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<p><a href="https://etcher.balena.io/"><i>balenaEtcher</i></a> is the Free Software tool that we recommend to install Tails on USB sticksfrom macOS.</p>
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<p><a href="https://etcher.balena.io/"><i>balenaEtcher</i></a> is the Free Software tool that we recommend to install Tails from macOS.</p>
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<p>We [[stopped recommending|news/rufus]] <i>balenaEtcher</i> to install Tails
from Windows in 2025 because <i>balenaEtcher</i> shares [[!tails_ticket 16381
desc="sensitive information"]] to the Balena company that allows identifying
who is installing Tails.</p>
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<p>We have not updated our installation instructions for macOS yet.</p>
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<p>If you are worried about being identified as a Tails user, you can instead:</p>
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<ul>
<li>[[!toggle id="dd" text="Install Tails using `dd` on the command line"]].</li>
<li>Install Tails using <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/"><i>Raspberry Pi Imager</i></a>.</li>
</ul>
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Open the **Terminal** utility from **Applications**&nbsp;▸ **Utilities**.
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Open the **Terminal** utility from **Applications&nbsp;▸ Utilities**.
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Plug your USB stick into the computer.
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<p>You might overwrite any hard disk on the computer.</p>
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<p>If you are not sure about the device, stop proceeding.</p>
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Execute the following commands to copy the USB image that you downloaded earlier to the USB stick. Replace:
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Execute the following commands to copy the USB image that you downloaded earlier to the USB stick. Replace:
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<p class="pre command-template">dd if=<span class="command-placeholder">tails.img</span> of=<span class="command-placeholder">device</span> bs=16m && sync</p>
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<p class="command-template">dd if=<span class="command-placeholder">tails.img</span> of=<span class="command-placeholder">device</span> bs=16m && sync</p>
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<div class="note">
<p>If you get a <span class="guilabel"code>Permission denied</spancode> error, try
adding <code>sudo</code> at the beginning of the command:</p>
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<div class="note">
<p>If you get a <code>Permission denied</code> error, try
adding <code>sudo</code> at the beginning of the command:</p>
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<p class="pre command-template">sudo dd if=<span class="command-placeholder">tails.img</span> of=<span class="command-placeholder">device</span> bs=16m && sync</p>
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<p class="command-template">sudo dd if=<span class="command-placeholder">tails.img</span> of=<span class="command-placeholder">device</span> bs=16m && sync</p>
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Open the <span class="application">*balenaEtcher</span>* download (DMG disk image).
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Open the *balenaEtcher* download (DMG disk image).
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Close the installation window of <span class="application">*balenaEtcher</span>*.
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Close the installation window of *balenaEtcher*.
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Optionally, eject the disk image of *balenaEtcher* from the sidebar of *Finder*.
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*balenaEtcher* starts.
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<div class="caution"><p>All the data on this USB stick will be lost.</p></div>
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<p>All the data on this USB stick will be lost.</p>
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<p>Some data might still be recovered using advanced forensics tools.</p>
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<p>If the image has an <i>.iso</i> file
extension, it is the wrong image. Please go back to the
<span class="windows">[[download step|windows#download]].</span>
<span class="mac">[[download step|mac#download]].</span>
<span class="upgrade-windows">[[download step|upgrade/windowsmac">[[download step|mac#download]].</span>
<span class="upgrade-mac">[[download step|doc/upgrade/mac#download]].</span></p>
</div>
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<p>If the image has an <i>.iso</i> file
extension, it is the wrong image. Please go back to the
<span class="mac">[[download step|mac#download]].</span>
<span class="upgrade-mac">[[download step|doc/upgrade/mac#download]].</span></p>
</div>
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