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How to install Windows 11 on Mac M1 Processors (UTM Virtual Machine) for Free

By Updated 5 min read3
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You can run Windows 11 on your M1 Mac, and the best part is that it is completely free. In this guide I show you how to install, set up and run Windows 11 for ARM in a virtual machine on any Apple Silicon Mac. It doesn’t matter if your Mac has an M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, M2 or any newer M chip: it works thanks to the free UTM app.

Update (October 2026): In my 2022 video I used a Windows 11 Insider Preview virtual disk (VHDX). Today Microsoft offers an official Windows 11 ARM64 ISO, and UTM’s own guide uses that ISO. For a new installation, follow Method 1 below. The VHDX method from the video is still described in Method 2.

In this article
  1. What you need
  2. Method 1: Install Windows 11 ARM from the official ISO (recommended)
  3. Method 2: Import the Windows 11 Insider VHDX (from my 2022 video)
  4. Install the SPICE guest tools (network and other drivers)
  5. Troubleshooting
    1. UTM shows a UEFI shell with “startup.nsh”
    2. Networking does not work
    3. Mouse problems during setup
    4. “This PC can’t run Windows 11”
  6. Official guides

What you need

  • A Mac with Apple Silicon (M1, M2 or newer).
  • UTM, a free virtualization and emulation app for Mac.
  • The Windows 11 ARM64 installer from Microsoft.
  • Enough memory: I recommend giving Windows 8 GB of RAM or more for better performance.
  • A Windows 11 license, which Windows needs to be activated.

UTM Download

Windows 11 ARM64 ISO (Microsoft)

This is the method from UTM’s official guide.

  1. Download UTM with the button above, open the DMG file and drag UTM to the Applications folder.
  2. Download the Windows 11 ARM64 ISO from Microsoft with the second button. If Microsoft’s download page doesn’t work in Safari, use Chrome or Firefox. You can also create the ISO with the free CrystalFetch app.
  3. Open UTM and click the + button to create a new virtual machine.
  4. Choose Virtualize, then Windows.
  5. Check Install Windows 10 or higher and Install drivers and SPICE tools. Click Browse and select the ISO you downloaded.
  6. Choose how much RAM and how many CPU cores Windows gets. 8 GB of RAM or more gives better performance.
  7. Choose the size of the virtual disk and, if you want, a folder to share with your Mac.
  8. On the summary page, click Save.
  9. Wait until UTM has downloaded the guest tools, then click the big Play button to start the VM.
  10. When you see Press any key to boot from CD or DVD, press a key right away. If you miss it, the VM ends up in the UEFI shell (see Troubleshooting below).
  11. Install Windows 11 as usual: choose your region, keyboard and account.

Method 2: Import the Windows 11 Insider VHDX (from my 2022 video)

  1. Here you can download the UTM app for free. It’s a virtualization and emulation app. Drag it to the Applications folder to install it on your Mac or iMac.
  2. Download the Windows 11 VM for ARM from Microsoft here. You need a Windows Insider account for this, which is free to sign up for if you don’t have one already.
  3. Open UTM on the Mac, then click the + button to create a new virtual machine.
  4. Click the Browse button and select the Windows 11 ARM VHDX image you downloaded, with Import Image selected, then click Next.
  5. Choose how much RAM and how many CPU cores you want to give Windows 11 (I recommend 8 GB of RAM or more for better performance), then click Next again.
  6. On the Summary screen, choose Save.
  7. Click the big Play button to boot the Windows 11 VM and start the setup.
  8. Go through the setup as usual: region, account name and so on. Networking and internet will not work yet; that needs an extra step, which I cover below. So choose that you have no internet connection for now and let Windows 11 finish the setup.

The button below is a copy of the VHDX file from 2022 (Insider Preview build 22598). Old Insider Preview builds expire, so for a new installation use Method 1.

Download Windows 11 ARM (Insider VHDX, 2022)

Install the SPICE guest tools (network and other drivers)

Windows needs the SPICE guest tools for networking and other drivers. If you used Method 1 with Install drivers and SPICE tools checked, UTM installs them automatically. If they are missing:

  1. In the UTM window, open the CD/DVD menu in the toolbar and choose Install Windows Guest Tools, or choose the guest tools ISO you downloaded with the buttons below.
  2. In Windows, open the CD drive in File Explorer and run the installer.
  3. Restart Windows.

Download Spice Guest Tool Here

Download Latest Spice Guest Tool Here

For the latest version of the guest tools, see the releases on GitHub: https://github.com/utmapp/qemu/releases

Troubleshooting

UTM shows a UEFI shell with “startup.nsh”

Several readers asked about this. If the VM shows a black UEFI shell screen that mentions startup.nsh, the Windows installer didn’t start. UTM’s guide gives two causes:

  • You didn’t press a key during boot. Restart the VM and press any key as soon as you see Press any key to boot from CD or DVD.
  • You have the wrong ISO for your Mac. arm64 is for Apple Silicon, and amd64 is for Intel Macs.

Networking does not work

Make sure you installed the SPICE guest tools, which include the network drivers.

If Windows 11 setup is stuck because there is no network connection:

  1. Press Shift + F10 to open Command Prompt.
  2. Type OOBE\BYPASSNRO and press Enter.
  3. The VM restarts, and the setup screen now shows the option I don’t have internet.
  4. When Windows setup is complete, install the SPICE guest tools for the network drivers.

Note: Microsoft blocks OOBE\BYPASSNRO on newer Windows 11 versions. UTM’s guide suggests typing start ms-cxh:localonly in the same Command Prompt instead, and then creating a local account. For the latest methods, see how to bring local accounts back after Microsoft blocked them.

Mouse problems during setup

If the mouse doesn’t work properly, press the mouse capture button in the UTM toolbar so the mouse input goes directly to Windows. Because of driver issues, it sometimes helps to enter and exit capture mode once.

“This PC can’t run Windows 11”

UTM’s official troubleshooting guide (linked below) covers this message, including the Secure Boot and CPU core count settings.

Official guides

Do you have an older Mac with an Intel processor? Then you can also install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp.

Written by

Daniel

Daniel is the creator of Tips 2 Fix. He has been publishing tech tutorials on YouTube since 2013, and his videos have been watched more than 21 million times. Every guide on this site comes with a video where he shows the fix step by step, from Windows 11 upgrades on unsupported PCs to everyday Windows, Mac and Android problems.

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