Creating a bootable macOS Ventura installer can be desirable for many advanced Mac users, whether to perform clean installations, install macOS Ventura 13 onto multiple machines without having to re-download the installer, to serve as a recovery boot disk, or any other number of reasons.
Making a macOS Boot install drive is not particularly difficult, but it does require using the command line.
Before getting started, make sure you have the following prerequisites covered:
How to Make a MacOS Ventura Installer Drive
Creating the boot installer takes a few steps:
- Connect the USB flash drive that will become the boot installer to the Mac
- Rename the USB drive something obvious, like “VenturaUSB” in the Finder
- Open the Terminal application on the Mac by hitting Command+Spacebar to open Spotlight, then typing
“Terminal” and hitting return - Enter the following command string into the terminal, the following syntax assumes you named the USB installer drive as ‘VenturaUSB’:
sudo /Applications/Install macOS Ventura.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/VenturaUSB --nointeraction
- Hit return and enter the administrator password
- The macOS Ventura boot installer drive will be created and the Terminal will update on progress and completion
When you’re done, you can eject the USB installer and use it on any compatible Mac with Ventura by booting it like any other bootable drive.
The boot installer can be used to upgrade other Macs to macOS Ventura 13, or to perform clean installations.
How to Boot from the MacOS Ventura Installer Drive
Booting from the installer depends on the system architecture of the Mac you’re using it on.
Booting from Installer Drive on Mac with Apple Silicon (M1, M1 Pro, M2, etc)
- Connect the USB boot drive to the Mac
- Turn off the Mac
- Press and hold the Power button on the Mac with the USB drive connected, continue holding the Power button until you see a Startup Options screen
- Choose the installer for macOS Ventura to boot from
Booting from Installer Drive on Intel Mac (X86)
- Connect the USB boot installer drive to the Mac
- Turn off or restart the Mac
- Immediately press and hold the Option key at system start, continue holding holding you see the boot volumes menu available to select from, and choose the macOS Ventura installer from here
After you’re booted from the macOS Ventura installer, you can proceed to the installer for macOS Ventura to upgrade the Mac or to perform a clean install, use Disk Utility to perform tasks like creating containers or partitions, use Time Machine for restoring, and more.