Rufus

Create bootable USB drives the easy way

Rufus is a utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives, such as USB keys/pendrives, memory sticks, etc.
It can be especially useful for cases where:
you need to create USB installation media from bootable ISOs (Windows, Linux, UEFI, etc.)
you need to work on a system that doesn't have an OS installed
you need to flash a BIOS or other firmware from DOS
you want to run a low-level utility
Despite its small size, Rufus provides everything you need!
Oh, and Rufus is fast. For instance it's about twice as fast as UNetbootin, Universal USB Installer orWindows 7 USB download tool, on the creation of a Windows 7 USB installation drive from an ISO. It is also marginally faster on the creation of Linux bootable USB from ISOs.
A non exhaustive list of Rufus supported ISOs is also provided at the bottom of this page. CALLING ON NEW TRANSLATORS!
The Rufus application can use your help with its translations, and the project is currently looking for volunteers that would be kind enough to update the localization for Malay and Thai.
If you think you are up to the task,

>> Download <<

Last updated 2015.12.22:
Rufus 2.6 (847 KB)
Rufus 2.6 Portable (847 KB)
Other versions

Azərbaycanca , Bahasa Indonesia , Bahasa Malaysia , Български , Čeština , Dansk , Deutsch ,
Ελληνικά , English , Español , Français , Hrvatski , Italiano , Latviešu , Lietuvių , Magyar , Nederlands ,
Norsk , Polski , Português , Português do Brasil , Русский , Română , Serbian , Slovensky , Slovenščina ,
Suomi , Svenska , Tiếng Việt , Türkçe , Українська , العربية , فارسی , 简体中文 , 正體中文 , 日本語 , 한국어 .

Windows XP or later, 32 or 64 bit doesn't matter. Once downloaded, the application is ready to use.
I will take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the translators who made it possible for Rufus, as well as this webpage, to be translated in various languages. If you find that you can use Rufus in your own language, you should really thank them!

Usage

Download the executable and run it – no installation is necessary.
The executable is digitally signed and the signature should state:
"Akeo Consulting" (v1.3.0 or later)
"Pete Batard - Open Source Developer" (v1.2.0 or earlier)

If you create a DOS bootable drive and use a non-US keyboard, Rufus will attempt to select a keyboard layout according to the locale of your system. In that case, FreeDOS, which is the default selection, is recommended over MS-DOS, as it supports more keyboard layouts.

All versions of Rufus since v1.1.0 allow the creation of a bootable USB from an ISO image (.iso).
Creating an ISO image from a physical disc or from a set of files is very easy to do however, through the use of a CD burning application, such as the freely available CDBurnerXP or ImgBurn.

Since version 1.3.2, Rufus support UEFI as well as GPT for installation media, meaning that it will allow you to install Windows 7, Windows 8 or Linux in full EFI mode.
However, Windows Vista or later is required for full UEFI/GPT support. Because of OS limitations, Windows XP restricts the creation of UEFI bootable drives to MBR mode.

License

GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3 or later.
You are free to distribute, modify or even sell the software, insofar as you respect the GPLv3 license.
Rufus is produced in a 100% transparent manner, from its public source, using a MinGW32 environment.

Changelog

Version 2.6 (2015.12.22)
Add Serbian (Latin) translation, courtesy of Ivan Strugari
Add a cheat mode to zero a device (
Alt
-
Z
)
Fix dual BIOS/UEFI mode not being disabled once enabled (
Alt
-
E
)
Fix a crash when Syslinux downloaded files are modified by a firewall
Fix FAT32 not being disabled for Windows ISOs in BIOS/CSM mode
Additional translation updates

Other versions

Source Code

If you are a developer, you are very much encouraged to tinker with Rufus and submit patches.

Donations

Since I'm getting asked about this on regular basis, there is no donation button on this page.
The main reason is that I feel that the donation system doesn't actually help software development and worse, can be guilt-inducing for users who choose not to donate.
Instead, I think that "mécénat"; or developer patronage, from companies which benefit most from a healthy FLOSS ecosystem, is what we should be aiming for. This is because, unless they are backed by a company, developers who want to provide quality Open Source software cannot realistically sustain full time development, no matter how generous their software users are.
Also, unless you are blocking them (hint, hint), you'll notice that there are ads on this page, which I consider sufficient revenue enough.
Finally the fact that I have the freedom to develop Free Software in my spare time should indicate that I'm well-off enough, and therefore that you should direct your generosity towards people who need it a lot more than I do. If you really insist, you can always make a donation to the Free Software Foundation, as they are the main reason software like Rufus is possible.
At any rate, I'll take this opportunity to say thank you for your continuing support and enthusiasm about this little program: it is much appreciated!
But please continue to feel free to use Rufus without any guilt about not contributing for it financially – you should never have to!

(1) Speed comparison between Rufus and other applications

The following tests carried out on a Windows 7 x64 Core 2 duo/4 GB RAM platform, with an USB 3.0 controller and a 16 GB USB 3.0 ADATA S102 flash drive.
• Windows 7 x64 : en_windows_7_ultimate_with_sp1_x64_dvd_618240.iso

Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool v1.0.30 00:08:10
Universal USB Installer v1.8.7.5 00:07:10
UNetbootin v1.1.1.1 00:06:20
RMPrepUSB v2.1.638 00:04:10
WiNToBootic v1.2 00:03:35
Rufus v1.1.1 00:03:25
• Ubuntu 11.10 x86 : ubuntu-11.10-desktop-i386.iso

UNetbootin v1.1.1.1 00:01:45
RMPrepUSB v2.1.638 00:01:35
Universal USB Installer v1.8.7.5 00:01:20
Rufus v1.1.1 00:01:15
• Slackware 13.37 x86 : slackware-13.37-install-dvd.iso

UNetbootin v1.1.1.1 01:00:00+
Universal USB Installer v1.8.7.5 00:24:35
RMPrepUSB v2.1.638 00:22:45
Rufus v1.1.1 00:20:15

Advertisement advertise here

Rufus 2.6.818

Rufus

>> Download <<

Last updated 2015.12.22:
Rufus 2.6 (847 KB)
Rufus 2.6 Portable (847 KB)
Other versions

Usage

Download the executable and run it – no installation is necessary.
The executable is digitally signed and the signature should state:
"Akeo Consulting" (v1.3.0 or later)
"Pete Batard - Open Source Developer" (v1.2.0 or earlier)

If you create a DOS bootable drive and use a non-US keyboard, Rufus will attempt to select a keyboard layout according to the locale of your system. In that case, FreeDOS, which is the default selection, is recommended over MS-DOS, as it supports more keyboard layouts.

All versions of Rufus since v1.1.0 allow the creation of a bootable USB from an ISO image (.iso).
Creating an ISO image from a physical disc or from a set of files is very easy to do however, through the use of a CD burning application, such as the freely available CDBurnerXP or ImgBurn.

License

GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3 or later.
You are free to distribute, modify or even sell the software, insofar as you respect the GPLv3 license.
Rufus is produced in a 100% transparent manner, from its public source, using a MinGW32 environment.

Changelog

Source Code

Rufus 2.6 (2.2 MB)
Alternatively, you can clone the git repository using:
$ git clone git://github.com/pbatard/rufus
For more information, see the github project.
If you are a developer, you are very much encouraged to tinker with Rufus and submit patches.

Donations

(1) Speed comparison between Rufus and other applications

Rufus 2.6.818

Rufus

>> Download <<

Last updated 2015.12.22:Rufus 2.6 (847 KB)Rufus 2.6 Portable (847 KB)Other versions

Usage

Download the executable and run it – no installation is necessary.The executable is digitally signed and the signature should state:"Akeo Consulting" (v1.3.0 or later)"Pete Batard - Open Source Developer" (v1.2.0 or earlier)

If you create a DOS bootable drive and use a non-US keyboard, Rufus will attempt to select a keyboard layout according to the locale of your system. In that case, FreeDOS, which is the default selection, is recommended over MS-DOS, as it supports more keyboard layouts.

All versions of Rufus since v1.1.0 allow the creation of a bootable USB from an ISO image (.iso).Creating an ISO image from a physical disc or from a set of files is very easy to do however, through the use of a CD burning application, such as the freely available CDBurnerXP or ImgBurn.

License

GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3 or later.You are free to distribute, modify or even sell the software, insofar as you respect the GPLv3 license.Rufus is produced in a 100% transparent manner, from its public source, using a MinGW32 environment.

Changelog

Source Code

Rufus 2.6 (2.2 MB)Alternatively, you can clone the git repository using:$ git clone git://github.com/pbatard/rufusFor more information, see the github project.If you are a developer, you are very much encouraged to tinker with Rufus and submit patches.

Donations

(1) Speed comparison between Rufus and other applications

Last updated 2015.12.22:
Rufus 2.6 (847 KB)
Rufus 2.6 Portable (847 KB)
Other versions

Download the executable and run it – no installation is necessary.
The executable is digitally signed and the signature should state:
"Akeo Consulting" (v1.3.0 or later)
"Pete Batard - Open Source Developer" (v1.2.0 or earlier)

All versions of Rufus since v1.1.0 allow the creation of a bootable USB from an ISO image (.iso).
Creating an ISO image from a physical disc or from a set of files is very easy to do however, through the use of a CD burning application, such as the freely available CDBurnerXP or ImgBurn.

GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3 or later.
You are free to distribute, modify or even sell the software, insofar as you respect the GPLv3 license.
Rufus is produced in a 100% transparent manner, from its public source, using a MinGW32 environment.

Rufus 2.6 (2.2 MB)
Alternatively, you can clone the git repository using:
$ git clone git://github.com/pbatard/rufus
For more information, see the github project.
If you are a developer, you are very much encouraged to tinker with Rufus and submit patches.