Creating a bootable macOS Tahoe installer USB is a useful method to perform clean installs, upgrade multiple Macs without redownloading, or maintain a reliable recovery disk. To create a bootable Tahoe installer, there are several prerequisites, but if you have an unused flash USB drive and are willing to use the Terminal app, you can quickly build one and be ready to install MacOS Tahoe using the boot disk with ease.

Requirements for Making a MacOS Tahoe 26 Beta Installer

• A 32 GB (or larger) USB flash drive (this will be entirely erased)
• The “Install macOS Tahoe.app” located in your /Applications folder (you can download the Tahoe beta installer here)
• A Mac compatible with macOS Tahoe 26
• Familiarity with using the Terminal

Provided you meet these requirements, creating a bootable installer is quite straightforward.

How to Make a MacOS Tahoe 26 Beta USB Installer Boot Drive

Download the complete Tahoe installer from Apple (MacOS Tahoe 26 Developer Beta InstallAssistant.pkg list here) and open the package installer

2. Proceed through the InstallAssistant.pkg to extract the “Install MacOS Beta.app” or “Install MacOS Tahoe.app” installer file into your /Applications folder

3. Plug your USB flash drive into the Mac

4. Launch Disk Utility (located in /Applications/Utilities), select the USB device you just connected, click Erase, format it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a GUID Partition Map, and give it a clear name like TahoeUSB

5. Open Terminal, found in /Applications/Utilities or via Spotlight

6. Execute the following command, replacing ‘TahoeUSB’ if your drive has a different name: sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/TahoeUSB --nointeraction

7. Press Return, enter your admin password, then allow Terminal to proceed. You’ll see progress updates as the script erases the USB, copies files, and builds the installer

Once your MacOS Tahoe bootable installer is made, you can install MacOS Tahoe beta on any compatible Mac or virtual machine.

How to Boot with the MacOS Tahoe USB Flash Drive

The USB installer is now ready to be used, but the process of booting differs between Apple Silicon Macs and Intel Macs.

• Using a Boot Disk with Apple?Silicon Macs (M1/M2/M3/M4/etc): Connect the USB, power off the Mac, then hold the Power button until the Startup Options screen appears. Select the Install macOS Tahoe volume to boot
• Using a Boot Disk with Intel?based Macs: Start up or restart the Mac with the USB connected, immediately press and hold Option, and choose the Tahoe installer drive from the boot menu

After booting from the USB, you can perform a clean-install of Tahoe, run Disk Utility, restore from Time Machine, or update multiple Macs effortlessly.

Keep in mind that this isn't the only way to install MacOS Tahoe onto a Mac. The simplest way to get the beta on a Mac is to install MacOS Tahoe beta as an upgrade to an existing MacOS system, through System Settings. However, many advanced users prefer using bootable installers for various reasons, including performing clean installations of MacOS Tahoe beta easily.

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Have you created a bootable MacOS Tahoe installer? Do you do anything differently? Share your experiences in the comments if you faced issues, want to provide input, or have feedback.

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