Rufus

A tiny, fast tool that turns an ISO into a bootable USB stick and does nothing else, open source and portable, with the boot handling that trips up other tools done right.

Version 4.15.2396 1.5 MB Windows 7 / 8 / 10 / 11 Updated 2 days ago

Overview

What this release is

Rufus does one job and is probably the best in the world at it. Point it at an ISO, choose a USB stick, and press start, and a couple of minutes later that stick will boot a machine and install whatever the image contained. It is a tiny single file, it needs no installation, and it is faster at writing a stick than almost anything else, which is why it is the tool people reach for without thinking about it.

The reason it is trusted over the alternatives is that it gets the boot details right. The partition scheme, the firmware target, the file system, and the boot configuration all have to match the machine the stick will start, and Rufus works these out from the image and the choices made, so a stick written with it boots on the intended hardware rather than being rejected at the firmware screen. The options that matter are exposed, the ones that do not are hidden.

It handles the awkward cases as well as the common one. It writes Windows installation media that boots on both UEFI and legacy systems, it can prepare a stick for older BIOS machines, and it includes options for the Windows setup tweaks that people commonly want, such as bypassing the account and hardware requirements, chosen at the point of writing the stick.

It is open source, portable, and free of any bundled extras. It runs from the single downloaded file with nothing installed, and there is no trial or licence layer anywhere in it.

Feature set

What you get

One job done right

Turns an ISO into a bootable USB stick quickly, and does nothing else to get in the way.

Correct boot handling

Works out the partition scheme, firmware target, and boot configuration so the stick boots the intended machine.

Windows media

Writes installation media that boots on both UEFI and legacy systems.

Setup options

Optional Windows setup tweaks, such as bypassing the account and hardware requirements, chosen when writing the stick.

Tiny and portable

A single small file that runs with nothing installed.

Open and clean

Open source, free, and with no bundled extras of any kind.

Changes in this build

What changed

Updated the Windows setup bypass options for the current release
Faster writing on high speed USB sticks
Improved detection of the correct firmware target from the image
Added interface languages
Fixed the boot failure on certain older BIOS systems

Installation

How to install it

Extract the archive to any convenient location.
Run the single executable directly. Nothing needs to be installed.
Insert the USB stick and select it, being certain it is the right one, since it will be erased.
Select the ISO, choose any setup options offered, and press start.
Wait for the write to finish, then boot the target machine from the stick.

Hardware

System requirements

Processor	Any 1 GHz or faster processor
Memory	256 MB
Graphics	No requirement
Storage	5 MB, plus a USB stick sized for the image
Display	1024 x 768
System	Windows 7 through Windows 11, 32-bit or 64-bit

Package

Release information

Title	Rufus
Version	4.15.2396
Developer	Akeo
Category	System Utilities
Platform	Windows 7 / 8 / 10 / 11
Package size	1.5 MB
Interface languages	Multilingual (38 interface languages)
Release identifier	BS-41523960
Listed	5 years ago
Last rebuilt	2 days ago
Total downloads	291,685

Questions

Before you start

Does it need to be installed?

No. It is a single portable file that runs directly with nothing installed.

Will the stick boot on any machine?

It boots on the firmware target chosen. Rufus works the correct setting out from the image, and it handles both UEFI and legacy.

Can it bypass the Windows 11 requirements?

Yes. The setup options offered when writing a Windows stick include bypassing the account and hardware checks.

Does writing a stick erase it?

Yes, completely. Confirm the correct stick is selected before starting, since everything on it is removed.