Windows 11 + Omarchy: The Complete Installation Script
Not everyone can ditch Windows overnight — kernel-level anti-cheat, that one piece of work software, whatever it is. So I built a script that installs Omarchy alongside Windows 11 on the same drive with a boot menu to switch between them.
Not everyone can ditch Windows overnight. Kernel-level anti-cheat, that one piece of work software, whatever it is — sometimes you need both. So I built a script that installs Omarchy alongside Windows 11 on the same drive with a boot menu to switch between them.
You find the script on the site — it's called win-omarchy.
You can download Omarchy here https://omarchy.org
In this video I walk through the full process — Windows prep, Omarchy install, boot switching, and yes, how to remove Omarchy and go back to pure Windows if you change your mind. Though I can't imagine why you would.
THE MENU
Boot from the USB and you get five options. Dual boot installs Omarchy alongside Windows. Remove deletes the Omarchy installation and restores the Windows bootloader. Nuke wipes the entire drive and does a clean Omarchy install — the option you really want but aren't ready for yet. Terminal drops you to a shell. And repair re-spoofs the EFI after a Windows update wipes your boot entry.
BEFORE YOU START
Shrink your Windows partition first to leave empty space for Omarchy. On a 1TB drive I'm using roughly 500GB for Windows and the rest for Omarchy. Secure boot needs to be off. And critically — know your BitLocker recovery key. The script warns you about this because if BitLocker is on and you don't have the key, you won't get back into Windows.
I'd recommend using Rufus to create your Windows install USB in the first place. It lets you disable Copilot, skip TPM checks, and do an offline install without logging into a Microsoft account.
THE INSTALL
Select dual boot, pick your drive, enter your disk encryption password, and the Omarchy installer runs. It's the standard Omarchy installation — username, password, timezone, drive selection — then at the end it patches the EFI to create the boot menu.
On reboot you get a bootloader with Linux and Windows. It defaults to Linux. Select either one and you're in.
WINDOWS UPDATES
This is the big gotcha with any dual boot setup. Windows updates can overwrite the EFI partition and wipe out your Linux boot entry. You'll know it's happened because the machine boots straight to Windows with no menu. The fix is simple — boot from the USB again and run the repair option. It re-spoofs the EFI and your boot menu is back.
REMOVING OMARCHY
If you decide to go back to Windows only, boot from the USB, select remove. It deletes the Omarchy partitions and restores the original Windows EFI. You're back to a pure Windows machine. You can then re-expand your Windows partition to reclaim the space.
WHAT'S NEXT
Omarchy 4 is in the works. If you're not on the Discourse, jump on — there's interesting stuff coming.
THE SCRIPT
On Git. Download it, watch this video first, then install. Please report issues on Git, not in the comments.
I make videos about Linux, Omarchy, gaming, creative tools, and self-hosting. Subscribe if that's your thing.