Windows 10

When a new version of Windows 10 is released, Microsoft also releases new ISO disk images of the operating organization to perform clean installs or create a bootable recovery environment. This article provides ii ways you can download the latest Windows x ISO images from Microsoft.

An ISO image is a sector-past-sector copy of the Windows DVD stored as a single '.iso' file on your computer. You can and then fire this ISO file onto another DVD, create a bootable USB drive, mountain information technology equally a drive alphabetic character in Windows, or extract its files using 7-Nil.

ISO images are handy as they allow yous to create bootable media that can be used as a recovery surroundings for troubleshooting or performing make clean installs of the latest Windows ten. You can also utilize them to brand Windows ten virtual machines using Hyper-V, VirtualBox, or VMware.

Microsoft recommends using their Windows 10 Media Creation Tool (MCT) to download the latest ISO image or create a bootable USB drive.

This commodity volition bear witness you how to employ the MCT to download the latest ISO or play a joke on Microsoft'southward site into letting you download the ISO images directly instead.

Method 1: Use the Media Creation Tool to create an ISO

Microsoft offers a tool called the Media Creation Tool that lets you download the latest Windows 10 ISO to a file or burn information technology to a USB drive.

To employ the Media Creation Tool to become the latest ISO, please follow these steps:

  1. Visit the Windows ten download page using your web browser.
  2. Under 'Create Windows 10 installation media,' click on the 'Download tool at present' link and relieve the executable. At the fourth dimension of this writing, the MCT executable is named MediaCreationTool20H2.exe.
  3. Once downloaded, run the program, and Windows will prompt you for permission to permit it to run. At this prompt, click Yes, and the MCT will load and ready a few things before it can keep.

    MCT: Getting things ready

  4. When done, you volition be shown a license agreement. To continue, click on theTake button.
  5. The tool will at present state information technology is 'Getting a few things gear up,' and when done, display a prompt asking if yous would like to upgrade the computer or 'Create installation media (USB wink drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC.

    What do you want to do?

    At this prompt, select the Create installation media option then printing the Next button.
  6. The Media Creation Tool volition at present download and verify the necessary files to create an ISO or a bootable USB drive. This process tin can take some fourth dimension, so please be patient.

    Downloading Windows 10 files

  7. When done, the MCT will ask what language, architecture, and Windows edition y'all want for your ISO paradigm. Past default, the MCT volition use your local language and architecture, but y'all tin can uncheck Use the recommended options for this PC checkbox to select other options.

    When done, click on theSide by side button.

    Select language, architecture, and edition

  8. You will now be asked if you wish to create a bootable USB drive or a Windows 10 ISO. Every bit we are creating an ISO file, select the ISO file selection and pressNext.

    Create a USB drive or ISO file

  9. Y'all volition now be prompted to select a location to save your ISO file. Select a folder to save the ISO file to, and and then click on theSave push button.
  10. The Media Creation Tool volition now create the ISO file in the specified location. Delight be patient while the file is created.

    Creating the ISO file

  11. When the Media Creation Tool has finished creating the ISO, you can close the programme by clicking on the Finishbutton.

    Windows 10 ISO created

Y'all volition now have the latest Windows 10 ISO image file saved to your folder, which can be used for virtual machines or to create bootable media at a later appointment.

Method 2: Download the latest Windows ten ISO from Microsoft

When you lot get to Microsoft's "Download Windows x" page, you are just given the selection to update to a new version using Windows Update or to using the Microsoft Windows 10 Media Creation Tool.

However, it is possible to play a trick on Microsoft's Windows 10 download page into offering an ISO image instead by irresolute your browser's user agent to a non-Windows operating arrangement.

To download the latest Windows 10 ISO paradigm, please follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Windows 10 download page in any Chromium-based browser, such as Chrome or the new Microsoft Border.
  2. Click on the Chrome carte du jour, thenMore Tools,and then click onDeveloper tools,as shown below.

    Chrome-dev

  3. Now press theCtrl + Shift + M keyboard combination to open up the Device toolbar. This toolbar lets you impersonate some other device, such as a mobile phone or a tablet. When switching to another device, it as well changes the browser's user agent, which the website uses to place a company's operating system.

    Click on the card that showsResponsive and select iPad or iPad Pro then that you can view the folio better.

    Chrome emulation

  4. When you showtime select one of these devices, the screen size will be set to 50%. Please change information technology to 100%, equally shown below, so that y'all can run into the web page better.

    Change zoom level

  5. Now press the F5 key on your keyboard to refresh the page, and Microsoft's site will now offer you the Windows 10 ISO instead of the Media Cosmos Tool.

    Now click on the driblet-down arrow nether 'Select edition' and select the 'Windows 10' option under the proper noun of the latest feature update. At the fourth dimension of this commodity'south writing, the latest version is Windows 10 20H2, otherwise known as the Windows x October 2020 Update.

    Once selected, click on theOstend button.

    Select Windows 10 October 2020 Update

  6. Later on a few seconds, Microsoft's site will now enquire you to select your ISO's product language.

    Select Language

    Select your language and press the Confirm button again.
  7. Finally, you will be asked whether yous desire to download a 32-chip or 64-chip version of the Windows 10 ISO. Most people desire to download the 64-bit version of Windows 10.

    Select type

  8. When you click on the download button, you will be asked what folder y'all wish to save the ISO file, as shown below. Afterwards selecting the folder to save the ISO, click on theSave button to download it.

    Download Windows 10 ISO

    The current ISO image is v.8 GB, so information technology may take some time to download depending on your Net connection speed.

The ISO download link generated past Microsoft's site will remain valid for 24 hours and exist shared with other people during that time frame. After 24 hours, the link will no longer work, and you volition need to create a new one once more using the above steps.

What should you practice with the ISO?

Now that you have a re-create of the latest Windows x ISO image, you lot may be wondering what you should exercise with it.

This ISO image can now exist mounted in virtual machines to upgrade a Windows installation or install a new one. You can also extract the ISO file to find a detail Windows system file.

Finally, you can utilize the ISO epitome and a costless utility similar Rufus or Universal USB Installer to create a bootable Windows 10 USB drive.

However, if the goal was to create bootable media, information technology would have been easier to have the Media Cosmos Tool make it for you, as explained in the steps higher up.

Once you create a bootable Windows x USB drive or Windows 10 DVD, you can use it to perform a clean install of Windows 10. A make clean install is when you completely reformat a PC and reinstall Windows x, so you lot have a clean installation of the operating system without any additional software or drivers.

Some other common use for bootable Windows 10 USB drives is that they can be used as a recovery surround to remove malware and troubleshoot Windows x crashes, bugs, and freezes.

Windows 10 Recovery Environment
Windows x Recovery Environment

For either purpose, you lot need a spare USB drive that can be used to create the bootable Windows 10 USB media.

If you do not have a spare USB drive, you can buy a 32GB Sandisk drive for about $eight.99 or a v-pack of 64GB USB drives for $24 on Amazon.

BleepingComputer strongly recommends that every Windows user creates bootable Windows ten USB media that can be used for troubleshooting.

We have used the Windows 10 Recovery Environs many times in the past to troubleshoot issues in Windows. Having the bootable USB Windows media bachelor can salvage a lot of frustration when your PC is not working correctly.

Update ane/2/2021: Added info on using the MCT also.