how to download windows using virtualbox on a Micbook Air

Hi @Tejada, Alex (atejada7) ,

Thanks for reaching out!

After taking a look at your issue and researching, I managed to find out that you can get it to work but there are a few important details to get it working correctly.

The reasons the download might not be working because:

• VirtualBox doesn’t download Windows for you. You need to manually download a Windows ISO file from Microsoft.
• If your MacBook Air uses Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3), VirtualBox support is very limited. You’ll need the Windows 11 ARM Insider Preview ISO.
• If your MacBook Air is Intel-based, you can use the standard x64 Windows ISO.
• Trying to download Windows inside a blank VM won’t work because there’s no OS yet.

For reference: https://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=113188

You can set it up by trying out these steps:

Download the Windows ISO:

• For Intel Macs: Windows 11 ISO Download
• For Apple Silicon: Windows Insider Preview (ARM64)

Install VirtualBox:

• VirtualBox Official Site
• Note: Apple Silicon support is experimental and still in early access.

Create a new VM:

• Allocate at least 4 GB RAM and 64 GB disk space.
• Attach the Windows ISO as the boot disk.

Alternative for Apple Silicon:

• Consider UTM or Parallels Desktop, which have better ARM support.

For more information, you can check out these links for tutorial when you get the chance:

• https://www.howtogeek.com/virtualbox-now-runs-on-apple-silicon/
• https://umatechnology.org/how-to-install-windows-11-on-virtualbox-mac/

I hope this helps! If you have any more questions, please comment below - I'll be happy to help out!