How to install Windows on Mac using VirtualBox

To install Windows on Mac we will use VirtualBox. The other way to install Windows on Mac is to use Boot Camp but with Boot Camp you cannot share your files between your Windows and your Mac and you need to restart your Mac every time you want to start your Windows. Therefore I decided to show you in this video how to install Windows on Mac without Boot Camp.

Download Windows 10 and VirtualBox

1) The first step is to download Windows 10: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10ISO
Then on the download page of Windows 10, select Windows 10 for the edition and select the language that you would like Windows 10 to be installed with. Then, you will select 64-bit Download. This will download the ISO file of Windows 10.

2) The second step is to download VirtualBox: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
Then on the download page of VirtualBox, select OS X hosts to download VirtualBox. This will download the DMG file of VirtualBox.

Install VirtualBox

1) Then you need to install VirtualBox on your Mac, to do so double click on the DMG file of VirtualBox that you just downloaded and follow the instructions to finalize the installation of VirtualBox.

2) You can now launch VirtualBox by going in your Applications folder and clicking the VirtualBox icon.

Create the virtual machine

1) You now need to create the virtual machine. To do so, click on New and name it Windows 10 (Type: Microsoft Windows, Version: Windows 10 (64-bit)) and click on Continue.

2) Then select how much memory RAM you would like to assign to Windows 10. Select 4096MB (4GB) if you have at least 8GB of RAM on your Mac or 2048MB (2GB) if you only have 4GB of RAM on your Mac. If you have less than 4GB of RAM on your Mac, try to assign 1024MB (1GB) and see if it works. Then click on Continue.

3) Next select Create a virtual hard disk now to create the virtual hard disk and click on Create. Select VDI (VirtualBox Disk Image) and click on Continue. Select Dynamically allocated and click on Continue. By default you will see 32GB of hard disk space, leave it as is and click on Create.

Install Windows on Mac

1) Now you have created the virtual machine and you now need to install Windows 10 on the virtual machine. Then select the virtual machine newly created and click on Settings. Next click on Storage and click on the CD/DVD-ROM (Empty) and on the right in Attributes / Optical Drive click on the CD/DVD-ROM and Choose Virtual Optical Disk File. Then select your Windows 10 ISO file downloaded at step 1) and click Open and click OK.

2) Then you need to click on Start to turn the virtual machine on and it will start the installation of Windows on Mac.

3) Next follow the instructions on the screen: click Next, Install now, click I don’t have a product key, select Windows 10 Home and click Next, I accept the license terms and click Next.

4) Then click on Custom: Install Windows only (advanced). Next select the hard drive you created earlier to install Windows on Mac and click Next. From there the installation of Windows on Mac is starting and you need to wait until the end of the installation.

5) After the installation of Windows on Mac is done, the virtual machine will reboot and you will need to finalize the installation of Windows on Mac.

Finalizing the Windows on Mac installation

1) From there click on Use Express settings. If you do not have a Microsoft account just click Skip this step.

2) Then type in your name for the Windows 10 account (you do not need to put a password if you do not want to) and click Next. If you do not want to use Cortana right now just click Not now. Then just wait for the installation of Windows on Mac to finish.

3) Here you go! You now have installed Windows on Mac using VirtualBox. Now you can use Windows on Mac exactly as you would on a PC machine. You can now install software that are only compatible with Windows 10. You can basically do anything that you would be doing with a regular Windows 10 machine.

Display Windows on Mac in full screen mode

1) You can display Windows on Mac in full screen mode by pressing the green button on the top left and click Switch. This is a limited full screen mode but if you want to know how to put Windows on Mac in real full screen mode, I have a detailed post here that explains it.

2) Then once you are in full screen mode you can also switch from Windows 10 to your Mac so that you can use both at the same time (I set that up by swiping 4 fingers left / right on the Mac Trackpad).

3) The last thing I usually recommend is to go back to the Settings of the virtual machine and go to Storage and click on the Windows 10 CD/DVD-ROM and on the right in Attributes / Optical Drive click on the CD/DVD-ROM and Choose Remove Disk from Virtual Drive to remove the CD/DVD-ROM of Windows 10 and click OK so that the virtual machine is not trying to boot on Windows 10 the next time you reboot / start the virtual machine.

Share files & folders on VirtualBox

You can share files & folders on VirtualBox between your Mac and your Windows, I have a detailed post here that explains it. Enjoy!

If you have any questions about Windows on Mac or anything else, you can contact me here.