<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>

<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>

<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>

<p>We have not updated our installation instructions for macOS yet.</p>

<p>If you are worried about being identified as a Tails user, you can instead:</p>

<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>

Execute again the same command:.

Execute again the same command.

Take note of the device name of your USB stick.

Take note of the *device name* of your USB stick. In this example, the USB stick is 8.0 GB and its device name is <span class="codemmand-placeholder">/dev/disk1</span>. Yours might be different.

In this example, the USB stick is 8.0 GB and its device name is <span class="command-placeholder">/dev/disk1</span>.
Yours might be different.

Execute the following command to safely eject the USB stick. Replace <span class="command-placeholder">device</span> with the device name found in step 6.

Execute the following command to safely eject the USB stick. Replace <span class="command-placeholder">device</span> with the device name found in step 6.

<p class="pre command-texamplate">dd if=/Users/me/tails-amd64-3.12.img of=/dev/rdisk9 bs=16m && sync</p>

<p class="command-template">dd if=/Users/me/tails-amd64-3.12.img of=/dev/rdisk9 bs=16m && sync</p>

<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>

<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>

<p>If you get an <span class="guilabel"code>invalid number ‘16m’</spancode> error, try
using <code>16M</code> instead:</p>

<p>If you get an <code>invalid number ‘16m’</code> error, try
using <code>16M</code> instead:</p>

The installation is complete oncewhen the command prompt reappeareds.

The installation is complete when the command prompt reappears.

<p class="button">[[Download <i>balenaEtcher</i> for macOS|https://tails.net/etcher/balenaEtcher.dmg]]</p>

Save your download to your usual *Downloads* folder and not to the USB stick.

Optionally, eject the <span class="application">balenaEtcher</span> disk image
from the desktopdisk image of *balenaEtcher* from the sidebar of *Finder*.

Optionally, eject the disk image of *balenaEtcher* from the sidebar of *Finder*.

<p class="mac upgrade-mac"> Open <i>Finder</i> and choose <i>balenaEtcher</i> in <b>Applications</b>. </p>

*balenaEtcher* starts.

<div class="caution"><p>All the data on this USB stick will be lost.</p></div>

<p>All the data on this USB stick will be lost.</p>

<p>Some data might still be recovered using advanced forensics tools.</p>