How To Virtual Machine VirtualBox

How to Install macOS Monterey on VirtualBox on Windows PC

Written by John

Apple has already launched macOS 12 Monterey the previous year. macOS Monterey is the current version of the Macintosh operating system. It replaces the previous version of Macintosh called macOS Big Sur. The brand-new macOS Monterey comes with a lot of advanced features.

One of the highlighting features of macOS is that it lets users play music and videos in messages. It also has some mail security features, such as VPN and much more. We can only install macOS Monterey on Mac, as we all know. We can’t obviously install it on a Windows PC. We have created a step-by-step tutorial showing you how to install macOS Monterey on VirtualBox on Windows PC.

What Is VirtualBox?

VirtualBox is free Virtual Machine software that gives you the ability to run different operating systems on one computer with ease. It helps you run multiple operating systems on a single computer, such as Windows, macOS, Linux, Oracle Solaris, etc. A newly created operating system on VirtualBox exactly works like a physical computer. It runs on the same CPU, GPU, and other components. It doesn’t require additional things to create a new operating system on their computers.

Install macOS 12 Monterey on Virtual Machine

There are multiple ways to install macOS on Windows PC. Yet, one of the best ways to install macOS on a Windows PC is using VirtualBox.

To successfully run macOS on Windows, we must consider a few things.
You will need a Windows PC with VT-X support. You can check this with CPU-Z software. If it is disabled, you can simply enable it from BIOS settings. Another thing you will need is software to create a virtual machine. We will use VirtualBox software to create macOS virtual operating systems on your Windows 10 or Windows 11.

Using VirtualBox you can virtualize the x86 architecture of your computer. It is different from other software like QEMU. It provides many different and advanced virtualization features for macOS. You do not need to install any additional software except the VirtualBox. VirtualBox allows you to create a virtual machine just like a Mac with APFS partition and Kernel. VirtualBox comes with a VirtualBox Extension Pack that helps you support standard USB 3.0 support on macOS.

The first step is to install the VirtualBox software on your Windows machine. After that, you will need to create a macOS ISO image file. To create a macOS Monterey ISO image file, you need to download macOS Monterey.app and use Terminal to create a macOS ISO image. To download macOS Installer, you can use a Real Mac, Virtual macOS, or a Remote Mac online. After creating the Monterey ISO file image, you can install macOS on virtual machine.

Why is macOS Monterey Slow on VirtualBox?

One of the biggest issues with macOS 12 Monterey on VirtualBox is the low speed. Users running macOS on virtual machines or VirtualBox face many speed issues. It keeps slowing down over time. The primary reason behind this is the difference between applied and actual system speed. This is because the speed of the virtual machine disk is slower than the macOS disk speed. The typical speed of an SSD revolves around 260 Mbps to 280 Mbps. However, the read and write speed of NVME or M2 is up to 2000 Mbps to 5000 Mbps.

The second big issue behind the slow speed is that virtual machines don't support 3D graphics cards. Yet, there is a solution to solve this problem. You can install the Guest Tool to use 128 MB of VRAM to improve the speed.

Install macOS 12 Monterey On Windows On VirtualBox

Step 1. Download and Create macOS ISO Image File

To create a macOS .iso image, you can use a Real Mac, Virtual macOS, or a Remote Mac online. You can download macOS Monterey on App Store or Terminal. launch the ‘Terminal.app’ by typing ‘Terminal’ in your ‘Spotlight Search.’ Once it appears on your screen, launch it. You can also open it directly from the Application folder.

Now, execute the command in Terminal to convert 'Install macOS Monterey.app' to ISO Installer Image.

Create a macOS Monterey ISO Image

Create ISO Blank Disk with the hdiutil command:

hdiutil create -o /tmp/Monterey -size 14079m -volname Montereyiso -layout SPUD -fs HFS+J -type UDTO -attach

Use the Createinstallmedia Utility to create a macOS Installer Disk

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Monterey.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Montereyiso --nointeraction

Unmount the Disk Image and convert ISO Image

hdiutil detach -force /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Monterey
mv /tmp/Monterey.cdr ~/Desktop/Monterey.iso

Step 2. Install VirtualBox and Extension Pack

To create macOS on the virtual machine, you will need to install the VirtualBox and Extension Pack. You can download the VirtualBox and Extension Pack by clicking Here.

Install New VirtualBox

Step 3: Create the macOS Virtual Machine

Open the ‘VirtualBox’ application, and click on the ‘New’ button. After that, type macOS in the bar. VirtualBox will now automatically detect the OS after typing macOS.

In the next step, add an easy-to-remember name to your new virtual machine. Now, start configuring the Guest OS and the amount of RAM for virtual machine. We would suggest setting it to 4GB.

Select Guest OS and RAM for Virtual Machine


After configuring the RAM, click on the ‘Create a virtual hard disk now’ button, and select ‘Create. Select VMDK and Dynamically allocated for Hard Disk Type and Then, click on the ‘Next’ button, and set the disk size to a minimum of 120GB. You can assign more space too if you have more.

Create Virtual Hard Disk for macOS Monterey

Step 4: Edit the macOS Virtual Machine Settings

We will need to make some changes to the virtual machine settings for new macOS Monterey 12.3.1. Click on the macOS Monterey virtual machine and click on the ‘Settings’ button.

Motherboard Settings: Under the ‘System’ tab, you need to remove ‘Floppy’ from the boot order list. You also need to ensure that the Chipset is selected to ‘ICH9’ and disable ‘Hardware Clock in UTC Time‘.

Motherboard settings for new macOS Monterey

Processor Settings for first boot:

Head to the ‘Processor’ tab, and assign ‘1 CPU’ and disable PAE/NX to the virtual machine. When your macOS is installed, you can add more processor.

1 Core of CPU and Disable PAR NX in Processor Tab

Display Settings:

Search for the Video Memory option in the ‘Display’ tab and set it to 128MB. Change Graphics Controller to VMSVGA.

Display Setting for macOS Virtual Machine

Storage Setting with ISO Image

Head to the ‘Storage’ tab, and select the blank disc your Windows has under ‘Storage Devices’. Select the disk icon along with Optical Drives. After that, click on the ‘Browse’ button and select your Monterey ISO image file.

Boot with Monterey ISO Image

Head to the USB tab, select USB 3.0 and click on the ‘OK’ button.

Enable USB 3.0 Controller

Step 5: Add Code to VirtualBox

To make the macOS Virtual Machine run without error, you need to enter some valid source code in the command prompt. We have mentioned the codes below. Now, close the VirtualBox application. Otherwise, commands will not execute properly. Once you do that, type the ‘CMD’ in Search bar and select ‘Command Prompt ’ then click on "Run as Admin".

Open Command Prompt

After that, enter the mentioned line of code in the Command Prompt. You also need to change the 'VM Name' to your assigned virtual machine name.

cd "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\"
VBoxManage.exe modifyvm "VM Name" --cpuidset 00000001 000106e5 00100800 0098e3fd bfebfbff
VBoxManage setextradata "VM Name" "VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemProduct" "iMac19,1"
VBoxManage setextradata "VM Name" "VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemVersion" "1.0"
VBoxManage setextradata "VM Name" "VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiBoardProduct" "Iloveapple"
VBoxManage setextradata "VM Name" "VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/DeviceKey" "ourhardworkbythesewordsguardedpleasedontsteal(c)AppleComputerInc"
VBoxManage setextradata "VM Name" "VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/GetKeyFromRealSMC" 1
Add Code to VirtualBox

After entering the command, close the ‘Command Prompt.’

Step 6. Install new macOS Monterey on Virtual Machine

Now, open the ‘VirtualBox’ software again, and double-click on the virtual machine to start it (about 10 min). Select your preferred language from the list on the next screen, then click on the ‘Continue’ button.

On the next screen, select the ‘Disk Utility' option. You can create a clean drive for macOS to install to.

Open Disk Utility in Monterey Install Assitant

Select ‘VBOX HARDDISK MEDIA’ from the Internal drive column in the Disk Utility section. After selecting the ‘VBOX HARDDISK MEDIA’ head to the ‘Erase’ option at the top of the utility.

Now, give your drive a name, and select the ‘Format’ to ‘APFS’. After that, select the ‘Scheme’ option to ‘GUID Partition Map’ . Then, click on the ‘Erase’ button.

Format VBOX HARDDISK with APFS Partition

Once you complete all this, you can exit the ‘Disk Utility’ section and get back to the main screen again. Now, select ‘Install macOS Monterey’. Select the drive you created in the Disk Utility, then click on the ‘Continue’ button.

Install macOS Monterey on VirtualBox on Windows PC

Now, wait for 30 min to 1 hour to complete the process. Once it is done, you will see it on the screen. The worst part about this is that you can’t check the progress. The only option you have is to wait for several hours to check the results.

macOS Monterey 12 on VirtualBox on Windows PC

Install Guest Tool for macOS

We can’t install VirtualBox Guest Tool on macOS, but we can install VMware Tool on macOS on VirtualBox with VMSVGA Controller. VMware Tool makes it easy to speed up macOS and increase 128MB of virtual ram. With the VMware tool, you can use the drag and drop feature to move files, resize the screen, and allow the virtual machine to connect to the internet. Follow this tutorial to install Guest Tool and enter fullscreen mode:

How to Install Guest Tool on macOS on VirtualBox
How to Change Screen Resolution of macOS on VirtualBox

In this tutorial, we showed how to run macOS Monterey on VirtualBox on Windows PC. We hope you followed each step carefully and achieved the desired results. If you face any issues during the installation process, do let us know in the comment sections. We will assist you. That’s all for this guide. We will see you with more tutorials around Mac and Windows.

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