If you have already installed Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, or Windows 7 on your Mac using Boot Camp, you can set Parallels Desktop to run Windows from the Boot Camp Partition or import Windows and your data from Boot Camp into Parallels Desktop as a new virtual machine.
However, with the release of Boot Camp 5.0 for Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion in version 10.8.3, only 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows 8 are officially supported. Boot Camp 6.0 added support for Windows 10. Boot Camp 6.1, available on macOS 10.12 Sierra and later, will only accept new installations of Windows 7 and later; this requirement. Install Windows 10 on an external HDD or SSD with Boot Camp on Catalina (10.15) or Big Sur (11.1) UPDATE 01/2021.
Boot Camp Assistant User Guide
Catalina Bootcamp Windows 10 Error
My process on Catalina was to restore to a clean version of 10.15.1 by deleting everything on the computer and reinstalling, then once booted into MacOS install Windows through Bootcamp, then restore everything from my Time Machine backup. Overall took 4-5 hours but everything is the way it needs to be now. Stockholm, Sweden. That could be an option, but the Boot Camp assistant on Catalina doesn't let you choose whether you want to let them download automatically or point to a specific folder where pre-downloaded support drivers can be found. It tries to download them automatically, fails, and then goes back. I have been using Boot Camp on an external USB drive for months on Mojave without any problems. I could open Startup Disk, select the external Boot Camp drive, and reboot my Mac from there into Windows. Now, just upgraded to Catalina, and the very same USB drive doesn't appear anymore inside the Startup Disk window.
You can use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10 on your Intel-based Mac.
You need an external USB drive to install Windows on older Mac computers. To find out whether you have a Mac that requires an external USB drive, see the “Learn more” section in the Apple Support article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant. If your Mac is a newer model that doesn’t require a USB drive, follow the instructions in Install Windows on your newer Mac using Boot Camp instead.
What you need
The keyboard and mouse or trackpad that came with your Mac. (If they aren’t available, use a USB keyboard and mouse.)
A blank 16 GB or larger external USB 2 flash drive, formatted as MS-DOS (FAT).
To format an external USB drive as MS-DOS (FAT), use Disk Utility, located in /Applications/Utilities. In Disk Utility, choose View > Show All Devices, select the USB drive in the sidebar, then click Erase in the toolbar. In the dialog, enter a name for the drive, choose MS-DOS (FAT) from the Format pop-up menu, choose Master Boot Record from the Scheme pop-up menu, then click Erase.
A full-installation, 64-bit version of Windows 10 on a disk image (ISO file) or other installation media.
You can download a Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File) from Microsoft.
Sufficient free storage space on your startup drive. For information about the amount of free space needed, see the Apple Support Article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant.
Before you begin
Before you install Windows, make sure you back up important files.
You can use Time Machine or any other method to back up your files. For information about backing up files, see Back up your files with Time Machine and Ways to back up or protect your files.
Perform the installation
Do the following steps in order.
Step 1: Check for software updates
Before you install Windows, install all macOS updates.
On your Mac, log in as an administrator, quit all open apps, then log out any other users.
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Software Update, then install all available updates.
If your Mac restarts after installing an update, open Software Update again to install any additional updates.
Step 2: Prepare your Mac for Windows
Boot Camp Assistant prepares your Mac by creating a new partition for Windows named BOOTCAMP and downloading the Boot Camp support software.
Important: If you’re using a Mac notebook computer, connect it to a power source before continuing.
Connect an external USB drive or insert a flash drive into the USB port on your Mac; keep it connected or inserted while you install Windows and the Windows support software.
On your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant , located in /Applications/Utilities.
At the introduction screen, click Continue.
The system is checked for total available disk space. Older Time Machine snapshots and cached iCloud files are removed to make space for Boot Camp. This process may take a long time to complete (you can click the Stop button to skip this process).
At the Select Tasks step, select all the tasks, then click Continue.
At the Create Bootable USB Drive for Windows Installation step, choose the Windows ISO image and the USB drive, then click Continue.
The Windows files are copied to the USB drive. This process may take a long time to complete (you can click the Stop button to interrupt this process).
At the Create a Partition for Windows step, specify a partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions. If you have multiple internal hard drives, you can select a different hard drive from the one running macOS and create a single partition on that drive to use solely for Windows.
Click Install.
When this step is complete, the Windows installer starts.
Step 3: Install Windows
In the Windows installer, follow the onscreen instructions.
When you’re asked where to install Windows, select the BOOTCAMP partition (you may need to scroll through the list of partitions to see it), then click Next.
WARNING: Do not create or delete a partition, or select any other partition. Doing so may delete the entire contents of your macOS partition.
Continue following the onscreen instructions to finish installing Windows.
After you install the Windows software, your Mac automatically restarts using Windows.
Follow the onscreen instructions to set up Windows.
Step 4: Install Boot Camp on Windows
After installing Windows, Boot Camp drivers that support your Mac hardware start installing.
Note: If the support software doesn’t install automatically, you need to install it manually. For instructions, see the Apple Support article If the Boot Camp installer doesn't open after using Boot Camp Assistant.
In the Boot Camp installer in Windows, follow the onscreen instructions.
Important: Do not click the Cancel button in any of the installer dialogs.
If a message appears that says the software you’re installing has not passed Windows Logo testing, click Continue Anyway.
You don’t need to respond to installer dialogs that appear only briefly during installation, but if a dialog asks you to install device software, click Install.
If nothing appears to be happening, there may be a hidden window that you must respond to. Look behind open windows.
When the installation is complete, click Finish, then click Yes to restart your Mac.
After your Mac restarts, follow the instructions for any other installers that appear.
Boot Camp Assistant User Guide
You can use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10 on your Intel-based Mac.
Newer Mac computers use a streamlined method to install Windows on your Mac. To find out whether your Mac uses this method, see the “Learn more” section in the Apple Support article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant. If your Mac is an older model that requires an external USB drive, follow the instructions in Install Windows on your older Mac using Boot Camp instead.
What you need
Catalina Bootcamp Windows 10 Issues
The keyboard and mouse or trackpad that came with your Mac. If they aren’t available, use a USB keyboard and mouse.
A full-installation, 64-bit version of Windows 10 on a disk image (ISO file) or other installation media.
You can download a Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File) from Microsoft.
Sufficient free storage space on your startup drive. For information about the amount of free space needed, see the Apple Support Article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant.
Before you begin
Before you install Windows, make sure you back up important files.
You can use Time Machine or any other method to back up your files. For information about backing up files, see Back up your files with Time Machine and Ways to back up or protect your files.
Perform the installation
On your Mac, do the following steps in order.
Step 1: Check for software updates
Before you install Windows, install all macOS updates.
On your Mac, log in as an administrator, quit all open apps, then log out any other users.
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Software Update, then install all available macOS updates.
If your Mac restarts after installing an update, open Software Update again to install any additional updates.
Step 2: Prepare your Mac for Windows
Boot Camp Assistant prepares your Mac by creating a new partition for Windows named BOOTCAMP and downloading the Boot Camp support software.
Important: If you’re using a Mac notebook computer, connect it to a power source before continuing.
On your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant , located in /Applications/Utilities.
At the Introduction screen, click Continue.
The system is checked for total available disk space. Older Time Machine snapshots and cached iCloud files are removed to make space for Boot Camp. This process may take a long time to complete (you can click the Stop button to skip this process).
If you have only one internal disk, choose the Windows ISO image, specify the partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions, then click Install.
If you have multiple internal disks, follow the onscreen instructions to select and format the disk you want to install Windows on and to choose the Windows ISO image.
If you select your startup disk: You can create an additional partition for Windows. Specify the partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions.
If you select an APFS-formatted disk: You can either create an additional partition on the disk for Windows, or erase the entire disk and create a partition for Windows. If you choose to create an additional partition, specify the partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions.
If you select a non-APFS-formatted disk: You can erase the entire disk and create a partition for Windows.
If Boot Camp is already present on the disk you select, you also have the option to uninstall it.
Catalina Boot Camp Windows 10 64-bit
When this step is complete, the Windows installer starts.
Step 3: Install Windows
In the Windows installer, follow the onscreen instructions.
When the installation is finished, your Mac automatically restarts using Windows.
Follow the onscreen instructions to set up Windows.
Step 4: Install Boot Camp on Windows
After installing Windows, Boot Camp drivers that support your Mac hardware start installing.
Note: If the support software doesn’t install automatically, you need to install it manually. For instructions, see the Apple Support article If the Boot Camp installer doesn't open after using Boot Camp Assistant.
How To Install Bootcamp Catalina
In the Boot Camp installer in Windows, follow the onscreen instructions.
Important: Do not click the Cancel button in any of the installer dialogs.
If a message appears that says the software you’re installing has not passed Windows Logo testing, click Continue Anyway.
You don’t need to respond to installer dialogs that appear only briefly during installation, but if a dialog asks you to install device software, click Install.
If nothing appears to be happening, there may be a hidden window that you must respond to. Look behind open windows.
When the installation is complete, click Finish.
After your Mac restarts, follow the instructions for any other installers that appear.
Catalina Boot Camp Windows 10 Xp
Catalina Boot Camp Windows 10 Iso
Boot Camp Control Panel User Guide
After you use Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows on your Intel-based Mac, you can set the default operating system to either macOS or Windows. The default operating system is the one you want to use when you turn on or restart your Mac.
Set the default operating system
In Windows on your Mac, click in the right side of the taskbar, click the Boot Camp icon , then choose Boot Camp Control Panel.
If a User Account Control dialog appears, click Yes.
Select the startup disk that has the default operating system you want to use.
If you want to start up using the default operating system now, click Restart. Otherwise, click OK.
You can’t change your startup volume to an external drive while you’re using Windows.
Bootcamp Mac Catalina Windows 10
To learn how to change the default operating system using macOS, see Get started with Boot Camp.
Restart in macOS
Boot Camp For Mac Os Catalina
In Windows on your Mac, do one of the following:
Restart using Startup Manager: Restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Option key. When the Startup Manager window appears, release the Option key, select your macOS startup disk, then press Return.
If you’re using a Mac notebook computer with an external keyboard, make sure you press and hold the Option key on the built-in keyboard.
Restart using Boot Camp Control Panel: Click in the right side of the taskbar, click the Boot Camp icon , then choose Restart in macOS.
This also sets the default operating system to macOS.
For more information about restarting in macOS, see the Apple Support article Restart your Mac in macOS or Windows.