Rufus icon
Rufus icon

Rufus

Formats USB drives to FAT, NTFS, exFAT, and more, while creating bootable USBs from diverse ISOs. Supports MS-DOS/FreeDOS with no external files and offers BIOS or UEFI mode, including bad block check. Ideal for systems lacking an OS or flashing BIOS and lightweight, ad-free.

Rufus screenshot 1
Rufus screenshot 2
+2
Rufus screenshot 3

Cost / License

Application type

Platforms

  • Windows  Windows 8 or later.
  • PortableApps.com
Rufus alternatives  
1640likes
76alternatives
8articles

Features

Properties

  1.  Lightweight
  2.  Optimal performance
  3.  Privacy focused
  4.  User friendly

Features

  1.  Create bootable USB
  2.  Portable
  3.  Burn iso
  4.  Windows To Go
  5.  UEFI Support
  6.  Write ISO to SD card
  7.  Create bootable Image
  8.  Create BIOS bootable drive
  9.  Create UEFI bootable drive
  10.  GNU/linux-libre
  11.  USB to FAT
  12.  USB to NTFS
  13.  Install DOS to USB
  14.  Bad Blocks checking
  15.  Ad-free
  16.  Works Offline
  17.  Drive formating
  18.  Support for UDF extension

 Tags

Rufus News & Activities

Highlights All activities

Recent News

Recent activities

  • Shadow5964 rated Rufus  
  • Shadow5964 liked Rufus
  • candroid_man liked Rufus
  • Lunatik56 liked Rufus
  • magicscraper liked Rufus
  • nullvert liked Rufus
  • Gooberlyv2 liked Rufus
  • cscloudsolutions liked Rufus
  • canstand reviewed Rufus  

    Used to use it frequently.

  • canstand liked Rufus

Comments and Reviews

   
Comment summary: Rufus is generally praised for its speed and ease of use in creating bootable USB drives. It is described as lightweight, portable, and reliable. Users value its open-source nature and support for multiple operating systems. However, some criticize the lack of EXT3/EXT4 formatting and its Windows-only compatibility. Negative feedback includes experiences with developer interactions and occasional functionality issues. Overall, Rufus is considered highly effective for its intended purposes.
Top Positive Comment
avert
8

Pros:

  • Open source!
  • Great for creating bootable USB disks.
  • GPT/UEFI support is a lifesaver.
  • Quick, reliable and effective.

Cons:

  • Hash sum information for installation files are not provided.
Top Negative Comment
saint23thomas
0

completely bricked the usb drive i was trying to use

Andrei030x

These reports aren't isolated. BUT, the drive isn't actually broken; it's a rare error with the partition table. Open Disk Management, find your flash drive, and delete all volumes on it. Then create a simple volume there. And let me know if it helped. If not, I can suggest an even more effective method.

Can Stand
0

Used to use it frequently.

Review from a new or low-activity account — shown here, but not counted in the app rating.
Evix
0

Many would say its better than official tools

very_unfortunate
0

We need Rufus for linux!

Andrei030x
-1

The issue with network activity has been fixed. Otherwise the program is good.

very_unfortunate

https://github.com/pbatard/rufus/issues/2781#issuecomment-3133363222

It's a Windows-only certificate check. No user data is sent, no analytics.

Review from a new or low-activity account — shown here, but not counted in the app rating.
c17s5qhu
0

My savior for years. Has advanced functionality. is a solution for every flash

7 of 80 comments

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Official Links

AppStores & Other Links

What is Rufus?

Rufus is a utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives, such as USB keys/pendrives, memory sticks, etc.

Features:

  • Formats USB memory sticks to FAT/FAT32/NTFS/exFAT/UDF/ReFS
  • Creates bootable USB drive from a wide range of ISOs
  • Creates MS-DOS/FreeDOS bootable USB memory sticks, with no external files required
  • Creates BIOS or UEFI bootable drives
  • Checks for bad blocks
  • Modern UI, with UAC elevation for Windows Vista and later
  • Fully Open Source (GPL v3)

It can be be especially useful for cases where:

  • you need to flash a BIOS or other firmware from DOS
  • you need to install an Operating System or run a Live CD from USB
  • you need to work on a system that doesn't have an OS installed
  • you want to run a DOS low-level utility

Despite its small size, Rufus provides you with everything you need!

Rufus information

AlternativeTo Categories

OS & Utilities, CD/DVD Tools

GitHub repository

  •  37,669 Stars
  •  3,167 Forks
  •  11 Open Issues
  •   Updated  
View on GitHub

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Our users have written 80 comments and reviews about Rufus, and it has gotten 1640 likes

Rufus was added to AlternativeTo by WhiteTiger on and this page was last updated .