Overview
One small executable, one window, and it writes a bootable USB drive faster than any of the alternatives. There is no install, no service and no background component. It detects the connected drives, reads the image, works out what kind of media it is dealing with, and sets sensible defaults for the partition scheme and file system before anything is written.
The options that matter are all on the front panel rather than buried. Partition scheme for UEFI or legacy firmware, the file system, cluster size, volume label, quick or full format with a bad block check, and persistent partition sizing for the live Linux images that support it. Non-bootable drives can be formatted from the same window when a drive has gone strange.
For Windows images there is an extra panel that appears after the write starts, offering the setup customisations people otherwise apply by hand: skipping the requirement checks for the security module and processor generation, skipping the online account requirement, disabling data collection prompts, and pre-setting the regional options so setup asks fewer questions.
What it does well
Very fast writing
Consistently quicker than the alternatives on the same drive and image, which adds up when imaging several machines.
Portable
A single executable with no install, no service and nothing left behind when the file is deleted.
Full control
Partition scheme, file system, cluster size, label, and quick or full format with a bad block pass, all on one panel.
Setup customisation
Optional bypass of the requirement and account prompts for Windows images, plus regional pre-setting.
Handles awkward drives
Formats and repairs drives that other tools refuse to touch, including ones with a broken partition table.
Changes in this build
- Setup customisation panel extended with more options for current Windows images.
- Faster writing on high speed USB drives.
- Improved detection of drives with a damaged partition table.
- Persistent partition handling updated for the current live image formats.
- Interface translations refreshed across the supported languages.
What is in the package
- Rufus portable executable, 32-bit and 64-bit
- Setup customisation panel for Windows images
- Bad block checking during format
- Log view for troubleshooting a failed write
- Multilingual interface, 38 languages
System requirements
| Processor | Any x86 or x64 processor |
| Memory | 512 MB |
| Graphics | Not applicable |
| Storage | 5 MB free plus the image file |
| Display | 1024 x 768 minimum |
| System | Windows 8 through Windows 11 |
Installation
- Extract the executable, there is nothing to install.
- Run it as an administrator, it needs direct disk access.
- Select the USB drive carefully, the write erases it completely.
- Choose the image, then accept the detected partition scheme unless you know otherwise.
- Answer the customisation panel if it appears for a Windows image, then start.
Before you start
The write erases the target drive completely, check the drive letter twice.
A drive that fails to boot is usually the wrong partition scheme for the firmware, not a bad write.
Run a bad block check on an old USB drive before trusting it with an install image.
Questions about this title
Does it need installing?
No, it is a single portable executable.
Can it bypass setup requirement checks?
Yes, the customisation panel offers those options for Windows images.
Does it handle Linux images?
Yes, including persistent partitions on the live images that support them.
Why will my drive not boot?
Almost always the partition scheme does not match the firmware mode. Rewrite with the other setting.
About this listing
This entry was checked on a clean install of Windows 8 / 10 / 11 (32 and 64-bit) before it was published, and it is rechecked whenever the package is rebuilt. The figures on this page come from the site index rather than from the publisher, so the download count is what people here have actually pulled.
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