Install Windows 11 on any Intel MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or iMac
Prerequisites of this guide
The first step to installing Windows 11 on your Mac with this guide is having Windows 10 already set up in Boot Camp. If you need help with this initial step, Apple provides instructions on its Boot Camp Support Page. This entire guide is meant to be followed while running your Windows 10 Boot Camp.
Guide Compatibility
It should be noted that in order to install any version of Windows with Boot Camp, your Mac needs to have an Intel chip. With that established, these steps should work on any Mac that can run Windows 10. This includes any MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or iMac with an Intel chip.
The Magic Tool
The program that makes installing Windows 11 on your Mac possible is called “MediaCreationTool.” I previously wrote about it in my 2021 article “Install Windows 11 on a 2015 MacBook Pro.” Since then, the program has been greatly improved and the install method is way simpler. Plus, it’s been so streamlined, I’m confident the steps will work on any Intel Mac that can run Windows 10 in Boot Camp. I’ve tested it on a 2013 iMac, 2015 MacBook Pro, 2015 MacBook Air and a 2019 MacBook Pro. As a bonus, these steps will also work for any Windows 10 virtual machine, such as those created by Parallels. Let’s get started.
Download MediaCreationTool.bat from GitHub
MediaCreationTool needs to be downloaded from its official project repo on GitHub. Don’t downloaded it from anywhere else.
The first link below is to the exact version of the program I used for this guide. Alternatively, you can use the second link, which is to the latest version of the program. Since MediaCreationTool could update at any time though and potentially break this install method, if you want to follow the steps in this guide exactly, use the first link.
Guided Version
https://github.com/AveYo/MediaCreationTool.bat/tree/979fd14f21a4e72c1599c0296a94dbd2fcc184ed
Latest Version
https://github.com/AveYo/MediaCreationTool.bat
Once you’re on the program’s GitHub repo page, click the big green Code button and select “Download ZIP” from the drop-down. The image below should match what you’ve downloaded and unzipped.
Disable User Account Control (UAC)
Before using MediaCreationTool, disable User Account Control. It isn’t necessary, but it will save you from having to click confirm on a safety prompt after every single step. Open Windows Start menu, type UAC, and select “Change User Account Control settings.” Control Panel will open, and then move the slider to “Never notify” at the bottom and click OK.
Disabling User Account Control (UAC)
(If any of the Youtube videos fail to load, just refresh the page)
Time for MediaCreationTool
Go to your unzipped folder and navigate into the directory bypass11. Double-click on Skip_TPM_Check_on_Dynamic_Update. A command prompt will appear saying “Installed.” Wait 6 seconds for the window to close on its own or hit Enter.
Running Skip_TPM_Check_on_Dynamic_Update
Go back to the main folder and double-click on MediaCreationTool. A blue command prompt window will appear. It pauses for a moment, and then a GUI window with a list of different versions of Windows will pop up. Click on 11, and then select Auto Upgrade. The Windows 11 Setup window will appear.
Initial steps after loading MediaCreationTool.
Look mom no hands
From here on, the rest of the install is completely hands-off. After “Getting a few things ready,” the window will say “Choose which media to use.” There’s no need to click anything. It will select “ISO File” on its own, select your Documents folder as the save location on its own (it auto-deletes itself after), and will then begin “Downloading Windows 11.”
Beginning the download of Windows 11. No need to click anything.
Once Windows 11 has finished downloading, it will “Verify your download.” Then it “Creates Windows 11 media.” Once that reaches 100%, it quickly says it will “Burn the ISO file to a DVD.” Again, no need to click anything. The blue command prompt window will reappear, and then it will have a count-down timer. You can either leave it alone and it will close itself after 10 seconds, or press any key and it will close and proceed to the next step.
Creating Windows 11 Media
The Windows 11 Setup window will reappear and says “Getting updates.” The Setup program then says it needs to restart itself. Once it does, it will reappear behind the original blue command prompt window. Just click on the white Setup program window and it will come to the front.
Getting Updates & Restarting
It then continues “Checking for updates.” Updates took a really long time for me on gig fiber internet, and even appeared to be stuck at times, but just leave it be.
Once updates are done, it then says “Making sure you’re ready to install,” followed by “Making sure your PC has enough space.” Then a blue “Installing Windows 11” message will take over the entire screen. Again, remember during all of this that you don’t need to click anything.
The install step took awhile and also appeared to become stuck like “Checking for Updates” but just leave it alone and let it do its thing. Eventually it will restart, and you will be greeted by the new Windows 11 logo.
Then a black screen will appear with a “Working on updates” percentage-completion measure.
Once those updates are finished, you’ll be greeted by some “Please hold” messages over a color-changing background.
After the hold prompts are over, you’ll be logged into your new Windows 11 desktop.
If you found this guide helpful then spread the word! Enjoy your Windows 11 Boot Camp install.
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28 thoughts on “Install Windows 11 on any Intel MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or iMac”
Just a note; You can’t install windows 11 on a USB flashdrive via Bootcamp. So be sure to install it on the internal drive.
Hey I cannot play Valorant after upgrading it says TPM2.0 required any fix to enable SECURE BOOT on MacBook Pro 2017 which does not have the T2 Chip
After doing what was described here, my Mac indeed seems to have successfully updated to Windows 11. However, activation keys don’t seem to work on it. When I attempt to apply them, it says that the Windows 11 version I’m running isn’t genuine.
Super Anleitung
What a great easy to follow guide, thank you. How good is Media Creation Tool!
Installed on a base 2017 imac 5k 1TB fusion. I didn’t think I would be able to get win11 without a fresh install. Even then thinking it would be a hassle due to TPM.
Only hitch was downloading win11 stopped at 0%, restarted creation tool then all went perfectly.
Activation stayed intact. Retail key was purchased after installing bootcamp win10.
Glad it was easy to follow! Yeah Media Creation Tool is awesome
Thank you so much for putting together such a straight forward and easy to read page.
Thanks for the feedback! I’m glad it was helpful
Many thanks for this detailed installation instructions. I can confirm that « checking for updates » and « install step » seem to be stuck but ended successfully 😅
Thanks for the feedback! Glad it all worked out for you
Will I be able to activate Windows 11 after I do this?
I highly recommend activating your Windows 10 install first. Because a Win10 key also works for 11, you shouldn’t run into issues. It worked for me but that was months ago, and there’s always the risk that something has changed since then.
Thanks for posting this, Nico. I have Win 10 installed on an external SSD (Samsung T7). Should I be choosing another path than the one you suggest or is it just not do-able. I’d love to get Win 11 installed.
Hey Steve, what model Mac are you on
Many thanks for the detailed instructions, dear Nico. Successfully upgraded my MacBook Pro 2019 to Windows 11. After installation defender is showing warning for TPM. Should i fix BIOS setting or can the warning ignored.
Hi Amjad I’m glad it was helpful for you. I’d say just disregard the defender warning since it’s stating the obvious (no TPM)
Thanks
Found this page searching for if anyone else was having issues getting their Windows 10 22h2 update working on their Mac. I fired up my 2019 16″ MBP’s boot camp after a very long time this weekend. The one update that’s not going through Is the Windows 10 22h2 update.
But I came across this post and now I’m just wondering if I should just try to do windows 11 on this machine with this runaround. However, I’m worried about a few things:
1) Will I be able to do the update to Windows 11 with a Windows 10 that’s not on 22H2?
2) never had an activated Windows 10, it just had the background wallpaper saying to activate, but I never did. Will Windows 11 work the same, or will I actually have to go out and buy an activation key for that?
3) Do I need to designate enough space for my partition? I only have 130 GB set for boot camp. And I can’t remember if I can easily change that without having to do a reinstall or anything.
Hey Shahryar,
1) Yes you should be able to upgrade to Windows 11 via this method from any version of Windows 10
2) 11 will run just fine without activation. Like an unactivated 10 though, you won’t have customization options
3) To resize your bootcamp install you would need to totally remove your bootcamp drive (via Boot Camp Assistant) and then rerun the assistant to create the larger partition. Check how much free space of the 130gb you have available. That could be affecting the installation of 22h2
Guide worked great, got windows 11 running on my 2019 MBP no issues.
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback
saya tdk dapat pembaharuan di md101 mid 2012 ada solusi .?
Will this also work with Windows 11 23H2? I heard that Microsoft has put some barriers?
I’m not totally sure, I’m out of town but will test it when I return Friday and will post back
Wow, great and much appreciated!
To clarify, you’re wondering about going from Windows 10 to Windows 11 23H2? Or updating your existing Windows 11 install to v23h2 via Windows Update?
hello
I would like to upgrade from windows 10 in Boot Camp
Go ahead and upgrade as described here. This method will install Windows 11 21H2 on your computer, and I’m in the process of writing new article about how to update to 23H2 (it’s very simple). I should have it online by tomorrow or Wednesday