How to install and run Windows 11 on a USB flash drive as portable Windows 11?

Since the release of Windows 10 on October 1, 2014, Microsoft has always said that Windows 10 will be the last version of Windows. However, recently there has been an abnormally leaked Windows 11 installation ISO on the Internet, which seems to mean that Microsoft has changed its position.

Hasleo WinToUSB is the most professional tool for creating portable Windows on the market since 2014, we are very interested in installing Windows 11 to a USB flash drive, so regardless of whether the installation ISO is true or not, we tested it. The good news is that after installing Windows 11 to a USB flash drive using Hasleo WinToUSB, we can successfully boot Windows 11 from the USB flash drive.

After Microsoft officially released Windows 11 on June 24, 2021, we tested again with the release version of Windows 11, and after fixing some compatibility issues, Hasleo WinToUSB now can perfectly support creating Windows 11 To Go with USB flash drives. Below we will introduce in detail how to install and run Windows 11 on a USB flash drive as portable Windows 11 with Hasleo WinToUSB.

Tutorial to install and run Windows 11 (Sun Valley) on a USB flash drive as portable Windows 11.

Step 1. Connect the USB flash drive to the computer, download, install and run Hasleo WinToUSB and then click the "Windows To Go USB".

Step 2. Click "Select installation source", then click "Browse image file" and select the Windows 11 installation ISO file from the open dialog box as installation source, or choose a CD/DVD drive with a Windows 11 installation DVD inserted as the installation source.

* Tips: If you don't have a Windows 11 installation ISO, please download Windows 11 installation ISO first.

Step 3. Hasleo WinToUSB scans for and lists installable operating systems, select the edition of Windows you want to install.

Step 4. Click "Select destination drive" and select the destination drive from the pop-up drive list. If the drive is not correctly recognized by Hasleo WinToUSB, you can click the button for the program to recognize the drive.

Step 5. Choose the partition scheme and installation mode you want to use, and you can specify additional drivers or enable BitLocker to encrypt the Windows To Go USB drive according to your needs, then click "Proceed".

* Tips:

1. We recommend using the VHD/VHDX installation mode for better compatibility when creating Windows To Go using a USB flash drive.
2. For more detailed information about "Partition scheme", "Installation mode" and "Enable BitLocker", please refer to: How to create portable Windows 11/10/8/7 from an ISO, WIM, ESD, SWM or VHD(X) file?
3. If you choose "Keep the existing partition scheme", you need to manually prepare the partitions on the USB drive before this step, and here is the user guide on how to manually prepare partitions for Windows To Go.

Step 6. After clicking "Proceed", a pop-up will appear asking you if you want to format it to continue, click "Yes" if you are sure.

Step 7. After clicking "Yes", WinToUSB begins installing Windows to the destination drive.

Step 8. It takes some time to install. After installation restart the computer and change BIOS to boot from your USB drive.

Step 9. Windows 11 normal installation starts up and you have to complete all the installation steps. After that, you can install programs, copy files, etc.

Conclusion

As a professional portable Windows creation tool, you can install and run Windows 11 on a USB flash drive easily with the help of Hasleo WinToUSB, and you can also use it to install and run Windows 11 an external hard drive.

Please note that with the help of Hasleo WinToUSB you can not only use Windows 11 to create Windows To Go, but also use Windows 10/8/7 to create Windows To Go.