Etcher – Burn ISO to USB – Clone USB

Last updated: November 9, 2020

Ever wondered How to Burn ISO to USB? How about Clone USB to USB? Etcher is a freely available tool that can be used to do both. Created by Balena, this open source direct image writing and disk cloning software can be used to write, or etch an image .img or .iso file onto a flash drive. And as mentioned, the utility can also function as a disk cloning tool. In that it can be used to easily clone from one drive to another of equal size or larger.

You should be aware that functionality is similar to using a destructive RawWrite DD command. Meaning that the utility will overwrite the content of the destination drive with whatever source file has been chosen. As a result, all existing content on the destination drive will be erased, wiped clean or deleted. Additionally, depending on the filesystem of the source, the device might not remain usable for file storage purposes.

After etching an ISO or IMG, the drive may no longer be detected by some operating systems. So, after playing around for a bit, you might find a need to restore and fix an unreadable USB flash drive.

Caveats aside, since it creates a direct copy of the source, this software functions very well for the purpose of creating a bootable USB from an Image or ISO file. As well as for cloning a bootable flash-drive.

How to Burn ISO to USB with Etcher

To Burn an ISO to USB, you will first need to Download the utility from the project Home Page.

  1. Choose Flash from file
    Etcher Select ISO File to Burn to USB
  2. Browse to, and select your ISO. Then click Open
    Browse and Select ISO
  3. 1.) Choose Select target
    Etcher Burn ISO USB Target
  4. 1.) Click the box to set your Destination Drive 2.) and click Select
    Etcher Burn ISO to USB Select Drive
  5. Click Flash! to Etch the file to the destination.
    Etcher Flash ISO to USB

If the ISO was etched successfully, you should now have a bootable USB.

How to Clone USB to USB with Etcher

Using Etcher as a Cloning tool to copy or clone from one USB to another USB.

  1. Choose Clone drive
    Etcher Clone USB Source
  2. 1.) Click the box to set your Source Drive 2.) Then click Select
    Etcher Source USB Drive to Clone
  3. 1.) Choose Select target
    Etcher Select target USB to be cloned
  4. 1.) Click the box to set your Destination Drive 2.) Next click Select
    Etcher Destination USB Clone
  5. Finally, click Flash! to clone the entire Source Drive to Destination.
    Etcher Flash to Clone USB

If the cloning of your USB flash drive went well, you should now have an exact duplicate or cloned USB.