How to Download and Install Ventoy Free Guide

Is Ventoy Free?

It is also portable. The Windows download is a ZIP archive containing Ventoy2Disk.exe; there is no installer to run and no system-wide changes. All downloads are published on the official ventoy.net download page, with SHA-256 checksums so you can verify what you downloaded.

Current stable release: Ventoy 1.1.18 (9 October 2026). The official downloads are ventoy-1.1.18-windows.zip (16 MB), ventoy-1.1.18-linux.tar.gz (20 MB), and ventoy-1.1.18-livecd.iso (187 MB).

System Requirements

• Host OS: Windows 7, 8, 10, or 11; or a 64-bit Linux distribution. The installation package is separate for each platform. There is no official macOS build.
• Processor: Any 64-bit CPU for the Linux build; the Windows build runs on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.
• RAM: 2 GB minimum; Ventoy itself is lightweight and uses very little memory.
• Storage: 16 MB for the Windows package and 20 MB for the Linux package — the USB drive's capacity is what really matters.
• USB drive: 8 GB minimum. A 32 GB or 64 GB drive is far more practical if you plan to carry Windows 11, a Linux distribution, and a recovery tool together.

How to Install Ventoy and Create a Multi-Boot USB

1. Go to the official site. Visit ventoy.net/en/download.html and download the Windows ZIP or the Linux tar.gz. Avoid third-party "Ventoy download" sites — the official page publishes SHA-256 checksums so you can verify the file.
2. Extract the archive. Unzip the Windows package to any folder. You will see Ventoy2Disk.exe alongside several helper tools. Nothing needs to be installed.
3. Run Ventoy2Disk as administrator. Right-click Ventoy2Disk.exe and choose "Run as administrator". On Linux, run sudo ./Ventoy2Disk.sh or launch the GUI with sudo ./VentoyGUI.x86_64.
4. Select the correct USB drive. Use the Device drop-down and confirm the drive letter, label, and capacity. This is the most important step — installation repartitions and erases the entire selected drive.
5. Choose your partition style. Click Option → Partition Style to choose MBR or GPT. Secure Boot Support is already enabled by default since Ventoy 1.0.76 — you do not need to tick it unless a previous installer disabled it.
6. Click Install and confirm twice. Ventoy warns that the drive will be formatted, then asks for a second confirmation. Installation takes only a few seconds.
7. Copy your ISO files. A new data partition — usually labelled Ventoy — appears in File Explorer. Copy ISO, WIM, IMG, VHD, VHDX, or EFI files onto it exactly as you would copy any other file. You can organise them into folders; Ventoy scans recursively.
8. Boot from the drive. Use "Safely Remove Hardware" before unplugging. Then boot the target PC from the USB and pick an image from the Ventoy menu. On a Secure Boot PC, the first boot will show the MOKManager screen — enroll the key once (see the next section).

Secure Boot: What Actually Happens

Secure Boot support is on by default in modern Ventoy builds (since 1.0.76), so a freshly created drive should boot on a Secure Boot PC without reinstalling. What you will see on the first boot is the blue MOKManager screen, which asks you to enroll the Ventoy key once per machine.

Enrolling the key

At the MOKManager screen, choose Enroll key from disk, select the ENROLL_THIS_KEY_IN_MOKMANAGER.cer file on the Ventoy partition, and confirm. You can also use Enroll hash if you prefer. You only need to do this once per computer.

“Verification failed: (0x1A) Security Violation”

This means the firmware refused the signed shim before MOKManager could run. The most common cause is that the machine trusts only the Windows UEFI CA and has the Microsoft 3rd-party UEFI CA disabled. Enter the BIOS/UEFI setup and enable an option named **“Allow Microsoft 3rd Party UEFI CA”** (wording varies by vendor; on Dell systems it appears as “Enable Microsoft UEFI CA”). After enabling it, boot Ventoy again and the MOKManager screen should appear.

The new key since 1.1.14

Ventoy adopted a new UEFI Secure Boot CA in 1.1.14 to address the UEFI CA 2023 issue. Since 1.1.13+, you must enroll the new key on machines that previously worked with an older Ventoy drive. If a drive that used to boot now fails, update Ventoy and re-enroll the key rather than assuming the drive is broken.

A security note

Ventoy's default Secure Boot policy is to bypass checks for all EFI files — every EFI binary on the drive can boot without signature validation. That is convenient for recovery tools, but it means Ventoy does not enforce Secure Boot's trust model the way a standard Windows or Linux installer does. If you want stricter behaviour, set the VTOY_SECURE_BOOT_POLICY option in the Global Control Plugin.

Getting Started

1. Understand the model. Ventoy does not "flash" an ISO. It installs a boot environment on the drive, then scans the data partition at boot time and lists every supported image it finds.
2. Use folders to stay organised. Create folders such as \ISO\Windows\ and \ISO\Linux\. Ventoy scans recursively.
3. Keep the drive as normal storage too. The Ventoy data partition is ordinary exFAT storage — available for documents, photos, or portable apps.
4. Update Ventoy without losing data. Run Ventoy2Disk.exe again and click Update rather than Install. The update replaces the bootloader but preserves the data partition and your ISO files. You may need to re-enroll the key after a major Secure Boot CA change.
5. Try persistence for Linux live sessions. Ventoy supports a persistence partition so changes made in a live Linux session survive a reboot. Configured via a JSON file and optional. 1.1.18 fixed an intermittent persistence failure on Ubuntu Desktop.
6. Test before you rely on it. Boot the drive on the machine you actually intend to use it on, and launch each ISO you plan to need.

Useful Tips

• 💾 Back up the USB drive first. The initial Ventoy installation wipes the entire selected device. Choosing the wrong disk in the drop-down is a genuinely common and painful mistake.
• 🧩 MBR vs GPT is decided at install time. MBR is the default and broadly compatible with both legacy BIOS and UEFI. GPT is the better choice for modern UEFI-only systems and drives over 2 TB. Changing it later means reinstalling Ventoy.
• 🔐 Secure Boot is already on — plan for the MOK prompt. You do not need to enable it; you need to enroll the key once per machine on first boot. If a machine only trusts the Windows UEFI CA, enable “Allow Microsoft 3rd Party UEFI CA” in firmware.
• 📦 exFAT handles large ISOs. The data partition uses exFAT by default, so files larger than 4 GB — including Windows 11 ISOs — copy without the FAT32 size limit.
• ⚡ Copy speed is the only limit. Ventoy does not extract or convert the image, so adding an ISO takes as long as copying that file. A USB 3.x drive makes a noticeable difference with large ISOs.
• 🔄 Update Ventoy occasionally. The current release is 1.1.18 (9 October 2026). It adds experimental SteamOS recovery support, improves Linux ISO partition mounting, fixes an intermittent Ubuntu Desktop persistence failure, and resolves a Secure Boot version-check problem in Windows/WinPE.
• 🧪 Try another boot mode if an ISO fails. Ventoy offers normal and GRUB2 boot modes for most images. Some distributions boot reliably only in one mode.
• 🆚 Ventoy vs. Rufus and balenaEtcher. Rufus and Etcher write one image to one drive at a time. Ventoy installs once and then lets you carry many images.
• 🖥️ On a machine without Windows or Linux, use the LiveCD. The official ventoy-1.1.18-livecd.iso (187 MB) boots a Ventoy environment so you can install Ventoy to a USB drive from a machine where you cannot run Ventoy2Disk directly.

Ventoy vs Rufus vs balenaEtcher

• Ventoy: Install once, then drop multiple ISOs onto the drive and boot any of them from a menu. Best for anyone who flashes frequently or wants a portable multi-boot drive (technicians, distro-hoppers, IT support).
• Rufus: Windows-only, fastest single-ISO writer, with advanced options for Windows ISOs (TPM bypass, local account, partition scheme control). Best for one-off Windows flashes and power users.
• balenaEtcher: Cross-platform, validates writes by default, simple three-step UI. Best for beginners on Windows, macOS, or Linux flashing a single Linux ISO.

All three are free. For occasional single-ISO flashing, Rufus or Etcher is fine. For maintaining a drive with multiple ISOs, Ventoy is significantly better. See our Rufus guide and balenaEtcher guide.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

• 🔒 “Verification failed: (0x1A) Security Violation” at boot. The firmware rejected the signed shim before MOKManager ran. The most common fix is to enable “Allow Microsoft 3rd Party UEFI CA” in the BIOS/UEFI setup. If the MOKManager screen does appear, enroll the key from disk (see the Secure Boot section). Since 1.1.14, a new key must be enrolled on machines that previously worked.
• ❌ Drive doesn't appear in the boot menu. Confirm the drive is actually bootable — check the target PC's UEFI settings and enable CSM/Legacy Boot if the drive was created as MBR. Some BIOSes also require the USB drive to be in the first boot slot to enumerate.
• 💾 ISO boots to a black screen or command prompt. Try a different boot mode from the Ventoy menu (normal vs. GRUB2). Some Linux distributions need GRUB2 mode; some older ISOs need normal mode.
• 🐌 Writing Ventoy is very slow. Slow USB 2.0 ports and low-quality drives are the usual cause. Try a USB 3.0 port and a decent drive. Installation itself is only 30 seconds — if it takes minutes, the drive is the bottleneck.
• ⚠️ “Cannot open device” during install. Close anything that might have the drive open (File Explorer, antivirus scan, another tool). If the drive is failing, try a different one — Ventoy writes to the whole drive and will fail on bad sectors.
• 🔑 Cannot boot Windows 11 ISO. Confirm you are using a genuine Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft. Ventoy works with official ISOs; some repackaged or modified versions have boot structure issues.
• 📁 Files copied but not showing in Ventoy menu. Ventoy scans only the first partition of the drive. If you copied ISOs to a different partition (e.g. Windows mounted a second partition), move them to the Ventoy partition (usually labelled Ventoy).
• 🔐 Secure Boot worked before and now fails after updating Ventoy. This is expected if you crossed the 1.1.14 CA change. Boot the drive with Secure Boot temporarily disabled, update Ventoy to 1.1.18, then re-enroll the new key. Do not assume the drive is corrupted.
• 🍎 Can I run Ventoy on a Mac? No official build exists. Third-party ports (`fcjr/ventoy-mac` via Homebrew, or `VentoyDocker`) can create Ventoy drives, but they are unofficial. For one-off flashing on macOS, use [balenaEtcher](/balenaetcher.html).

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Ventoy require installation?

Can I boot multiple ISOs with Ventoy?

What is Secure Boot and why does Ventoy need special support for it?

Will Ventoy wipe my USB drive?

Can I use Ventoy on a Mac or Linux?

How big a USB drive should I use for Ventoy?

Can I make a Ventoy drive boot faster?