connection: If you plan to download the macOS High Sierra installer then a stable internet connection is required.

Backup Important Data: Before creating a bootable USB, it’s advisable to back up any important data on your Mac to prevent data loss during the installation process.

By meeting these prerequisites, you can proceed with creation.

Use Terminal to create a bootable USB

To create a bootable USB within macOS, you can follow these steps:

1. Connect your USB drive to your Mac.

2. Open the Disk Utility application. You can find it in the Utilities folder within the Applications folder or by searching for it using Spotlight.

3. In Disk Utility, select your USB drive from the list of available drives on the left-hand side.

4. Click on the Erase button at the top of the Disk Utility window.

5. Provide a name for your USB drive and choose the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format.

6. Click on the Erase button to format the USB drive. This will erase all existing data on the drive, so make sure you have a backup if needed.

7. Once the formatting is complete, open the Terminal application. You can find it in the Utilities folder or search for it using Spotlight.

8. In the Terminal window, type the following command to create a bootable USB drive:

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

/Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia: This part of the command specifies the path to the “createinstallmedia” tool, which is provided by the macOS High Sierra installer.

–volume /Volumes/USBDriveName: Here, you need to replace “USBDriveName” with the actual name of your USB drive. This part of the command specifies the target volume where the bootable USB will be created.

–applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app: This section points to the location of the macOS High Sierra installer application on your Mac. By default, it should be in the “/Applications” folder.

9. Once you’ve entered the complete command, press the Enter key. The terminal will request your administrator password, which you need to provide. Note that when you type the password, you won’t see any visual feedback like asterisks or dots. This is normal behavior for Terminal.

The process may take some time, depending on the speed of your Mac and the USB drive. The terminal will display progress updates during the creation process.

Once the process is complete, you will see a Copy complete message in the Terminal, indicating that the bootable USB drive has been successfully created.

7. You can now safely eject the USB drive by right-clicking on its icon on the desktop or using the Eject option in Finder.

Congratulations! You have successfully created a bootable USB drive of macOS High Sierra within macOS. You can now use this USB drive to install or reinstall macOS High Sierra on your Mac or for system recovery purposes.

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