Raspberry Pi Imager

Raspberry Pi Imager

Raspberry Pi Imager is a free utility that allows you to easily write operating system images to SD cards and other storage devices for use in Raspberry Pi single-board computers. It has a simple interface with options to choose the OS image, the target device, and write the imag
Raspberry Pi Imager image
raspberry-pi imaging operating-system-installation

Raspberry Pi Imager: Free Utility for Writing OS Imagess

Raspberry Pi Imager is a free utility that allows you to easily write operating system images to SD cards and other storage devices for use in Raspberry Pi single-board computers. It has a simple interface with options to choose the OS image, the target device, and write the image with just a few clicks.

What is Raspberry Pi Imager?

Raspberry Pi Imager is a dedicated SD card writing tool for Raspberry Pi that makes it easy to install Raspberry Pi operating systems on microSD cards. It offers a straightforward graphical user interface where you can:

  • Choose from a selection of recommended Raspberry Pi OS images or manually locate a zipped OS image elsewhere on your computer
  • Select the microSD card drive to write the image to
  • Click 'Write' to start the flashing process

The application verifies the written image to ensure integrity and notifies when writing is complete. It allows writing images not only for Raspberry Pi but also for a wide variety of other single board computers.

Key features include:

  • Intuitive graphical interface for easy writing of OS images
  • Inbuilt selection of latest Raspberry Pi OS images
  • Validation of images after writing
  • Support for writing images to microSD/SD/USB storage
  • Compatible with Windows, MacOS and Linux
  • Active development and updates

Raspberry Pi Imager aims to provide an official, safe and simple SD card writing tool specifically tailored for Raspberry Pi users across platforms. Its simplicity and reliability make it a good choice for beginners getting started with Raspberry Pi.

Raspberry Pi Imager Features

Features

  1. Installs operating system images on SD cards and USB drives
  2. Supports Raspberry Pi OS and third party operating systems
  3. Easy to use interface
  4. Verifies SD cards after writing images
  5. Restores SD cards to factory settings
  6. Supports Windows, MacOS and Linux

Pricing

  • Free
  • Open Source

Pros

Simple and intuitive UI

Wide OS support including Raspberry Pi OS

Actively maintained and updated

Free and open source

Fast performance

Available on multiple platforms

Cons

Limited to Raspberry Pi and devices using similar SD cards

Less flexibility than using command line tools

Requires disk access to write images


The Best Raspberry Pi Imager Alternatives

Top System & Hardware and Raspberry Pi Tools and other similar apps like Raspberry Pi Imager


Win32 Disk Imager icon

Win32 Disk Imager

Win32 Disk Imager is a lightweight, open source disk imaging utility for Windows. It provides an easy way for users to write raw image files, including ISO files, to USB drives, SD cards, and other external storage devices.Some key features of Win32 Disk Imager include:Ability to write image files like...
Win32 Disk Imager image
BalenaEtcher icon

BalenaEtcher

balenaEtcher is a popular, free, and open-source disk image flasher tool used for burning image files such as ISO and IMG files to external devices such as USB flash drives, SD cards, and microSD cards. It is available to download and install on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.Some of...
BalenaEtcher image
Rufus icon

Rufus

Rufus is a user-friendly, lightweight, and efficient utility designed for creating bootable USB drives. It is particularly useful when installing or troubleshooting operating systems, as well as for running various tools directly from a USB flash drive. Rufus is known for its simplicity and speed in creating bootable media. Key...
Rufus image
MultiBootUSB icon

MultiBootUSB

MultiBootUSB is an open source, cross-platform application that enables you to install multiple live Linux distributions on a single USB flash drive. It is designed to be an easy and convenient way to configure, install, and manage multiple operating systems on one USB stick.Some key features of MultiBootUSB include:Supports a...
MultiBootUSB image
UNetbootin icon

UNetbootin

UNetbootin is an open-source utility that allows users to create bootable live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions without requiring a CD. It runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.Some key features of UNetbootin include:Ability to select from a variety of Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE,...
UNetbootin image
YUMI icon

YUMI

YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) is a free tool developed by Pendrivelinux that allows you to create a bootable USB thumb drive containing multiple OS installers. It works by partitioning the USB drive so that each partition acts as a separate bootable device.Some of the key features of YUMI include:Supports...
YUMI image
WinToUSB icon

WinToUSB

WinToUSB is a handy utility that enables you to install and run Windows operating systems from a USB drive. It provides an easy way to create a portable Windows setup that you can take with you anywhere.The software copies all the necessary system files, drivers, settings etc. from an existing...
WinToUSB image
Universal USB Installer icon

Universal USB Installer

Universal USB Installer is a free, open-source program for installing Linux distributions and other operating systems on USB drives from ISO files. It allows you to easily download various Linux and operating system distributions, and then create a bootable USB drive containing the installation media. Some of the key features...
Universal USB Installer image
LinuxLive USB Creator icon

LinuxLive USB Creator

LinuxLive USB Creator is a free, open source application for Windows that provides an easy way to create bootable, portable Linux USB drives from ISO files. It can take a Linux distribution ISO file and deploy it onto a USB flash drive, allowing you to boot and run that Linux...
LinuxLive USB Creator image
WinDiskWriter icon

WinDiskWriter

WinDiskWriter is free software for creating bootable USB drives from disk image files such as Windows ISO files. With WinDiskWriter you can easily set up a bootable Windows installation USB that allows you to install or repair Windows on PCs or laptops.Key features of WinDiskWriter include:Supports Windows ISO files for...
WinDiskWriter image