Can you get Rufus for Mac?

Do you ever want to create a bootable USB drive? Then Rufus is the best free open-source solution for you. Many Windows users choose to use Rufus; however, those using macOS are out of luck. You cannot use Rufus for Mac unless you install Windows on your computer and then install the software. Indeed, the tool is designed for Windows computers with 32-bit or 64-bit operating systems. But if you aren’t interested in the hassle of installing a secondary Windows system on your Mac computer, some great alternatives offer similar functionality.

In this article, we come up with all the details about how to get Rufus on your Mac using the Windows operating system or the best Rufus alternatives for you. 

A simple introduction to Rufus

Do you want to know what Rufus is? Rufus is a free, portable, and open-source program that can be used to create bootable USB drives. Rufus is surprisingly small but has everything you need for the above. That’s why it is the most popular bootable USB creation tool in the world. Rufus will help you a lot when your computer crashes or won’t boot into Windows because it creates a bootable USB drive for OS installation in a very easy way.

Is Rufus for Mac Available on macOS?

Simply the answer is No. Rufus is created and developed for the Windows operating system and it supports 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. This means that you cannot use Rufus on a Mac. If you need to run Rufus for Mac, you either need to dual-boot Windows on the Mac or create a Windows virtual machine. However, neither is an easy task. And you might crash your Mac in the process.

For those of you in the dark, that means you need to have a Windows operating system on your Mac computer. However, if you don’t want to have two operating systems on the same machine to access Rufus, you can use many alternatives to get the same Rufus functionality on a Mac.

How to download Rufus on Mac computers

There are many ways to get Rufus Mac download for free. The best method to run Rufus on the Mac operating system is to install a virtual machine or dual Windows system on your Mac computer, but this is a complicated and enormous process.

Simple steps to install Windows Virtual Machine on Mac OS

To run Rufus for Mac 2023, you can install and run Windows 10 OS on macOS using Virtual machine software. which makes it much more manageable than configuring Boot Camp, but this is also a complicated and error-prone procedure.

1. Download and install the VirtualBox tool on your macOS, then click the “New” button to create a new virtual machine.
2. In the main VirtualBox screen, select Start to start the new Windows 10 volume.
3. Next, you need to specify the amount of memory and allocate it to the virtual machine. 
4. Click on the second option “Create a virtual hard disk now and then click on the Create button.
5. Then in the new window, select the first option “VirtualBox Disk Image” and press the “Continue” button.
6. Select “Dynamic Allocation” here and wait for virtualBox to install on your macOS.
7. Now let’s start installing Windows 10 on your VirtualBox. Click the green “Start” arrow icon and Windows will begin installing VirtualBox.
8. Now Windows 10 will start installing on VirtualBox. Choose your keyboard and language and click the Next button.
9. You also need to make some basic settings for Windows installation. After this Windows 10 boots from VirtualBox.
10. You can now get Rufus 2023 download for Mac via VirtualBox. This method is too complicated, but it can help you run Rufus on macOS.

How to create a bootable USB drive

After installing and running the Windows operating system on a Mac computer, here are the steps to use Rufus to create a bootable USB drive.

1. Get the Rufus for Mac latest version download on your device and connect your USB.
2. Run the Rufus application and under the Device section, select the USB drive.
3. Select the Boot selection and Windows 10 ISO image file. 
4. Use the “Partition scheme” and “Target system” drop-down menus to select the GPT and UEFI options.
5. Select the Volume label, File system, and Cluster size as necessary. 
6. Now click the START button to start the procedure. 

After you finish the steps, Rufus will create a bootable USB flash drive to install Windows 10 on your device using UEFI.

Best Alternatives for using Rufus on Mac computers

You already know that Rufus is still not available for the Mac operating system. So you have to install and run Windows OS on your Mac computer. This process is a little bit hard for non-technical users. So here we come up with the best alternatives that have similar functionality as Rufus. So if you are looking for the best alternatives for Rufus, let’s find out. 

Here are the best alternatives for Mac.

• Etcher

This smart software works on all operating systems including Mac and it is easy to use. All you have to do is select the ISO image file and USB drive, and click on flash. It is a very fast and lightweight tool. It is safe to use and allows managing your bootable disk efficiently. 

• DiskMaker X

DiskMaker X is a donation software compatible with Mac OS. You can use it to create a bootable USB drive, external hard drive, or SD card. The beauty of this program is that it uses Spotlight on your Mac to find a working macOS installer first. Then proceed to create a bootable installer on the connected USB drive or another storage device.

• UNetbootin

UNetbootin (Universal Netboot Installer) is cross-platform freeware that supports booting Linux, macOS, and other operating systems from partitions or U disks. The best equivalent of download Rufus for Mac, this completely free tool saves your time and effort in creating a bootable USB drive for macOS.

Summing Up

Now you know Rufus for Mac is not available for macOS yet. But you can use Rufus on your Mac computer by installing and running Windows OS on it. If this method is complicated, there are many alternatives you can use instead of Rufus. So just give it a try!