Some guides use the VHDX directly, but qcow2 offers better performance with QEMU. Install QEMU via Homebrew:
If you are virtualizing on an ARM host, ensure -enable-kvm and -cpu host are set. If you are attempting cross-architecture emulation (e.g., running an ARM image on an Intel x86 host), remove KVM flags and set -cpu max , though note that emulation across architectures will be painfully slow. No Network Connection
sudo apt install qemu-system-arm qemu-efi-aarch64 qemu-utils
Running Windows 10 ARM on QEMU: A Guide to QCOW2 Virtualization windows 10 arm qcow2
: QEMU (version 6.0 or newer recommended) with KVM enabled on Linux hosts.
Set to none (for raw performance if your host disk has a power backup) or writeback .
| Format | Snapshot Support | Sparse File | Performance (ARM) | macOS Native | |--------|----------------|-------------|-------------------|--------------| | | Yes | Yes | Excellent (with acceleration) | Yes (via QEMU) | | VHDX | Yes | Yes | Good | No (needs Hyper-V) | | raw (.img) | No | No (pre-allocated) | Excellent | Yes | | UTM’s native .utm | Wraps qcow2 | Yes | Same as qcow2 | Yes | Some guides use the VHDX directly, but qcow2
Windows 10 does not natively include the drivers required to recognize QEMU's virtualized hardware storage and network adapters. Without these drivers, the Windows installer will fail to detect your QCOW2 hard drive.
Note: A 64GB image is recommended to accommodate Windows updates. Step 2: Download and Convert Windows 10 ARM
To boot your newly created or converted QCOW2 image, you need a properly configured QEMU command. ARM64 virtualization requires explicitly defining the UEFI firmware (EDK2) and emulated hardware topology. Prerequisites: VirtIO Drivers Without these drivers, the Windows installer will fail
Sign in with a Microsoft account registered in the Insider Program. Select the Windows 10 ARM64 Insider Preview build. Download the .VHDX file to your host machine. Step 2: Convert VHDX to QCOW2
If you are looking to get this running, I can help you with:
qemu-system-aarch64 \ -cpu host \ -enable-kvm \ -smp 4 \ -m 4096 \ -M virt,highmem=on \ -bios /usr/share/AAVMF/AAVMF_CODE.fd \ -device virtio-gpu-pci \ -device qemu-xhci \ -device usb-kbd \ -device usb-tablet \ -drive file=windows10_arm.qcow2,if=virtio,format=qcow2,id=hd0 \ -drive file=Windows10_ARM64.iso,media=cdrom,id=cd0 \ -drive file=virtio-win-arm64.iso,media=cdrom,id=cd1 \ -netdev user,id=net0 \ -device virtio-net-pci,netdev=net0 \ -vnc :1 Use code with caution. Handling the Windows Installation Process
When launching QEMU manually (without UTM), use the acceleration flag:
Last updated: May 2026. Tested with QEMU 9.0, Windows 10 ARM64 Build 19045, and Apple M3 Pro host.