How to install Manjaro Linux alongside Windows as a dual-boot PC

Manjaro Linux is one of the fastest-growing Linux distributions derived from Arch Linux. Arch Linux is known for its reliable performance and superior light-weight handling features.

However, Arch Linux is not an excellent distribution for beginners to Linux. One has to get into the command-line often to get things done. That’s where Manjaro Linux fills in.

Since it is a spin-off from Arch Linux, you will get not only all the trustworthy Arch Linux features but also an intuitive user interface, which is beginner-friendly. In this article, we will guide you on how to install Manjaro in a dual-boot configuration alongside Microsoft Windows 10 operating system.

Creating Manjaro Linux Installation Disc/USB drive

You need to have a blank USB flash drive of at least 2 GB capacity. I won’t recommend going over 8 GB as not many computers will be able to boot into it. Alternatively, you can still use a DVD in place of USB flash drive, provided you have a built-in DVD player on your PC.

Step 1) Download Manjaro Linux ISO images from the below link. You should see several editions of Manjaro, including XFCE, GNOME, and KDE. Each is different flavors of Manjaro, and each has its pros and cons. XFCE is lightest of the three, but GNOME is most user-friendliest, but slightly intensive in hardware resources. The choice is yours. In my case, I chose GNOME edition to illustrate in this article.

Download Manjaro Linux

Head over to our step-by-step guide on how to create Manjaro Live USB Drive and return with Live USB flash drive/DVD. It will also serve as installation media.

Creating Hard disk partitions in Windows

Note that if you have already created hard disk partitions for Manjaro, you can skip this section.

In this section, we will create a partition in the existing Windows hard disk. You need to decide how much hard disk space you want to keep for your Windows and how much you want to allocate to Manjaro.

Step 1) Login into Windows and launch ‘Disk Management,’ which is a built-in tool in Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10. If you want to use some other programs, you are welcome to use it.

Step 2) Right-click on the hard disk which you want to partition and select “Shrink Volume.” By shrinking, you are reducing your Windows partition size and making space for Linux.  My test PC has 49.5 GB hard disk capacity in which Windows 10 should be installed. I plan to create 28 GB partition for Manjaro installation and leave the remaining 21.5 GB for Windows.

Windows Disk Management

After I shrink the size, Windows creates a new partition, but it is the RAW format and will not get recognized as a drive. We recommend to leave it untouched so that you can quickly identify the partition while installing Manjaro.

Partitions created for Manjaro installation

Installing Manjaro Linux as a dual-boot with Windows

Step 1) Insert the Manjaro Live USB disk or the DVD and boot your PC into it. Note that the method of booting into the USB drive varies on the PC make and BIOS configuration.

Most of the PCs boot into bootloader when the F12 key is continuously pressed upon power ON sequence. Make sure to enable boot in UEFI mode to run Linux alongside Windows.

Launch Manjaro Installer

Step 2) Set the preferred language and click ‘Next.’

Set Language and Click Next

Set Region and click Next

Step 4) Select Keyboard style.

Choose Keyboard Style and Click Next

Step 5) Manjaro installer gives you three options. For the dual boot with Windows or any other OS, you should select ‘Manual partitioning’ and click ‘Next.’

Partition Options

Step 6) In this step, you will see the current hard disk partitions in your PC. Select ‘Free Space’ and click ‘Create.’

Edit Partition

Step 7) This is the partition where the Manjaro system files should be installed. Reduce its size by the size more than that of your computer’s RAM. For example, if you have 4 GB RAM, you can reduce the size by at least 5 GB or in you have plenty of hard disk space, double the RAM. The reduced area will automatically create one more partition, which is used for SWAP. Linux uses SWAP when you Hibernate your computer. Make sure the file system is ext4, and the mount point is /. Then click ‘OK.’

Create a Partition

Step 8) You will now see another ‘Free Space’ created. Let’s assign this as SWAP.  To do that, select ‘Free Space’ and click ‘Create.’

Create a SWAP

Step 9) Select ‘File System’ as ‘linuxswap.’ Select ‘Flags’ as ‘swap,’ and click ‘OK.’

Create a SWAP

Step 10) At this point, Manjaro is still showing preview, and hard disk partitions are not modified yet. Feel free to use the ‘back’ button if you think you need to edit somethings. Click ‘Next.’

Completing Partitions

Step 11) Enter User profile details like login name, PC name, and password. Optionally, you can select the option ‘Use the same password for the administrator account’ if you are the owner of the PC. Click ‘Next.’

Setting the User profile and password

Step 12) You will find another overview of what will happen to your computer. Click ‘Next.’

Final Preview before no going back

Step 13) Yet another final confirmation. Once you click ‘Install now’ there is no going back.

Final notification

Step 14) Manjaro will get installed on your PC. If everything went well, you should see ‘All done’ dialog box. Remove the USB flash drive/DVD from the system. Check ‘Restart now,’ and click ‘Done.’

Restart after installation is done

Step 15) You should now see the Manjaro GRUB bootloader screen with several boot options. Use keyboard up and down arrow keys to select the OS you want to boot into and hit enter.

Manjaro GRUB showing boot options

Enjoy Manjaro Linux!

Manjaro GNOME desktop