macOS Big Sur is currently the latest version of macOS, here are the steps to create a bootable USB installer for it.
A USB installer can be used for clean installs, upgrades and reducing the steps to do these on multiple Macs.
What you will need?
- You need a thumb drive that has at least 14 GB of disk space, this means your thumb drive must at least be 16 GB or higher.
- A copy of macOS Big Sur.
Getting macOS Big Sur from the App Store.
Open App Store.
Search for “Big Sur”.
Choose Big Sur.
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/big_sur_app_store-1024x637.jpg)
Press GET. This will open Software Update section of System Preferences on your Mac and look for the update download option.
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/finding_updates_system_preferences-1-1024x380.png)
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/big_sur_download_option-1024x432.jpg)
Choose Download.
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/downloading_big_sur-1024x408.jpg)
Once the download is complete. Install macOS Big Sur Big open.
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/big_sur_setup-1024x811.jpg)
You don’t need the application open; this process will be done using Terminal.
Plug in the USB (if you have important data on this thumb drive, make a backup of it, as this process will completely wipe it and convert it into a USB installer).
Open Terminal.
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/terminal_big_sur-1024x688.png)
Enter the command below, and change MyVolume to the name of the USB
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/terminal_create_install_media_big_sur_1-1024x688.png)
In my case the USB was named Untitled. So, the command would look like the one below:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untiled
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/terminal_create_install_media_big_sur_2-1024x688.png)
Now press enter. The next prompt will ask to provide the password (The one you use to log in or the administrator password)
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/terminal_create_install_media_big_sur_3-1024x688.png)
After the successful entry of password, the createinstallmedia executable will ask you to confirm, press Y (for yes). This will wipe the thumb drive and start the process of converting the thumb drive into the installer.
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/terminal_create_install_media_big_sur_4-1024x688.png)
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/terminal_create_install_media_big_sur_5.png)
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/terminal_create_install_media_big_sur_6-1024x688.png)
Once this process is complete, it should mount the thumb drive with the name “Install macOS Big Sur”
![](https://revryl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/big_sur_usb_installer_example.png)
Now you can plug this thumb drive into a Mac and boot into the USB to install macOS Big Sur on that Mac.
That’s it folks, you can discuss this topic further by leaving a comment below, or tweeting us at @RevRYL