How to burn an ISO file to a disc (DVD, Blu-Ray, etc.) in Windows 10

An ISO file is a disk image that stores a disk’s content and structure, whether a CD, DVD, Blu-Ray disc, hard disk drive, or a USB flash drive, into a single file, with the extension “.iso.” Windows 10 has a built-in app named “Windows Disc Image Burner,” which can be used to burn ISO files to any kind of disc. The app is easy to use and helpful, eliminating the need for third-party apps to complete the task. Here is how to burn ISO files to a disc in Windows 10:

CONTENTS

1. Step 1. Navigate to the ISO file that you want to burn onto a disc
2. Step 2. Start the Windows Disc Image Burner
3. Step 3. Plug a DVD/Blu-Ray disc and choose how to burn the ISO file
4. Step 4. Close the Windows Disc Image Burner when done
5. BONUS: How to burn a disc image with isoburn, from the CMD or PowerShell
6. What kind of ISO file did you burn to a disc?

Step 1. Navigate to the ISO file that you want to burn onto a disc

First, open File Explorer. One quick way to do that is to press Windows + E on your keyboard. Then, navigate your Windows 10 PC or device to the location of the ISO file that you want to burn.

Step 2. Start the Windows Disc Image Burner

Select the ISO file you want to burn with a click or tap on its name. Then, to open the “Windows Disc Image Burner” app built into Windows 10 for burning disk images, click or tap on the “Disc Image Tools” tab in the ribbon of File Explorer, and then on Burn.

Another way to open the “Windows Disc Image Burner” app is to right-click (or press-and-hold) on the ISO file and then choose “Burn disc image” from the contextual menu.

This opens the “Windows Disc Image Burner,” where you have different options for how to burn the ISO file.

Step 3. Plug a DVD/Blu-Ray disc and choose how to burn the ISO file

If you have multiple disc burners on your Windows 10 PC, click the Disc burner drop-down list and choose the drive you want to use for the burning process. Then, take the disc you wish to use for the burning process, and place it in the burning industry. This may be a CD, DVD, or Blu-Ray disc, depending on how large the ISO file is and the kind of disc it fits. Then, choose whether or not to “Verify disc after burning.” If you’re burning an operating system like Windows or Linux, or something equally important, that you intend to use on another computer, verifying that there are no errors could prevent some problems during the installation. When you are done setting things up, press Burn.

Step 4. Close the Windows Disc Image Burner when done

The “Windows Disc Image Burner” first checks the disc in the burner to see whether it can be burned, if there is enough free space on it for the ISO file, and then burns the disc image to it. During this whole process, it shares its status and a progress bar. Depending on the ISO file’s size and the disc burner’s speed, this can take several minutes.

Once the disc is finalized, it will be verified for errors if you check the “Verify disc after burning” option. When this process is finished, click or tap Close, and eject the disc from your computer. You can now use it someplace else.

BONUS: How to burn a disc image with isoburn, from the CMD or PowerShell

If you love the command line, you can use Command Prompt or PowerShell to burn an ISO or IMG disc image file. First, open the Command Prompt or start PowerShell, depending on which tool you prefer. The command you use in both of them is isoburn or isoburn.exe. If you want to familiarize yourself with its parameters, type it in and press Enter before running it to burn an ISO file to a disc. You should see a Windows Disc Image Burner Usage window like the one below.

As seen above, you can start the burning process using the following parameters: isoburn.exe /q [the disc burning drive] [Path to ISO file]. The command is not case-sensitive, meaning it doesn’t matter whether the path you enter has capital letters. To burn the same ISO file illustrated in the steps above, we entered: “isoburn.exe /q G: E:\ISOs\Hirens_boot_cd_pe_x64.iso”. The /q parameter was used to display the disc burning window where you can see the progress, G: is the drive letter of our disc burning drive, and “E:\ISOs\Hirens_boot_cd_pe_x64.iso“ is the path to our ISO file.

When you finish typing in the command, press Enter and watch the “Windows Disc Image Burner” do its thing automatically. The only downside is that you can’t use this command to verify the disc after the burning process is over. It doesn’t have a parameter for this feature.

What kind of ISO file did you burn to a disc?

Most people don’t burn DVDs or Blu-Ray discs anymore. When we burn an ISO file to a disc, it is a disc with the setup for Windows 10, Linux, or some troubleshooting tools we use to repair broken computers. Before closing this guide, tell us what was in the ISO file that you burned. Comment below, and let’s discuss.