Rufus is the #1 free tool to create bootable USB drives from ISO images in minutes. Install Windows 11, Linux, bypass TPM/Secure Boot — no installation required, just download and run.
Rufus — The Fastest Way to Create a Bootable USB Drive
Rufus is the most popular free utility for creating bootable USB flash drives from ISO, IMG, VHD, and WIM images. Whether you need to install Windows 11 on a new PC, try out Ubuntu, recover a broken system, or flash firmware — Rufus handles it all in just a few clicks. No installation needed: download the .exe, run it, pick your ISO and USB drive, hit Start. Done.
🆓 Completely Free & Open Source — no ads, no bloat, no subscription. Rufus has been trusted by millions of users worldwide for over a decade.
Key Features
- ⚡ Blazing fast — significantly faster than any competing USB tool
- 🪟 Windows 11 TPM & Secure Boot bypass — install Windows 11 on older PCs without restrictions
- 🐧 Full Linux support — Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Mint, Arch and more with persistent storage option
- 💾 Multiple image formats — ISO, IMG, VHD, VHDX, WIM, FFU supported
- 🔧 MBR & GPT partition schemes — compatible with both legacy BIOS and modern UEFI systems
- 📥 Built-in ISO downloader — download Windows 10/11 ISOs directly from Microsoft via Fido
- 🔍 Hash verification — MD5, SHA1, SHA256, SHA512 checksum check built in
- 🖥️ Portable — no installation required, runs directly from the .exe file
- 🌍 40+ languages — including full Russian interface
- 🛡️ Windows User Experience tweaks — remove TPM requirement, disable mandatory Microsoft account, skip data collection questions
What's New in Rufus 4.14 (April 2026)
- New 'Quality of Life' option — disable Teams, Outlook, Copilot and other forced Microsoft apps during Windows setup
- Silent installation mode — auto-installs Windows on first detected disk without any prompts
- Option to copy SkuSiPolicy.p7b to ESP for Windows CA 2023 compatible media
- Tooltips added for all Windows User Experience dialog options
- Improved support for Bazzite, Fedora derivatives, and Dell BIOS update ISOs
- Better detection and exclusion of Bitdefender hidden VHDs
- Various bug fixes for Windows To Go media creation
How to Use Rufus — Step by Step
- Download rufus-4.14.exe (no installation needed — just run it)
- Plug in your USB flash drive (8 GB or more recommended)
- Select your USB drive from the 'Device' dropdown
- Click 'SELECT' and choose your ISO file (Windows, Linux, etc.)
- Choose partition scheme: GPT for modern UEFI PCs, MBR for older BIOS systems
- For Windows 11: check options to remove TPM/Secure Boot requirement if needed
- Click START — Rufus will format and write the image in minutes
- Boot your PC from the USB and follow the OS installation wizard
⚠️ All data on the selected USB drive will be erased during the process. Make sure to back up any important files before clicking START.
💡 Tip: Use GPT + UEFI for any PC built after 2012. Use MBR + BIOS for very old hardware. Not sure? Rufus will suggest the best option automatically when you load an ISO.
Is Rufus completely free?
Can Rufus bypass Windows 11 TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot requirements?
Do I need to install Rufus?
What USB drive size do I need?
Can Rufus download ISO files directly?
Does Rufus work on Windows 11?
Is Rufus safe? Does it contain viruses?
Comments (25)
bro this thing saved my life literally. had a dead windows install at 2am before a huge exam and rufus just worked. no bs, no install, just boom bootable usb in like 4 mins 🔥🔥
reinstalled windows before ranked season started and went from gold to plat in two weeks. coincidence?? i think NOT. rufus = elo boost confirmed 😤
I manage a small independent IT consultancy and Rufus is an essential part of every technician's toolkit here. The speed advantage over Windows Media Creation Tool is significant — we've timed it at roughly 3x faster on the same hardware. For a firm billing by the hour, that efficiency matters considerably.
finally a windows tool that actually handles linux ISOs properly. persistent storage support for ubuntu/debian is a game changer if you want a portable linux setup on a USB. most tools just ignore that feature entirely. big props to the dev
had to fix my kid's gaming PC during the holidays. found this site, downloaded rufus, had windows reinstalled before dinner was ready. kids didn't even notice i was gone. absolute legend of a software
I've evaluated numerous USB imaging solutions over the years for our university's IT department. Rufus consistently outperforms competitors in three critical areas: write speed, format compatibility, and reliability. The open-source nature also allows for security auditing, which is a non-negotiable requirement in an academic environment.
used rufus to set up a linux usb for running some speedrun tools offline at a tournament. worked perfectly with no issues on 3 different laptops at the venue. portable + no install = perfect for LAN events honestly
I help senior citizens learn tech and Rufus comes up surprisingly often. When their Windows gets corrupted, walking them through Rufus over the phone is genuinely doable — the UI is logical and doesn't overwhelm. That's a rare quality in system-level software. Five stars without hesitation.
rufus is literally the dark souls of USB tools. looks intimidating at first with all the GPT MBR UEFI stuff but once you get it you get it. and it NEVER fails you unlike certain other software i won't name
Our nonprofit organization relies heavily on refurbished hardware donations. Rufus makes it possible for our small volunteer team to reimage dozens of machines per week with minimal training required. The fact that it's free and doesn't require installation means we can run it from any machine without worrying about licensing or setup. Truly invaluable.
I've been in IT administration for over 18 years and Rufus remains the single most reliable USB creation tool I've encountered. We deploy it across our entire helpdesk team. The GPT/UEFI support is flawless and the hash verification feature alone makes it worth recommending over any enterprise alternative.
if you're still using windows media creation tool in 2026 i genuinely feel sorry for you. rufus does everything faster, gives you more options, and doesn't spy on what you're doing. this is the way.
ok so i'm not super techy but this was honestly super easy to use. picked my usb, picked the iso file, clicked start. that's literally it. my laptop is running again after the windows update bricked it lol
As a computer science lecturer I recommend Rufus to all my students as the first tool they should have in their toolkit. The fact that it's open source, portable and actively maintained makes it a perfect teaching example of what good software looks like. Pete Batard deserves enormous credit for keeping this project alive and improving it year after year.
My granddaughter helped me use this when my computer stopped working. We made what she called a "boot drive" and fixed the whole thing in an afternoon. I didn't understand most of what was happening but it worked! Very grateful this free tool exists.
The TPM bypass feature for Windows 11 is genuinely one of the most useful things added to any utility in recent years. We have hundreds of corporate machines that don't meet Microsoft's arbitrary hardware requirements and Rufus lets us deploy Win11 on all of them without a single issue. Saves us an enormous hardware refresh budget.
needed to reinstall windows to fix my stuttering in warzone. rufus + fresh windows install = fixed. my frametimes went from 18ms to 4ms average. absolute W software no cap
I work in cybersecurity consulting and Rufus is always the first tool I reach for when standing up a clean testing environment. The SHA256 verification gives me confidence that the image hasn't been tampered with. Would love to see a CLI-only version for scripting purposes, but the current UI is clean and gets out of your way.
the built-in fido downloader that pulls ISOs straight from microsoft is underrated af. no shady third party iso sites, no worrying about tampered files. just clean straight from the source. whoever added that feature deserves a raise
I'm 67 and not particularly computer-savvy, but my grandson walked me through this and it was simpler than I expected. My old computer needed a fresh start and this helped achieve that. I do wish the text were slightly larger for those of us without perfect eyesight, but otherwise no complaints whatsoever.
From a technology leadership perspective, Rufus represents exactly the kind of software philosophy we should be championing: transparent, efficient, free, and purpose-built. Our DevOps team uses it for bare-metal provisioning in edge cases where PXE boot isn't feasible. It handles every distro we've thrown at it without complaint.
been using rufus since version 1.x back in the day lol. wild how much it's grown. used to just be a simple formatter, now it downloads ISOs directly from microsoft, bypasses TPM, sets up persistent linux partitions... genuinely impressive for a free tool that's like 2MB
my friend told me to use some other tool and it took 45 minutes and corrupted the usb twice. switched to rufus and it was done in 6 minutes and worked first try. should've listened from the start smh
My son set this up for me to reinstall Windows on my old laptop. I was nervous but honestly even I could follow along — the interface is straightforward. The laptop is running so much better now. Highly recommend if you're not too technical like me!
downloaded this at 11pm, had a new linux dev environment running by midnight. rufus + ubuntu = best combo for anyone wanting to try linux without committing to a full install. persistent storage means your files actually stay on the usb too which is huge