Bootable USB for Debian 13

Create a bootable USB drive for Debian 13 (Trixie) from Windows, macOS, or Linux.

Prerequisites

• USB drive ≥ 4 GB (8 GB recommended)
• Debian 13 ISO from debian.org

Verify checksum:

sha256sum debian-13.x.x-amd64-netinst.iso

Windows

Rufus (recommended)

1. Download from rufus.ie
2. Select the USB drive
3. Click SELECT → choose the Debian ISO
4. Partition scheme: GPT (UEFI) or MBR (BIOS)
5. Click START → confirm

Balena Etcher

1. Download from balena.io/etcher
2. Flash → select ISO → select USB → Flash

PowerShell (built-in)

# Identify the USB drive
Get-Partition | Where-Object {$_.DriveType -eq 'Removable'}

# Run as Admin:
diskpart
  select disk 1
  clean
  create partition primary
  select partition 1
  active
  format fs=fat32 quick
  assign letter=E
  exit

# Copy ISO
Copy-Item .\debian-13.x.x-amd64-netinst.iso E:\ -Force

macOS

Balena Etcher

1. Download from balena.io/etcher
2. Flash → select ISO → select USB → Flash

dd (Terminal)

# Identify the USB device
diskutil list

# Unmount
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2

# Write the ISO
sudo dd if=debian-13.x.x-amd64-netinst.iso of=/dev/rdisk2 bs=4m status=progress

# Eject
diskutil eject /dev/disk2

Linux

dd (simplest)

# Identify the USB device
lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,TYPE,MOUNTPOINT,MODEL

# Unmount if auto-mounted
sudo umount /dev/sdb*

# Write the ISO
sudo dd if=debian-13.x.x-amd64-netinst.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress oflag=dsync

# Sync
sudo sync

cp (safer, no dd risk)

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/usb
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb
sudo cp debian-13.x.x-amd64-netinst.iso /mnt/usb/
sync
sudo umount /mnt/usb

USBImager (GUI)

sudo apt install usbimager

Balena Etcher (GUI)

sudo dpkg -i balena-etcher_*.deb && sudo apt -f install

Quick Reference

Ventoy (Multi-Boot)

For a multi-boot USB with multiple distros on one stick, use Ventoy — just copy ISOs onto the drive, no re-flashing needed.