How to Burn an ISO to a DVD on Windows 10/11 (Step-by-Step Guide)

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Linda 

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Last updated on April 19, 2024

An ISO file, with the file extension .iso, is an image of a CD/DVD-ROM that is created using burning software or a CD-ROM imaging tool. CDs or DVDs can be bootable to DOS or another operating system. Many users prefer to install or reinstall the Windows operating system from a Windows installation disc created from an ISO file.

After you download the Windows 11 ISO file or the Windows 10 ISO image, you can burn it and create bootable installation media, a DVD, or a USB flash drive, or use the ISO file to set up a virtual machine to install the operating system.

See the Tools you'll need to burn a Windows 10 ISO to DVD.

As mentioned, you'll need to download an ISO burning program before proceeding with the following instructions.

Burning an ISO to a DVD isn't as simple as copying files to a disc, since DVDs require a boot sector and other hidden operating system files to start up. Here's how to burn an ISO image to a blank DVD, using Windows 10's ISO file as an example.

How to Burn a Windows 10 ISO File to a DVD Step by Step

If you don't know how to download the Windows 10 ISO file, head over to the topic page for more details.

Hardware requirements for burning an ISO file to a DVD:

1. Make sure you have either an internal or external CD/DVD burner. 2. Make sure you have a blank CD or DVD in your disc drive. 3. If you're creating a Windows media, you'll need a blank DVD with at least 8 GB of space (and a DVD burner). 4. Use a blank USB or DVD, as the contents will be deleted. 5. If you receive an error that the ISO image is too large for the disc when burning the DVD, you'll need to use a dual-layer (DL) DVD medium.

#1. Burn the Windows 10 ISO to a DVD using an ISO burning software

By using AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, with its built-in Windows (7/8/10/11) ISO to DVD feature, you can easily burn the downloaded Windows 10 ISO image to a DVD in just a few simple steps. Download the software now and start creating your Windows 10 installation media on a DVD:

Step 1: Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, and then go to “Make Bootable Media”. Click “Burning ISO Image” and then click “Next”.

Step 2. Select the ISO image you downloaded to your computer and click “Open.”

Step 3. Click “Next,” select your USB device as the destination, and click “Burn” to perform the operation.

Read More: Fix Can't Burn ISO File to USB Problem

If you found this ISO burner useful and want to share this article on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn to help others successfully burn ISO to USB, DVD, or even CD around you, that's awesome!

# 2. Manually burn the Windows 10 ISO file to a DVD

In addition to using software to burn an ISO file, some advanced users may prefer to create their own Windows installation media manually. Here's a simple guide you can follow:

Step one: Insert a blank DVD into your computer.

Step 2: Press Win + E to open File Explorer and locate the ISO file.

Step 3. Right-click the ISO file and select “Burn disc image.”

Step 4: In the Windows Disc Image Burner window, click on “Burning disc,” and then select the correct CD or DVD from the drop-down menu.

Step 5: Check “Verify recorded CD” to make sure the ISO file was burned successfully and without errors.

Finally, click “Burn” to start the process. When it's finished, you'll see a message that says “Image file burned successfully to disc.”

If you're interested in other ISO burning software, click here to get the top 5 Windows 10 ISO burners.

Additional Tip: How to Recover Lost ISO File on Windows 10/11

ISO images are usually large and take a long time to download. Once you've downloaded one, though, you can use it over and over again. If you lose or accidentally delete the ISO file you've downloaded, you can use the Data Recovery Wizard tool to quickly get your file back. This is much faster than downloading it again.

Data Recovery Wizard is a renowned data recovery tool that excels in retrieving deleted, lost, damaged, or formatted data from various storage devices like HDDs, SSDs, USB flash drives, SD cards, and more. You can still effectively use this data recovery software to repair corrupted files, such as fixing a damaged Excel, Word, PPT, or PDF document, as well as restoring corrupted photos and videos.

Please refer to the following link, which guides you through the steps to recover lost ISO image files:

ISO Recovery: Restore Deleted ISO Files with ISO Recovery Software

Did you accidentally delete an ISO file? No worries, ISO file recovery tools can help you recover deleted, lost, or formatted ISO files effortlessly.

More information on burning ISOs to DVD on Windows/Mac can be found here.

These are common searches from other users on how to burn a Windows 10 or Windows 11 ISO file to a DVD.

How do I create a bootable DVD from an ISO file?

Simple steps to create a bootable DVD from an ISO file:

Step One: Insert a blank CD into your computer's CD drive. Right-click on the ISO file and select “Burn disc image.”

Step 2: Choose the correct burner from the “Burner” pull-down menu.

Step 3. Click the “Burn” button. When the burning is finished, the disc will eject automatically.

2. Does Windows 10 have a built-in ISO burning tool?

Windows 10 includes an ISO burning tool called Windows Disc Image Burner that can help you burn an ISO file to a DVD, CD, or BD.

How to create a bootable DVD from an ISO file with WinISO?

WinISO is a third-party CD/DVD/Blu-ray image file utility that can burn images to CD/DVD/Blu-ray drives, as well as extract, edit, and rename ISO files directly.

Step 1: Download and install WinISO.

Step 2: Run the software. Click on the “Boot Disk” tab and choose “Set Boot Graphic.”

Step 3: Download an ISO image and burn it to a DVD.

How do I burn an ISO to a DVD on a Mac?

Step 1: Download the .iso file for your operating system or game to your Mac.

Step 2: Insert the blank CD or DVD into your Mac.

Step Three: Click on “Utilities/Applications” and run Disk Utility.

Step 4: Select "Open Disk Image" from the "File" menu. Choose the ISO you want to burn. Click the "Burn" icon.

Step 5: In the Choose an image file window, select the .iso file that you want to burn to CD or DVD.

Step 6. Click “Burn” and wait for the process to complete.

If you found this ISO burning tutorial article useful, please share it immediately on your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Linkedin to help more people around you successfully burn ISO to USB, DVD, or even CD:

Bottom line

When you want to burn an ISO file to a DVD or CD, you can't just use Windows' copy function to do it. Instead, you need to follow the steps above to properly burn your Windows 10 ISO to a DVD. After burning the ISO and creating bootable installation media, you can use it to install Windows 10 on another computer.

For an all-in-one solution, Partition Master with its Windows ISO feature is what you need.