What you need to install Windows 10 on Mac
The downside here is that you can’t run macOS applications and Windows applications side-by-side at the same time. If you just want to run a Windows desktop application alongside your Mac applications, a virtual machine will probably be ideal. On the other hand, if you want to play the latest Windows games on your Mac, Boot Camp will be ideal. At the end of this process, Windows OS will have successfully been installed on your Mac. This free windows emulator for mac will allow you to run any software and applications designed for windows directly on your Mac. Just make sure that you follow all the instructions as indicated in this guide. 3 ways to accomplish this. Listed from most performance and least pains, through to less performance but also less cumbersome. Dual boot using the built-in Boot Camp.
- MacBook introduced in 2015 or later
- MacBook Air introduced in 2012 or later
- MacBook Pro introduced in 2012 or later
- Mac mini introduced in 2012 or later
- iMac introduced in 2012 or later1
- iMac Pro (all models)
- Mac Pro introduced in 2013 or later
The latest macOS updates, which can include updates to Boot Camp Assistant. You will use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10.
64GB or more free storage space on your Mac startup disk:
- Your Mac can have as little as 64GB of free storage space, but at least 128GB of free storage space provides the best experience. Automatic Windows updates require that much space or more.
- If you have an iMac Pro or Mac Pro with 128GB of memory (RAM) or more, your startup disk needs at least as much free storage space as your Mac has memory.2
An external USB flash drive with a storage capacity of 16GB or more, unless you're using a Mac that doesn't need a flash drive to install Windows.
A 64-bit version of Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro on a disk image (ISO) or other installation media. If installing Windows on your Mac for the first time, this must be a full version of Windows, not an upgrade.
- If your copy of Windows came on a USB flash drive, or you have a Windows product key and no installation disc, download a Windows 10 disk image from Microsoft.
- If your copy of Windows came on a DVD, you might need to create a disk image of that DVD.
How to install Windows 10 on Mac
To install Windows, use Boot Camp Assistant, which is included with your Mac.
1. Use Boot Camp Assistant to create a Windows partition
Open Boot Camp Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Then follow the onscreen instructions.
- If you're asked to insert a USB drive, plug your USB flash drive into your Mac. Boot Camp Assistant will use it to create a bootable USB drive for Windows installation.
- When Boot Camp Assistant asks you to set the size of the Windows partition, remember the minimum storage-space requirements in the previous section. Set a partition size that meets your needs, because you can't change its size later.
2. Format the Windows (BOOTCAMP) partition
When Boot Camp Assistant finishes, your Mac restarts to the Windows installer. If the installer asks where to install Windows, select the BOOTCAMP partition and click Format. In most cases, the installer selects and formats the BOOTCAMP partition automatically.
3. Install Windows
Unplug any external devices that aren't necessary during installation. Then click Next and follow the onscreen instructions to begin installing Windows.
4. Use the Boot Camp installer in Windows
After Windows installation completes, your Mac starts up in Windows and opens a ”Welcome to the Boot Camp installer” window. Follow the onscreen instructions to install Boot Camp and Windows support software (drivers). You will be asked to restart when done.
- If the Boot Camp installer never opens, open the Boot Camp installer manually and use it to complete Boot Camp installation.
- If you have an external display connected to a Thunderbolt 3 port on your Mac, the display will be blank (black, gray, or blue) for up to 2 minutes during installation.
How to switch between Windows and macOS
Restart, then press and hold the Option (or Alt) ⌥ key during startup to switch between Windows and macOS.
Learn more
If you have one of these Mac models using OS X El Capitan 10.11 or later, you don't need a USB flash drive to install Windows:
- MacBook introduced in 2015 or later
- MacBook Air introduced in 2017 or later3
- MacBook Pro introduced in 2015 or later3
- iMac introduced in 2015 or later
- iMac Pro (all models)
- Mac Pro introduced in late 2013
To remove Windows from your Mac, use Boot Camp Assistant, not any other utility.
For more information about using Windows on your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant and click the Open Boot Camp Help button.
1. If you're using an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) or iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) or iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) with a 3TB hard drive and macOS Mojave or later, learn about an alert you might see during installation.
2. For example, if your Mac has 128GB of memory, its startup disk must have at least 128GB of storage space available for Windows. To see how much memory your Mac has, choose Apple menu > About This Mac. To see how much storage space is available, click the Storage tab in the same window.
3. These Mac models were offered with 128GB hard drives as an option. Apple recommends 256GB or larger hard drives so that you can create a Boot Camp partition of at least 128GB.
Apple's latest version of macOS, 10.15 Catalina, looks a lot like previous versions of the operating system, but is very different under the hood. The biggest change is that Apple ripped out all the code that in previous versions made it possible to run older 32-bit apps in Apple's 64-bit operating system. Apple warned us years ago that this change was coming, and there is no doubt that a 64-bit OS like Catalina is more efficient than an operating system that runs both 32-bit and 64-bit code. Still, for many users, Catalina blocks apps that they have relied on for years. Here we show you how to run 32-bit apps in an operating system that is not designed for them.
Before you update to Catalina, find out if you are using any 32-bit apps that you cannot do without. The easiest way to do this is to click on the Apple icon in the upper left, then About This Mac, then System Report and scroll down to Software / Applications. Your Mac takes some time to collect information about your apps and then displays a list of all the apps on your machine. Find the column with the heading '64-bit (Intel)' and click on the column heading. All of your 64-bit apps will display a Yes in this column. All 32-bit apps will display a No. You may be surprised at how many 32-bit apps you have. Study this list, and if you find 32-bit apps you need, you need to find a 64-bit update or replacement ̵
1; or you can implement the solutions below.The 32-bit apps you find on your machines are usually of two kinds: older Mac apps that have been abandoned by their developers (or that developers are slow to update) and apps based on the Wine software that lets Mac and Linux computers run Windows software. ( Wine stands for 'Wine is not an emulator', but emulates Windows features so that Mac and Linux boxes can run some, but not all, Windows applications.]
If you need to run a 32-bit app, Apple unofficially recommends that you either keep an old Mac on hand running a pre-Catalina version of the OS or partition your current Mac so that it can boot with an older macOS version as well Catalina: Both methods work, but both seem inconvenient and time-consuming to me, but there are better alternatives.
How To Run Windows Apps On Mac Catalina Version
The simplest method is this (but remember it costs money): Buy a copy of Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion if you don't already own one. These preludes are mostly designed to run Windows on a Mac, but you can also use them to create a virtual machine that runs macOS in a window on your Mac desktop. but VMware Fusion is not far behind.
The steps are different depending on whether you are still running macOS Mojave or have already upgraded to Catalina. Let's start with the steps to take if you are still running Mojave. Each step corresponds to a screen in the slideshow.
1. Launch Parallels Desktop
From the File menu, select New … to open the installation wizard panel. In the Free system section, scroll right and click Install macOS 10.14.6 with the recovery partition. (It may display a different version number on your system.) If you upgraded to Mojave from an earlier OS version, you can see options to install the earlier version. Choose which version you feel most comfortable with.
2. Creating a new virtual machine
The next page in the assistant is entitled macOS 10.14.6. Click the Install button. Parallels launch the macOS installer and create a new virtual machine. When done, you will see a screen asking which language to use to interact with your virtual Mac. Select the desired language and continue.
3. Prepare macOS Mojave Installation
The MacOS Recovery Environment now opens in the virtual machine. (This is the screen that each Mac displays when you hold down the Cmd-R at startup.) On the macOS Utilities menu, click Reset macOS. The next screen will offer to install macOS Mojave. Click Continue. On the license agreement screen, click Accept, and then click Accept in the popup menu.
4. Installing macOS Mojave on Virtual Disk
Don't be afraid of the next screen, which offers to install Mojave on a hard drive called Macintosh HD. This is not your Mac's hard drive, but a virtual hard drive in the virtual computer that Parallels created. Click Macintosh HD, and then click Continue. Now wait while Mojave installs himself on the virtual disk. This may take more than half an hour.
5. Set macOS Mojave
The virtual Mojave will display the same installation screens that the Mac normally displays when installing an operating system.
6. Complete the macOS Mojave installation
When the installation is complete, you will see the standard Mojave desktop. From your actual Mac top menu (not the top line of the virtual machine), select Actions and then install Parallel Utility.
7. Installing Parallels Tools
Follow the instructions to install Parallels Tools on your Mojave virtual machine, and then restart the virtual machine.
8. Transfer your 32-bit apps
Drag your 32-bit applications from your real Mac to the virtual Mojave system. Double click on them to run them. If you are running Mojave and not an earlier version, you will see the familiar pop-up warning that your 32-bit is not optimized for macOS and needs updating. Ignore the warning.
9. Upgrade OS
How To Run Windows App On Macos Catalina
Now you can upgrade to Catalina. When the upgrade is complete, start Parallels Desktop and your virtual Mojave machine. (In this screenshot, Mojave runs at night, so it shows the desktop image at night, but it's the same virtual machine shown on previous screens. Here I run a 32-bit app that won't run in Catalina itself.
10. Wrap It Up
With a 32-bit app running, go to the Parallels top menu and select View / Enter Coherence. The 32-bit app app will appear in its own windows on your Mac desktop, and a second top row menu (the virtual Mac menu) appears below the top menu of your MacOS main installation. As you can see in this window, my Mac is running Catalina, but a 32-bit app The virtual machine's docking station is visible at the foot of the screen, but it's easy to turn it off from the virtual machine's system settings. [19659002] You can now explore the Parallels for Fine Control option s your apps and use the System Settings app in the virtual Moja must have one or more 32-bit apps start automatically when the virtual machine is started. (Go to the Users and Groups settings window, then the Login Objects tab.)
Another Catalina option
But what if you have already upgraded to Catalina, or if you have a new Mac running Catalina only, and you can does not install Mojave in Parallels with your Mac's recovery partition. Everything is not lost. You need to download the Mojave installer from the Mac App Store and use it to install Mojave in Parallels.
Now that Catalina is released, Apple doesn't show an option to download Mojave from the App Store, but it's still on Apple's servers. If you search deep enough on the Apple website, you can find the URL that opens the App Store page where you can download the Mojave installer. I did the search so you don't have to. Just visit this Mojave page, and the App Store offers the Mojave installer for download. Or, if you prefer to download and install the previous operating system, visit the High Sierra page.
Select the cloud icon to download the installer. Your Mac will ask if you really want to download it; confirm that you do so and wait for it to download to the Applications folder. Don't drive it! Instead, start Parallels Desktop, use the File / New … menu to open the installation assistant. Click on the center icon, 'Install Windows or other operating system from a DVD or image file.' Next screen may show Install macOS Mojave installer; if not, drag the installer into the window and follow the instructions to create and use a virtual Mojave machine, as in steps 4 to 10 above.
If you have VMware Fusion, you must use the same procedure whether you have updated to Catalina or not. Start fusion, click New … on the menu to open 'Select installation method.' You will see an option to 'Install macOS from the recovery partition.' Do not be tempted to use it, because it will say that it could not find any recovery partitions, even though you know that a recovery partition is there. I have asked VMware about this bug, and maybe it will be fixed in a future version.
So instead of using the recovery partition, you need to download a Mojave or High Sierra installer, as described above, and drag it to the Select installation window. Follow the instructions to install a virtual machine. When the new virtual system is launched, use the Virtual Machine / Install VMware Tools menu to install VMware Tools. After restarting the virtual computer, drag your 32-bit apps to it and run them the same way you can run them in Parallels. VMware uses the name Unity for the same alternative that Parallels calls coherence; it runs an app on a virtual machine in a way that looks like the program is running in a window in your main macOS installation.
You can run wine-based apps, too
What happens if you use a Wine-based app to run a Windows game or app? In almost all cases, the wine-based app will not run in Catalina. The easiest solution is to install Windows in Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion and run the app in Windows. This costs money – you have to pay for a copy of Windows – and it can be slow and complicated, but it is the only solution right now. The most prominent wine-based software provider, CodeWeavers, plans to release a Catalina-compliant version, but the job is not easy and it is not clear when the new version will arrive.
There is an exception to the rule that wine-based apps will not run in Catalina: If, and only if, you run 64-bit wine, and if, and only if, your Windows app is a 64-bit app and a which is simple enough to drive under wine, then wine can run it in a window under Catalina. The most effective way I've found to accomplish this is to use the brilliant Wineskin Winery app – an open source project by a programmer using the name doh123 – in the form of its unofficial update of a programmer using the name Gcenx. (The original Wineskin Winery will not run under Catalina.) If there is enough interest in this topic, we will post an instruction guide here, but there are probably too few 64-bit Windows apps that can be used under Wine to make it worth your while. Interested readers can search for 'Unofficial Wineskin Update' to get started, but be prepared to hit your head a few times until you figure it out.
Apple has not made it easy to run 32-bit apps under Catalina, but it is still possible. If you have found other ways to make it happen, please let us know in the comment section below.