Start in Windows.
Download and verify the Tails ISO image
In this step you will download Tails as an ISO image: a single file containing the whole operating system. For your security, it is very important to also verify your download. We propose you two techniques to do this verification automatically.
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You can download the ISO image via our Firefox add-on. The add-on verifies your download automatically.
The verification is based on a cryptographic checksum downloaded from our website.
or Download and verify via BitTorrent
Your BitTorrent client verifies your download automatically based on a cryptographic checksum in the Torrent file.
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You downloaded and verified the ISO image successfully!
You can now continue with the next step and Open these instructions on another device. Install Tails Installer. Install an intermediary Tails. Install an intermediary Tails. Burn a Tails DVD. Install an intermediary Tails. Open these instructions on another device. Burn Tails on a DVD. Open these instructions on another device. Install an intermediary Tails.
If you are knowledgeable about OpenPGP, you can do additional verification using the OpenPGP signature.
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Install an intermediary Tails
In this step, you will install an intermediary Tails by copying the Tails ISO image on a first USB stick using a program called Universal USB Installer. the command line. a program called GNOME Disks.
On this intermediary Tails you won't benefit from important features like automatic security upgrades or the possibility to store some of your documents and configuration in an encrypted storage.
All the data on this USB stick will be lost.
Plug the first USB stick in the computer.
Click on the following link to download Universal USB Installer:
At the Windows security warning, confirm that you want to run the program.
Read the licence agreement and click to continue and start Universal USB Installer.
Select Tails from the drop-down list.
Click and choose the ISO image that you downloaded earlier.
Use the drop-down list to specify the USB stick on which you want to install the ISO image.
If the USB stick does not appear in the drop-down list, make sure that it is plugged in correctly and restart Universal USB Installer.
Select the Format option.
Click .
A warning appears. Click to start the installation. The installation takes a few minutes.
After the installation is finished, click to quit Universal USB Installer.
Cool, you now have an intermediary Tails on your first USB stick. You will soon have to restart your computer on this USB stick. It can be a bit tricky, so good luck! But it might not work on your Mac model, so good luck!
Open these instructions on another device
In the next step, you will shut down the computer. To be able to follow the rest of the instructions afterwards, we recommend you either:
- Open this page on your smartphone, tablet, or another computer (recommended).
Print the rest of the instructions on paper.
Take note of the URL of this page to be able to come back later:
https://tails.boum.org/install/clone/ https://tails.boum.org/install/win/usb/ https://tails.boum.org/install/mac/usb/ https://tails.boum.org/install/mac/clone/ https://tails.boum.org/install/mac/dvd/ https://tails.boum.org/install/debian/usb/ https://tails.boum.org/install/expert/usb/ https://tails.boum.org/install/linux/usb/ https://tails.boum.org/upgrade/clone/ https://tails.boum.org/upgrade/tails/
Restart on the intermediary Tails
Restart on the other Tails
Restart on the Tails DVD
The following instructions assume that the other Tails that you are installing upgrading from is on a USB stick. You can also install upgrade from a Tails DVD in a similar way.
Make sure that the DVD is inserted in the computer. Shut down the computer while leaving the first USB stick plugged in.
Shut down the computer.
Plug in the other Tails USB stick that you want to install upgrade from.
Unplug your Tails USB stick while leaving the intermediary USB stick plugged in.
Switch on the computer.
Immediately press-and-hold the Option key (Alt key) until a list of possible startup disks appears.
Choose the DVD and press Enter. The DVD might be labelled Windows like in the following screenshot:
Immediately press-and-hold the Option key (Alt key) until a list of possible startup disks appears.
Choose the USB stick and press Enter. The USB stick appears as an external hard disk and might be labelled EFI Boot or Windows like in the following screenshot:
If the computer starts on Tails, the Boot Tails menu appears. Choose Live and press Enter.
Most computers do not start on Tails by default. If it does you are lucky. Otherwise, if the computer starts on Ubuntu, Windows, Linux, Windows or Linux, refer to the troubleshooting section about Tails not starting at all.
Tails does not start at all (troubleshooting)
The following section applies if the Boot Tails menu does not appear when starting on a USB stick.
It is quite common for computers not to start automatically on a USB stick with Tails installed. Here are two troubleshooting techniques. You should try them one after the other.
Getting to the boot menu
On most computers, you can press a boot menu key to display a list of possible devices to start from. The following instructions explain how to display the boot menu and start on the USB stick. The following screenshot is an example of such boot menu:
Identify the potential boot menu keys for the computer depending on the computer manufacturer in the following list:
Manufacturer Key Acer Esc, F12, F9 Asus Esc, F8 Compaq Esc, F9 Dell F12 Fujitsu F12, Esc HP Esc, F9 Lenovo F12, Novo, F8, F10 Samsung Esc, F12, F2 Sony F11, Esc, F10 Toshiba F12 others… F12, Esc Make sure that the first USB stick is plugged in the computer.
Shut down the computer.
Switch on the computer.
Immediately press several times the first potential boot menu key identified in step 1.
If a boot menu with a list of possible devices to start from appears, select the first USB stick in the list and press Enter.
If the computer starts on Ubuntu, Windows, Linux, repeat steps 2 and 3 for all the potential boot menu keys identified in step 1.
If none of the potential boot menu keys identified in step 1 work or if the USB stick does not appear in the list, then try the second troubleshooting technique described below.
Edit the BIOS settings
You might need to edit the BIOS settings of the computer.
Search for the user guide of the computer on the website of its manufacturer to learn how to edit the BIOS settings.
In the BIOS settings, try to apply the following changes one by one and restart the computer after each change. Some changes might not apply to certain computer models.
Take note of the changes that you apply to the BIOS settings, to be able to revert them if they prevent the computer to start on Ubuntu. Windows. Linux.
Edit the Boot Order. Depending on the computer model you might see an entry for removable devices or USB media. Move this entry to the top of the list to force the computer to try to start from the first USB stick before starting from the internal hard disk.
Disable Fast boot.
If the computer is configured to start with legacy BIOS, try to configure it to start with UEFI. Else, if the computer is configured to start with UEFI, try to configure it to start with legacy BIOS. To do so, try any of the following options if available:
- Enable Legacy mode
- Disable Secure boot
- Enable CSM boot
- Disable UEFI
Try to upgrade the BIOS to the latest version provided by the manufacturer.
If none of these options work, please report the problem to our support team.
We are sorry but you might not be able to use Tails on this computer.
If your computer fails to start on the intermediary Tails, you can try these other two methods:
If you tried them already but failed as well, then it might currently be impossible to start Tails on your Mac model.
If your computer fails to start on the Tails DVD, then it might currently be impossible to start Tails on your Mac model.
After 30–60 seconds, another screen called Tails Greeter appears.
If the computer stops responding or displays error messages before getting to Tails Greeter, refer to the troubleshooting section about Tails not starting entirely.
Tails does not start entirely (troubleshooting)
The following section applies if the Boot Tails menu appears but not Tails Greeter when starting Tails.
Restart the computer on the first USB stick.
In the Boot Tails menu, choose the failsafe mode which might work better on some computers.
If the failsafe mode does not work better, restart the computer again on the first USB stick.
In the Boot Tails menu, press TAB. A command line with a list of boot options appears at the bottom of the screen.
Press the Backspace key several times to remove the quiet option from the command line.
Type
debug nosplashto add these options to the command line.To start Tails, press Enter.
Hopefully, error messages now appear when starting Tails. You can send them to our support team by email, for example by taking a picture of the last screen and error messages.
If the error message is /bin/sh: can't access tty; job control turned off followed by (initramfs), then try removing the live-media=removable option from the boot command line.
If removing live-media=removable allows you to start Tails, please report the problem to our support team. This contributes to improving the list of problematic USB sticks. Then try installing Tails on another USB stick.
Removing the live-media=removable option might be dangerous. If an adversary had access to the computer and installed a malicious Tails on an internal hard disk, the computer might start on the malicious Tails instead of on the USB stick.
In Tails Greeter, select your preferred language in the drop-down list on the bottom left of the screen. Click .
After 15–30 seconds, the Tails desktop appears.
The most difficult part is over! Now grab your second USB stick as it is time to install the final Tails on it.
It is important to install the final Tails as it allows you to store some of your documents and configuration and benefit from automatic security upgrades.
This was a first but important step! Now grab the new USB stick on which you want to install Tails.
Install Tails
Install the final Tails
Install Tails on a USB stick
Upgrade your Tails
In this step, you will install the final Tails on a second new USB stick using Tails Installer.
In this step, you will upgrade your Tails from the other intermediary Tails using Tails Installer one last time.
All the data on this USB stick will be lost.
The persistent storage of your Tails USB stick will be preserved.
The persistent storage of the other Tails will not be copied.
Plug the second the new your Tails the USB stick in the computer.
Choose to start Tails Installer.
Start Tails Installer.
Click on the button.
Click and choose the ISO image that you downloaded earlier.
Choose the second the new your USB stick in the Target Device drop-down list.
To start the installation, upgrade, click on the button.
Read the warning message in the pop-up window. Click to confirm.
The installation upgrade takes a few minutes. At the end of the installation, you are asked for your administration password.
The progress bar usually freezes for some time around 95 percent while synchronizing data on disk.
Close Tails Installer.
You are done upgrading Tails. You can now shutdown and restart on your Tails USB stick.
Thank you for staying safe!
Restart on the final Tails
Restart on the other Tails
Restart on the Tails USB stick
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the first other USB stick and leave the second new USB stick plugged in.
Eject the DVD and leave the USB stick plugged in.
Switch on the computer.
Immediately press-and-hold the Option key (Alt key) until a list of possible startup disks appears.
Choose the USB stick and press Enter. The USB stick appears as an external hard disk and might be labelled EFI Boot or Windows like in the following screenshot:
Some computers start successfully on the intermediary Tails but fail to start on the final Tails. If this is your case, refer to the troubleshooting section about Tails not starting at all.
Tails does not start at all (troubleshooting)
The following section applies if the Boot Tails menu does not appear when starting on a USB stick.
It is quite common for computers not to start automatically on a USB stick with Tails installed. Here are two troubleshooting techniques. You should try them one after the other.
Getting to the boot menu
On most computers, you can press a boot menu key to display a list of possible devices to start from. The following instructions explain how to display the boot menu and start on the USB stick. The following screenshot is an example of such boot menu:
Identify the potential boot menu keys for the computer depending on the computer manufacturer in the following list:
Manufacturer Key Acer Esc, F12, F9 Asus Esc, F8 Compaq Esc, F9 Dell F12 Fujitsu F12, Esc HP Esc, F9 Lenovo F12, Novo, F8, F10 Samsung Esc, F12, F2 Sony F11, Esc, F10 Toshiba F12 others… F12, Esc Make sure that the first USB stick is plugged in the computer.
Shut down the computer.
Switch on the computer.
Immediately press several times the first potential boot menu key identified in step 1.
If a boot menu with a list of possible devices to start from appears, select the first USB stick in the list and press Enter.
If the computer starts on Ubuntu, Windows, Linux, repeat steps 2 and 3 for all the potential boot menu keys identified in step 1.
If none of the potential boot menu keys identified in step 1 work or if the USB stick does not appear in the list, then try the second troubleshooting technique described below.
Edit the BIOS settings
You might need to edit the BIOS settings of the computer.
Search for the user guide of the computer on the website of its manufacturer to learn how to edit the BIOS settings.
In the BIOS settings, try to apply the following changes one by one and restart the computer after each change. Some changes might not apply to certain computer models.
Take note of the changes that you apply to the BIOS settings, to be able to revert them if they prevent the computer to start on Ubuntu. Windows. Linux.
Edit the Boot Order. Depending on the computer model you might see an entry for removable devices or USB media. Move this entry to the top of the list to force the computer to try to start from the first USB stick before starting from the internal hard disk.
Disable Fast boot.
If the computer is configured to start with legacy BIOS, try to configure it to start with UEFI. Else, if the computer is configured to start with UEFI, try to configure it to start with legacy BIOS. To do so, try any of the following options if available:
- Enable Legacy mode
- Disable Secure boot
- Enable CSM boot
- Disable UEFI
Try to upgrade the BIOS to the latest version provided by the manufacturer.
If none of these options work, please report the problem to our support team.
We are sorry but you might not be able to use Tails on this computer.
If your computer fails to start on the final Tails, Tails USB stick, you can continue using the intermediary Tails Tails DVD. On this intermediary Tails you cannot benefit from automatic upgrades or create an encrypted persistent storage.
You should still have a look at our final recommendations. final recommendations.
In the Boot Tails menu, choose Live and press Enter.
After 30–60 seconds, Tails Greeter appears.
In Tails Greeter, select your preferred language in the drop-down list on the bottom left of the screen. Click .
After 15–30 seconds, the Tails desktop appears.
Yeah, you are done installing Tails!
If you want to save some of your documents and configuration in an encrypted storage on the finalnew Tails USB stick, follow our instructions until the end. Otherwise, have a look at our final recommendations. final recommendations. final recommendations. final recommendations. final recommendations. final recommendations. final recommendations. final recommendations.
Create an encrypted persistent storage (optional)
You can optionally create an encrypted persistent storage in the remaining free space on the final new Tails USB stick to store any of the following:
- Your personal files and working documents
- Some of your settings
- Your encryption keys
The data in the encrypted persistent storage:
- Remains available across separate working sessions.
- Is encrypted using a passphrase of your choice.
The encrypted persistent storage is not hidden. An attacker in possession of the USB stick can know whether it has an encrypted persistent storage. Take into consideration that you can be forced or tricked to give out its passphrase.
It is possible to open the encrypted persistent storage from other operating systems, but it might break your security. Other operating systems should probably not be trusted to handle sensitive information or leave no trace.
Create the persistent storage
Choose .
Specify a passphrase of your choice in both the Passphrase and Verify Passphrase text boxes.
We recommend choosing a long passphrase made of five to seven random words. Learn more.
Click on the Create button.
Wait for the creation to finish.
If you close the assistant before the creation finishes, you might not be able to start Tails from this USB stick anymore.
The assistant shows a list of the possible persistence features. Each feature corresponds to a set of files or settings to be saved in the encrypted persistent storage.
We recommend you to only activate the Personal Data persistence feature for the time being. You can activate more features later on according to your needs.
Click .
Restart and activate the persistent storage
Shut down the computer and restart on the final new Tails USB stick.
In Tails Greeter:
- Select your preferred language in the drop-down list on the bottom left of the screen.
- In the Use persistence? section, choose Yes to activate the encrypted persistent storage for the current working session.
- Enter the passphrase of the persistent volume in the Passphrase text box.
- Click .
After 15–30 seconds, the Tails desktop appears.
You can now save your personal files and working documents in the Persistent folder. To open the Persistent folder choose .
You now have a working Tails, congrats!
Final recommendations
Tails does not protect you from everything! Have a look at our warnings.
If you face any problem, use the Report an error launcher on the Tails desktop or visit our support pages.
We hope you enjoy using Tails :)