Create a Bootable USB Drive

Writing the ISO file to a USB drive is a key step in installing Ubuntu. This page covers three popular tools, covering Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms.

Prerequisites

A USB drive with at least 8 GB of storage (USB 3.0 recommended for faster write and installation speeds)
A downloaded and verified Ubuntu 26.04 ISO file
All data on the USB drive will be erased — back it up beforehand

Using Rufus (Windows)

Rufus is the most popular bootable USB creation tool on Windows — free and feature-rich.

Download Rufus

Download from the official website: https://rufus.ie/

Both an installer and a portable version are available. The portable version is recommended (no installation needed).

Steps

Insert the USB drive and open Rufus
Device: Select your USB drive
Boot selection: Click “SELECT” and locate the downloaded Ubuntu ISO file
Partition scheme:
- If the target computer uses UEFI mode (most computers from 2015 onward), select GPT
- If it uses the older BIOS mode, select MBR
Target system: Corresponding to the partition scheme — for UEFI, select UEFI (non CSM)
Leave the remaining options at their defaults
Click START and wait for the write to complete

Tip: If Rufus shows a dialog asking about the ISO write mode, select “Write in ISO Image mode (Recommended).”

Using balenaEtcher (Cross-platform)

balenaEtcher has a simple interface, supports Windows, macOS, and Linux, and is very easy to use.

Download balenaEtcher

Download from the official website: https://etcher.balena.io/

Steps

Open balenaEtcher
Click Flash from file and select the Ubuntu ISO file
Click Select target and choose your USB drive
Click Flash! to start writing
Wait for the write and verification to complete

balenaEtcher automatically verifies data integrity after writing, which is one of its major advantages.

Using the dd Command (Linux / macOS)

dd is a built-in command-line tool on Linux and macOS that requires no additional software.

Identify the USB Drive Device Name


# Linux: view disk list
lsblk
 
# macOS: view disk list
diskutil list

Find the device name corresponding to your USB drive, such as /dev/sdb (Linux) or /dev/disk2 (macOS).

Caution

The dd command directly overwrites all data on the target device with no confirmation prompt. Make absolutely sure the device name is correct (e.g., /dev/sdb). Selecting the wrong device (e.g., accidentally choosing the system disk /dev/sda) will result in unrecoverable data loss.

Unmount the USB Drive


# Linux
sudo umount /dev/sdb*
 
# macOS
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2

Write the ISO


# Linux
sudo dd if=ubuntu-26.04-desktop-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync
 
# macOS (note: use rdisk for faster write speed)
sudo dd if=ubuntu-26.04-desktop-amd64.iso of=/dev/rdisk2 bs=4m status=progress

Parameter explanations:

if=: Input file (ISO path)
of=: Output device (USB drive device path — note this is the entire device, not a partition)
bs=4M: Block size; setting it to 4 MB significantly improves write speed
status=progress: Show write progress
oflag=sync: Synchronous write, ensuring data is flushed to disk

After Writing


# Ensure all data has been written
sync

Then safely eject the USB drive.

FAQ

The USB drive is unreadable in Windows after creation

This is normal. After writing the ISO, the USB drive’s file system has been changed to a Linux format that Windows cannot recognize. This does not affect booting for installation.

Write speed is very slow

Try using a USB 3.0 port
If using dd, make sure the bs parameter is set appropriately (4M recommended)
Some low-quality USB drives have inherently slow write speeds

Can the USB drive be restored to normal use after creation?

Yes. After installing Ubuntu, use a disk tool (Windows Disk Management, GParted, etc.) to reformat the USB drive to restore it.

After creation, the next step is to learn about BIOS / UEFI settings so you can boot from the USB drive.