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I have around 100GB of space on my (27-inch, Mid 2017) iMac's SSD. I'm planning on using Bootcamp to play some Windows games, and I'm not sure how much space I need to leave for each OS.

I'll be storing all the Windows programs and apps on an external hard drive, so I'm not sure how much I need to leave to Windows 10 itself. I won't be using Windows for much else. I know I have to leave some storage free on the Mac side, but I'm not sure how much.

David Anderson
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twlscnds
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  • I might suggest just installing Windows 10 entirely on an external drive. – David Anderson Aug 10 '20 at 15:08
  • @DavidAnderson Do you know a good guide for that? I've heard it's more difficult than installing it on the internal SSD. – twlscnds Aug 10 '20 at 15:51
  • There have been many guides published here at Ask Different. I good place to start is my latest answer or a link from this answer. Installing to an external drive is much more difficult than using the Boot Camp Assistant to install to an internal drive. Also, the procedure can be dependent on the model Mac. It would be helpful, if you could post the model/year of your Mac. – David Anderson Aug 10 '20 at 16:21
  • @DavidAnderson I'm currently using a Mid-2017 27 Inch iMac. – twlscnds Aug 10 '20 at 16:22
  • Most guides published at other websites and here at Ask Different cover Macs which can EFI boot Windows from an external drives. This would include your model Mac. – David Anderson Aug 10 '20 at 16:34

2 Answers2

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Windows 10 minimum hard disk space required is 32GB. You need to start there, add up whatever your games/apps are going to require and allocate that much to the Bootcamp partition.

You get this information by looking up the minimum system requirements for each thing you want to install and adding them up. As a suggestion, most will give two values - the minimum and the recommended. Always go with the recommended amount.

The key is to research! I wrote this as more of a “tutorial” of sorts to show future readers how to obtain this info because the next release of Windows, macOS and whatever additional software will change the specifics. Here’s some links to get you started:

Once I have everything accounted for based on the suggested values, I usually add 10% (like a contractor) as cushion. It better to “have and not need than need and not have.”

Allan
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    Also remember that to update Windows has additional space requirements. – da4 Aug 10 '20 at 12:34
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    I wrote this so it’s not fixed to a specific version. The answer can be used universally. It supposed to be 32GB, but it’s an easy fix @DavidAnderson, thanks for pointing out the typo. – Allan Aug 10 '20 at 17:30
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While Microsoft states the minimum required space for the current release of Windows 10 is 32 GB, Apple states, when using the Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10, the requirement is 64 GB. Of course, you do not have to use the Boot Camp Assistant to install Windows 10, but the additional space requirement may be partially due to the space needed to install the Window Support Software provided by Apple. Also, starting with the 2015 model Macs, the Boot Camp Assistant uses the internal drive to temporarily store the installation files from the Windows 10 ISO and a copy of the Windows Support Software. This allows installation of Windows 10 without the aid of a flash drive, but also increases the amount of space needed to install Windows 10. After Windows 10 is installed, this temporary space is returned to macOS and cannot be reallocated to Windows.

David Anderson
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