Independent guide. Not affiliated with Dortania or the OpenCore Legacy Patcher project.Official project on GitHub
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OCLP 2.5.1/3.0.0 RC5

Install

OpenCore Legacy Patcher and Windows

People search for “OCLP Windows” for two different reasons: to prepare an old Mac from a Windows PC, or to keep Windows on a patched Mac. This page covers both.

Checked against OCLP 2.5.1 and 3.0.0Updated 2 min read
On this page 3 sections
  1. If you only have a Windows PC
  2. Windows and Boot Camp on a patched Mac
  3. Common questions

Short answer

There is no Windows version of OpenCore Legacy Patcher. It is a macOS app, and you need a working Mac to build OpenCore and the installer (the old Mac itself is fine if it still boots). Any “OCLP for Windows” download is not from the developers. On a patched Mac, Windows 10 and 11 can run in UEFI mode and appear in the OpenCore boot picker.

If you only have a Windows PC

  • Use the old Mac itself. The OCLP app runs on OS X Yosemite 10.10 or newer. To create installers for macOS Sonoma and newer, Apple's createinstallmedia needs High Sierra 10.13 or newer (Dortania FAQ). So an old Mac on High Sierra or later can prepare its own upgrade.
  • Borrow any Mac for an hour: install OCLP, set the target model in Settings, create the installer and OpenCore on a USB drive.
  • Mac won't boot at all? Restore its original macOS first with Internet Recovery (hold Option+Cmd+R), then continue with OCLP.
  • Avoid tools and videos that build “macOS installers on Windows” for OCLP. They skip OpenCore, which the old Mac needs to boot a newer macOS, and many come from untrusted sources.

Windows and Boot Camp on a patched Mac

Dortania's guide covers installing Windows 10 or 11 in UEFI mode without Boot Camp Assistant, so it appears in the OpenCore picker. Key points:

  • UEFI Windows is recommended on the 2015 MacBook and newer, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 2011 and newer, Mac mini 2011 and newer, iMac 2010 and newer, and Mac Pro/Xserve 2009 and newer (upgraded GPU preferred). Other Macs may install but with driver issues.
  • Give OpenCore its own small FAT32 partition (about 200 MB) so Windows does not overwrite it in the shared EFI partition.
  • You need an 8 GB USB drive for the Windows installer and 30 GB of free space.
  • Boot Camp drivers: Dortania documents installing Boot Camp 6 software on unsupported machines.

Full instructions: Dortania, Installing Windows in UEFI Mode.

Common questions

Does OpenCore Legacy Patcher work with Boot Camp (Bootcamp)?

Yes. Windows installed in UEFI mode shows up in the OpenCore boot picker, and Dortania documents installing the Boot Camp 6 drivers on unsupported Macs. The Boot Camp installer can refuse with “This version of Boot Camp is not intended for this computer model” on unsupported Macs; Dortania's Windows guide covers that error.

Can I download OpenCore Legacy Patcher on Windows?

You can download the .pkg file on any computer, but you can only run it on a Mac.

Does OCLP break my existing Boot Camp Windows?

OCLP adds OpenCore to the EFI partition; Dortania warns not to delete the whole EFI folder when removing it, because Windows boot files may be there. A Windows install that uses legacy BIOS mode does not appear in the OpenCore picker; boot it from Apple's startup manager.

Keep going

Download OCLPThe official download, which file you need, how to verify itBoot pickerThe OpenCore boot screen, every key explainedUSB installerCreate the macOS installer USB with OCLP

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