Windows 11 to Go | How to Create a Portable Windows 11 USB Drive

Initially, we'll present three situations that might necessitate the use of a Windows 11 portable USB drive, which involves a unique method of cloning a Windows 11 computer onto a removable disk, such as a compact USB flash drive or a larger external HDD/SSD.

When Do You Need "Windows 11 To Go"?

Scenario #1. Installing Windows 11 on a computer can be quite challenging. While Microsoft offers users a free upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 through the Windows Insider Program, it comes with certain hardware requirements such as UEFI secure boot, TPM 2.0, and at least 64GB of free space on your system drive. This might seem unattainable for older devices, doesn't it? However, the situation can be entirely different if you have a Windows 11 portable USB drive, as you can run Windows 11 from the bootable drive on any device with lower specifications.

Scenario #2. You use a Windows 11 desktop in the office but a Windows 10 laptop at home. Can you run the office computer's operating system on the home laptop? Yes, you can if you create a bootable USB drive with the office computer's operating system, along with the installed programs and working files.

Scenario #3. When transitioning from a Windows PC to a Mac, you wish to continue playing your favorite Windows games on Mac without the need to reinstall them. To achieve this, you can clone your Windows PC's games to a USB drive or an SSD for enhanced gaming performance.

How to Create a Portable Windows 11 USB Drive

OS2Go Tools is a popular and lightweight Windows To Go creator for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7. It is clean and has full compatibility with the Windows 11 operating system, allowing you to easily and quickly create a bootable USB drive for Windows 11. This enables you to carry your Windows 11 portable USB drive around and use it anywhere.

What Benefits You Can Gain from OS2Go - The Leading Windows 11 To Go Creator:

• Migrate Windows 11 to a portable drive, including programs, wallpapers, applications, games, and files from the system drive
• Restore the cloned Windows operating system to a different computer at any time and location
• Run Windows 11 on older computers that lack UEFI secure boot or TPM 2.0 configuration
• Use Windows 11 on a Windows 10 or Windows 7 computer without encountering booting issues
• Run Windows 11 on a macOS device without setting up a dual-boot system

Follow a Step-by-Step Guide to Create a Windows 11 Portable USB Drive using the tool OS2Go:

Step 1. Install OS2Go on your Windows computer. It will show the used space on your system drive. Insert a USB drive with a capacity larger than the used space on the system drive. Select the target USB drive and click Next to proceed.

Step 2. OS2Go will warn you that the next step will erase all data on your drive. Make sure you've backed up all important data. Click Continue to proceed.

Step 3. Adjust disk layout. The default disk layout on the target drive will be identical to the source drive. You can also edit the layout to suit your requirements. Check the option provided if you're using an SSD as the Windows boot drive. Then, click Proceed.

Step 4. OS2Go will then begin creating the portable USB drive. This process may take some time, depending on your operating system and network conditions. Once the progress reaches 100%, the USB drive should be bootable.

Step 5. Insert the portable Windows USB drive and start your computer. Press the necessary key (F2, DEL, F10, etc.) to access the BIOS. Select the option to boot from the USB drive.

Note: Please ensure that the boot mode (either UEFI or Legacy) of the portable USB and the target computer are identical, or else you might not be able to boot from it.

It's quite simple and quick to copy installed Windows 11 to a USB drive by following the above process. However, the advantages that a portable Windows USB drive offers go far beyond what we've mentioned. Are you interested in discovering more exciting use cases on your own? Download OS2Go now and feel free to share your experiences with us.