Download the PiShrink script, and make it executable.If you’re already familiar with downloading El Capitan from outside of MAS, this method also follows similar steps. If you do not have Linux installed, you can install the latest version of Ubuntu or Linux Mint in a virtual machine, and run this script there. Unfortunately, this tool is only available on Linux.

This also makes copying the image back onto the SD card much faster. To work around this limitation, we will use PiShrink, a script that automatically shrinks a Pi image that will then automatically resize to the max size of the SD card on boot. This is fine if you only have one or two such images, but any more than that (especially if you use an SSD) will cause you to run out of space. For example, cloning an SD card with a capacity of 32GB will create an image file of 32 GB, even if only 5 GB is actually in use on the card.

How to Shrink the Cloned Raspberry Pi Image (Linux-only)Īs mentioned at the starting of the article, these methods create an image file that is equal to the total capacity of the SD card. You can then remove the card from your Mac, and insert it back in the Raspberry Pi. Once the write is complete, you will see a confirmation from dd. Insert the micro SD card that you want to clone in your PC using a USB or built-in card reader. Windows Instructions Backup Raspberry Pi SD Cardġ. There is a method to shrink the image size, but it works only on Linux, and we will be explaining it later in the tutorial. For example, if you have a 16 GB SD card, the resulting image file will also be 16 GB, no matter how much space your installation is actually using. Note: This method will create an image file exactly the size of the SD card’s total capacity. We will explain how to do it on Windows, Linux, and finally macOS. So today, we will learn how to clone or backup the Raspberry Pi micro SD card to an image file, and restore the image after we are done experimenting. In both the above scenarios, it is helpful to have an exact, bit-by-bit identical backup of your working Raspberry Pi installation.

Problem is, you only have one micro SD card, and already have a working installation on it that you do not want to lose. Another common scenario is let’s say, you just got to know about a cool new Raspberry Pi-based project or Linux distro, and you are dying to try it out.

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