Etcher (software)

Etcher
DeveloperBalena
Stable release2.1.9 Edit this on Wikidata (22 October 2026; 7 days ago (22 October 2026)) [±]
Written inElectron (JavaScript, HTML, Node.js)
Operating systemCross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux)
PlatformElectron / Node.js
Size>400 MiB
LicenseApache License 2.0
Websiteetcher.io Edit this on Wikidata
Repository

balenaEtcher (commonly referred to and formerly known as Etcher) is a free and open-source utility for writing image files such as .iso and .img files, as well as zipped folders onto storage media to create live SD cards and USB flash drives. It is developed by Balena and licensed under Apache License 2.0. Etcher allows users to write images to portable storage media such as USB flash drives and SD cards. Etcher was developed using the Electron framework and supports Windows, macOS and Linux operating systems. balenaEtcher was originally called Etcher, but its name was changed on October 29, 2018, when Resin.io changed its name to Balena.

In 2025, Tails, a privacy-focused Linux distribution and part of The Tor Project, removed Etcher from its installation guides following the addition of advertisements and the discovery that it shared the file name of the image and the model of the USB stick with Balena and possibly with third parties, creating a significant privacy risk, and recommended using tools such as Rufus and the Raspberry Pi Installer instead.

Features

Etcher is primarily used through a graphical user interface, but there is also a command-line interface available for download on GitHub.

Future planned features include support for persistent storage allowing live SD card or USB flash drive to be used as a hard drive, as well as support for flashing multiple boot partitions to a single SD card or USB flash drive.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Release 2.1.9". 22 October 2026. Retrieved 23 October 2026.
  2. ↑ "BalenaEtcher". balenaEcher.dev. Archived from the original on 2023-02-28. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  3. ↑ "balena-io/etcher". GitHub. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  4. ↑ "Burn SD cards with Etcher". Rasberrypi.org (Magpi).
  5. ↑ Sneddon, Joey (13 May 2017). "How to Install Etcher, the open-source USB writer tool, on Ubuntu". Omgubuntu.
  6. ↑ Klosowski, Thorin (6 January 2017). "Etcher Is the Easiest Way to Make a Raspberry Pi SD Card". Lifehacker.
  7. ↑ Kili, Aaron (17 May 2016). "Etcher – A Modern USB and SD Card Image Writer Tool for Linux". Fossmint.
  8. ↑ "How to Write an .img to SD Card on Mac the Easy Way with Etcher". OSxdaily. 11 January 2018.
  9. ↑ "Design of a Security System Based on Raspberry Pi with Motion Detection". Digital Technologies and Applications.
  10. ↑ "Resin.io changes name to balena, releases open source edition". balena.io. 2018-10-29. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  11. ↑ "Tails - Replacing balenaEtcher with Rufus as installer for Windows". tails.net. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  12. ↑ Naprys, Ernestas (20 February 2025). "Tails raises privacy concerns over balenaEtcher ISO writing tool, recommends Rufus instead". Cybernews. Retrieved 7 May 2026.
  13. ↑ balena-io/balena-cli, balena, 2024-05-03, retrieved 2024-05-03.
  14. ↑ "Configuring Raspberry Pi, MicroPython Pyboard, and Jetson Nano for Python". Python Programming Recipes for IoT Applications.