Alex Ruben
How To Dual Boot Windows 11 and Ubuntu on Any PC Effortlessly
Dual booting’s kinda weird, but it’s one of those setups that can really up your game — you get the full power of Windows 11, plus the open-source flexibility of Ubuntu. Usually, people ditch one OS for another, but if you’re brave enough, juggling both gives you the best of both worlds. In practice, it’s not always smooth sailing, especially with newer UEFI firmware and secure boot stuff, but with these steps, you should be able to make it work.
Prerequisites
Before doing anything fancy, make sure you’ve got:
- A machine already rocking Windows 11.
- A USB flash drive, at least 8 GB (because of course, Windows has to make this harder than it needs to be).
- Some free disk space — like, at least 25 GB for Ubuntu — so you’re not cramming it all in one tiny partition.
- Backup your important files, because messing with disks can go sideways.
- Get the latest Ubuntu ISO from Ubuntu’s website.
- Download Rufus from Rufus’ official site, because that’s what most folks use for creating bootable USBs.
Step 1: Make a Bootable USB with Rufus
This is why I like Rufus — it’s straightforward, and it works most of the time. Here’s what to do:
- Launch Rufus after you download it (you might need admin rights).
- Plug in your USB drive — Rufus should catch it automatically.
- Heads up: all data on that drive will vanish, so backup if you want to keep stuff.
- Drag your Ubuntu ISO into Rufus or select it manually.
- Under Partition scheme, pick MBR if your system supports legacy BIOS too, or GPT if you’re sure your PC is UEFI-only (modern machines mostly are).
- Set the Target system accordingly (BIOS or UEFI), then hit Start. You might see some warnings — just go ahead.
- Wait for it to finish, then close Rufus.
Step 2: Boot from the USB Drive
This part can be annoying because everyone’s motherboard does it differently, but here goes:
- Insert the bootable USB.
- Restart your PC, then get into the boot menu. Usually, it’s F12, Esc, Del, or something similar — depends on what brand you got.
- Pick your USB drive from the list and hit Enter.
- If it doesn’t show up, you might have to poke around in the BIOS/UEFI settings manually:
- Reboot and mash Del or F2 to get into settings.
- Look for a tab like Boot or Boot Order.
- Set USB or Removable Devices as the first boot option.
- Save and exit — usually F10.
Step 3: Install Ubuntu
When Ubuntu starts, you’ll see the Grub menu, which is a bit intimidating. Just pick Install Ubuntu.
- Pick Install Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager; it’s the easiest way to get dual boot working without breaking anything.
- You’ll get a slider to allocate space — don’t go crazy, but give enough for Ubuntu to breathe (at least 25 GB). Not sure why it always defaults to tiny sizes, but hey.
- Follow the prompts: set your time zone, username, password, yadda yadda.
- Hit Install and watch it do its thing. It might take a while, depending on hardware.
- When it’s done, it’ll ask you to restart and remove the USB. Do that, reboot, and you’ll see the Grub menu — your new dual boot screen.
Step 4: Choosing Your OS at Boot
Yep, it’s that simple. When you reboot, the Grub menu pops up, letting you pick Ubuntu or Windows. Use arrow keys and hit Enter. Easy enough, right? It might stall for a few seconds on that pick — not sure why, but it’s normal. Just wait it out.
Step 5: Keep Ubuntu Up to Date
Once you’re in Ubuntu, run these commands in the terminal to update everything — because, of course, the first thing Ubuntu does is nag you to upgrade:
- Open the terminal. You can usually do that by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T.
- Type and run one command at a time:
sudo apt updatesudo apt upgrade- It’ll ask for your password — just type it in, and hit Y to confirm.
Extra Tips & Common Issues
Here’s where things get tricky in real life:
- If Windows Boot Manager doesn’t show up in Grub, boot into Ubuntu, open a terminal, and run
sudo update-grub. This refreshes Grub’s list of available OSes. Usually, this fixes it — but sometimes you have to run it twice or tweak a little config. - Secure Boot can trip things up. You might need to go into BIOS/UEFI and disable Secure Boot — especially if Ubuntu refuses to start. On some systems, Secure Boot willy-nilly blocks unsigned kernels.
- If it still won’t boot into Ubuntu, check your partition scheme and boot order settings again. Sometimes setting UEFI first helps.
Summary
- Make a bootable USB with Rufus, using MBR or GPT based on your machine.
- Boot from that USB, then install Ubuntu alongside Windows with the default options.
- Manage your boot options in BIOS/UEFI if needed.
- Update Ubuntu after installation — it’s worth it.
Hopefully this shaves off a few hours for someone. Dual booting isn’t always a straight line, but it’s doable — and once set up, you’re golden.