--- title: I tried booting Windows 11 from a USB drive, and it... description: Windows To Go, Microsoft's feature for running Windows from a USB drive, was discontinued in 2022. Using Rufus, it's still possible to create a Windows 11... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-booting-windows-11-from-a-usb-drive-and-it-revealed-why-microsoft-let-this-feature-die-diqcdrgdt twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I tried booting Windows 11 from a USB drive, and it revealed why Microsoft let this feature die | daily.dev og:description: Windows To Go, Microsoft's feature for running Windows from a USB drive, was discontinued in 2022. Using Rufus, it's still possible to create a Windows 11... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-booting-windows-11-from-a-usb-drive-and-it-revealed-why-microsoft-let-this-feature-die-diqcdrgdt og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/DIQcdRGdt.png og:image:alt: I tried booting Windows 11 from a USB drive, and it revealed why Microsoft let this feature die og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I tried booting Windows 11 from a USB drive, and it revealed why Microsoft let this feature die **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Windows To Go, Microsoft's feature for running Windows from a USB drive, was discontinued in 2022. Using Rufus, it's still possible to create a Windows 11 bootable USB. Testing with a slow 64GB SanDisk drive (150 MB/s) resulted in a choppy, nearly unusable experience, while a faster Samsung FIT Plus 256GB drive (400 MB/s) delivered a smooth experience. Key challenges include needing to pre-load network drivers, navigating BIOS boot options, and requiring a host machine. The feature is most useful for Linux users who occasionally need Windows without dual-booting or Wine. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Windows 11 on a USB drive works, but the driver nightmare isn't worth it](https://daily.dev/posts/windows-11-on-a-usb-drive-works-but-the-driver-nightmare-isn-t-worth-it-sgm7ffdcf) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I ran Windows 11 from an SD card, and it's faster than you'd think](https://daily.dev/posts/i-ran-windows-11-from-an-sd-card-and-it-s-faster-than-you-d-think-euork1pux) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I set up Windows To Go on a portable SSD, and it's good enough to serve as my daily driver](https://daily.dev/posts/i-set-up-windows-to-go-on-a-portable-ssd-and-it-s-good-enough-to-serve-as-my-daily-driver-aks3wu1ec) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A persistent Windows 11 USB keeps your whole setup on a drive, and it's more useful than a recovery disk](https://daily.dev/posts/a-persistent-windows-11-usb-keeps-your-whole-setup-on-a-drive-and-it-s-more-useful-than-a-recovery--jvq51icog) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [How to create Windows boot disks on Linux without special tools](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-create-windows-boot-disks-on-linux-without-special-tools-yqdzfgs5t) · All Things Open · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#windows](https://daily.dev/tags/windows) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-booting-windows-11-from-a-usb-drive-and-it-revealed-why-microsoft-let-this-feature-die-diqcdrgdt) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I tried booting Windows 11 from a USB drive, and it revealed why Microsoft let this feature die","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-booting-windows-11-from-a-usb-drive-and-it-revealed-why-microsoft-let-this-feature-die-diqcdrgdt","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-booting-windows-11-from-a-usb-drive-and-it-revealed-why-microsoft-let-this-feature-die-diqcdrgdt"},"datePublished":"2026-07-13T21:33:24.180Z","dateModified":"2026-07-13T22:04:00.444Z","description":"Windows To Go, Microsoft's feature for running Windows from a USB drive, was discontinued in 2022. 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