What you need

BootForge needs three things: an Android phone, a way to connect USB to it, and a USB drive to prepare.

An Android phone with USB OTG

• Android 10 or newer.
• USB OTG (On-The-Go) support — the ability to act as a USB host so a drive plugged into the phone shows up as storage. Most phones from the last several years support it. If you’re unsure, plugging in a drive and seeing it appear is the simplest test.

BootForge works entirely on the phone. It does not need root, and it does not use broad storage permissions — it talks to the drive through Android’s own USB and file-access systems.

A USB connection

You need a way to physically connect the drive to your phone:

• A USB-C to USB-A OTG adapter (most common today), or
• A USB-C flash drive that plugs in directly, or
• A USB-C hub with a USB-A port.

If you connect through a hub, BootForge will recognise the hub first and then the drive once you plug it in — Android may ask you to allow access a second time (once for the hub, once for the drive).

A USB drive

• A USB flash drive (pendrive) is ideal. Capacity is up to you — bigger drives hold more ISO files.
• A USB 3.x drive copies images much faster than USB 2.0.
• External SSDs/HDDs can work too, but BootForge will warn you if a device reports itself as a fixed disk, because preparing it erases everything.

Everything on the drive is erased when you prepare it. Back up anything you want to keep first.

A power tip

Some drives — especially larger or faster ones — draw more power than a phone’s port comfortably provides. If a drive disconnects mid-operation, a powered USB hub or a different OTG adapter often fixes it.

Next: the Quick start.