Portable Windows 11: How to Install Windows 11 on USB Flash Drive

Installing Windows 11 is a challenge for many users since it is the latest version of the Windows. Here, in this article, we want to tell you how to install Windows 11 on USB flash drive. You might need to know that since it can be a portable option.

Before You Start: You Need to Know How to Download Windows 11 ISO Image.

Creating a Windows 11 USB bootable drive successfully, you need a Windows 11 ISO file, named as ISO Image.  You should get it sorted before moving on the ways to create a Windows 11 USB stick.

To download the Windows 11 ISO to your system, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Microsoft’s official page to download Windows 11.
2. Scroll down to the Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) section
3. Select the drop-down menu.
4. Click on Windows 11.
5. Select Download to continue.
6. You can see more information on this page.
7. Click on the Select the Product Language.
8. Click the drop-down.
9. Select Choose one.
10. Choose your preferred language.
11. Hit Confirm to continue.
12. Select the 64-bit Download, when the download section loads.
13. Your download will start now. Although, it might take some time to finish downloading, depending on your Internet speed.

After your ISO file downloaded, follow one of the methods to create a Windows 11 bootable USB drive.

How to Create a Windows 11 Bootable USB by Rufus?

To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Download the latest version of Rufus.
2. Install it on your system.
3. Insert an empty 64GB or larger USB.
4. Open Rufus.

Note: If the USB is faster, you have better main drive.

5. Choose the USB device that you want to install Windows 11 to.

6. Make sure that Boot Selection shows Disk or ISO Image.

7. Select Download.

8. Click on Windows 11.

9. Select Continue.

10. Choose the latest release.

11. Select Continue.

12. Choose the edition.

13. Select Continue.

14. Choose your preferred language.

15. Select Continue.

16. Choose the architecture.

17. Select Download.

18. A new window will open which asks you where to save the ISO image.

19. Save it to your Downloads folder.

20. You can also download the image using a Browser if you wish.

21. Wait for the download to complete.

22. Select the Image option drop down.

23. Choose Windows To Go which will install Windows 11 directly to the USB drive.

24. Check that the correct drive you selected.

25. Select Start to begin installation.

26. The process of write will take some time, depending on the USB drive that it is used. When it finishes, remove the drive and insert it into a system that you want to boot from.

27. Power up the machine that you want to use for Windows 11.

28. Press any key to trigger a USB boot.

29. Choose your Windows 11 boot drive and boot.

30. Follow the standard Windows 11 post to install script to set up your computer.

31. Now, the USB drive contains a full Windows 11 installation, which is ready to use.

How to Use the Portable Windows 11 Drive Across Machines?

To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Insert the Windows 11 USB into a new device and boot.
2. Select Setup My PIN on the login screen to begin the verification process.

3. Input the account details, which are used when setting up Windows 11 that in our case, it was a Microsoft account.

4. Select the Email, and input the Email Address to send you a verification email to your account.

5. Open your verification email on another device.

6. Type the code into the Windows 11 prompt.

7. Select Continue when it asks you to reset your pin.

8. Create a new pin.

9. Select OK to continue the login process.

How to Create a Windows 11 Bootable USB Drive by Media Creation Tool?

Media Creation Tool is a kind of solution to create an installation media. To create a bootable USB drive or DVD by the Media Creation Tool, follow the steps below:

1. Connect the USB flash drive of at least 8GB to your system, and ensure that it is detected, and you have a backup of all the files on the USB drive.
2. Go to the Microsoft Download Center page.
3. Select Download Now under the Create Windows 11 Installation Media section.
4. Save the file to your system.’
5. Run the MediacreationtoolW11.exe file.
6. Hit Yes if UAC prompted.

Note: The toll might take a few seconds to launch, thus, wait to see the Setup Wizard.

7. Select the Accept button to agree to the terms.

8. Media Creation Tool will automatically choose the Edition and Language.

Note: To change the language, you should uncheck Use the Recommended Options for This PC box.

9. Select your options.

10. Hit Next.

11. In the window of Choose Which Media to Use, click on USB Flash Drive.

12. Hit Next.

13. Choose the USB drive from the list of available drives.

14. Hit Next to continue.

15. Select Finish.

16. Media Creation Tool will now download the necessary Windows 11 files and create an installation media, which takes a while.

17. Select Finish when the message of Your USB Flash Drive is Ready.

18. Now you can boot from the USB drive to troubleshoot or clean install Windows 11.

How to Create a Bootable Drive by Command Prompt?

You can also use the Diskpart utility and Command Prompt if you don’t want to use a third-party tool to create a bootable drive. Follow the steps below to use this option:

1. Take a backup of all the files on your USB drive.
2. Connect the USB to your system.
3. Press Win key.
4. Type cmd.
5. Select Run as Administrator under the Command Prompt.

Note: You can use PowerShell if you prefer it over Command Prompt.

6. In the windows of Command Prompt, type the following command:

DISKPART

7. Click on Enter to launch the Windows Diskpart utility.

8. Type the following command to list all the available storage devices:

LIST DISK

9. Hit Enter.

10. Locate your USB drive.

Note: You can check the Size Column to determine the USB drive, which is listed as Disk 2.

11. To select the drive, type the following command:

SEL DISK 2

12. Hit Enter.

13. Change Disk 2 with the number you have on yout USB drive. For instance, if you have a single SSD or SATA drive setup, your primary drive will show as Disk 0 and USB drive as Disk 1.

Note: It is highly significant to select the correct drive since the next step contains wiping clean the selected drive.

14. Type the following command to remove all the content from the drive:

Clean

15. Hit Enter.

16. Type the following command to create a primary partition:

Create Partition Primary

17. Hit Enter.

18. Type the following command to select the main partition:

List Par

19. Hit Enter.

20. You can see the details of your USB drive.

21. Type the following command to activate the partition:

Active

22. Hit Enter.

23. Type the following command to format the USB drive because it is necessary to format it in NTFS format as the FAT32 format cause the incorrect parameter error.

FORMAT FS=NTFS LABEL=“BootableUSB” QUICK OVERRIDE

24. Hit Enter.

25. After it finishes, type Exit and press Enter to exit the Disk Part Utility.

How to Mount the ISO Image and Move Its Content to the USB Drive?

To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Type the following command to mount the Windows 11 ISO file:

PowerShell Mount-DiskImage -ImagePath “C:\Users\UserName\Downloads\Win11_English_x64v1.iso”

2. Hit Enter.

3. In the above command, replace the file path with the location of your Windows 11 ISO.

4. After the ISO is mounted, type the following command to launch Diskpart.

Diskpart

5. Type the following command to show the available volume:

List volume

6. In the Type Column, the Mounted ISO will be listed as DVD-ROM, and the Ltr Column lists the letter associated with the volume.

Note: Write the details of the ISO volume as you will be using it moving forward.

7. Type the following command to exit Diskpart:

Exit

8. Type the Mounted ISO Volume Letter.

9. Press Enter

Note: For instance, if your Mounted ISO volume letter is J, type the following command and hit Enter:

J:

10. Type the following command to boot from CD:

cd boot

11. Type the following command to apply the master boot code compatible with Bootmgr to the USB flash drive:

Bootsect /nt60 I:

12. Replace I with the drive letter which is with your USB flash drive.

13. Type the following command to copy Windows 11 system files to the USB flash drive:

xcopy J:\*.* I:\ /E /F /H

14. Hit Enter.

15. Replace K: and I: with your Mounted ISO Volume and USB Drive Letter.

16. The process will take 5 to 10 minutes to complete.

Note: If the process gets stuck, don’t worry because it is completely normal, so you should wait until the process is finish.

17. You can find a File (s) Copied message after it finishes successfully.

How to Install and Run Windows 11 (Sun Valley) on a USB Flash Drive as Portable Windows 11?

To do so, follow the steps below:

1. Connect the USB Flash Drive to the computer.
2. Download, install and run Hasleo WinToUSB.
3. Select Windows To Go USB.

4. Hit Select Installation Source.

5. Select Browse Image File.

6. Choose the Windows 11 installation ISO file form the open dialog box as installation source, or select a CD/DVD drive with a Windows 11 installation DVD inserted as the installation source.

Note: If you don’t have a Windows 11 installation ISO, download Windows 11 installation ISO first.

7. Hasleo WinToUSB scans and lists installable operating system.

8. Click the edition of Windows you want to install.

9. Hit Select Destination Drive from the pop-up drive list.

Note: If the drive is not correctly recognized by Hasleo WinToUSB, click on the  for the program to recognize the drive.

10. Click the partition scheme and installation mode that you want to use, and specify additional drivers or enable BitLocker to encrypt the Windows To Go USB based on your needs.

11. Select Proceed.

Note: We suggest you to use the VHD/VHDX installation mode to adapt better when you make Windows To Go using a USB flash drive.

Note: If you click on Keep the Existing Partition Scheme, you should manually prepare the partition on the USB drive.

12. A new window will open here asking you whether you want to format it to continue or not, you should select Yes.

13. WinToUSB starts installing Windows to the destination drive.

14. After finishing the installation, restart your system and change BIOS to boot from the USB drive.

15. After Windows 11 normal installation starts up, you have to complete all the installation steps. Then, you can install programs, copy files, etc.

Conclusion

Windows 11 is the last Windows that many users interested in installing it. We presented how to install Windows 11 on USB flash drive. Did you use any of the methods above to install Windows 11? Do you know any other way to do so? Share your ideas with us.