One USB drive that boots every ISO you copy to it - that is Ventoy. This complete guide covers the three jobs every Ventoy user eventually faces: updating Ventoy safely, making it boot with Secure Boot on, and fixing ISO files that refuse to appear in the menu.
By Technical AnshuVentoy USB Guide12 minute read
Watch the full Ventoy Complete Guide video - update, Secure Boot and file detection fixes shown live, step by step
Ventoy turns one ordinary USB drive into a universal boot disk. You install it once, then simply copy ISO files onto the drive like normal files - no formatting, no extracting, no separate tool for every operating system. But three problems bring almost every Ventoy user to a search page sooner or later: Ventoy itself needs an update, the PC refuses to boot it because of Secure Boot, or a copied ISO simply does not show up in the boot menu. This guide handles all three, in the order you should do them.
Ventoy2Disk - the only window you need for install and update
DeviceUSB Disk (E:) 58.6 GB
Ventoy in Package1.1.xx
Ventoy in Device1.0.xx (older)
ButtonsInstall | Update
Ventoy2Disk shows the package version and the version on your drive side by side - if the device version is lower, an update is available
1
Check the Ventoy Version on Your Drive First
An old Ventoy version is the hidden cause behind many boot failures, because new Windows and Linux releases sometimes need bootloader fixes that only newer Ventoy versions carry. Checking takes ten seconds:
Download the latest Ventoy package from ventoy.net and extract the ZIP file
Plug in your Ventoy drive and run Ventoy2Disk.exe as administrator
Select your USB drive in the Device list
Compare Ventoy in Package with Ventoy in Device at the bottom of the window - a lower device version means update time
You can also read the version at the bottom-left corner of the Ventoy boot menu itself
2
Update Ventoy the Safe Way - Your ISO Files Stay Untouched
Ventoy has two completely different buttons, and picking the wrong one is the most expensive mistake in this whole guide. Install reformats the drive and erases everything. Update only replaces the Ventoy boot files and leaves the big data partition - and every ISO on it - exactly as it was.
With your drive selected in Ventoy2Disk, click Update, never Install
Confirm the prompt - the update finishes in a few seconds
The version shown for the device now matches the package version
On Linux the same job is one command: sudo sh Ventoy2Disk.sh -u /dev/sdX
Honest note: you do not need to update for every new ISO release. Update when a new operating system fails to boot, or when a new Ventoy version fixes something you actually hit.
3
Make Ventoy Boot With Secure Boot On - Enrol the Key Once
On a PC with Secure Boot enabled, an unenrolled Ventoy drive stops at a blue screen: Verification failed: (15) Access Denied. This is not damage - the PC is simply asking you to trust Ventoy's key once, per machine:
Make sure Option - Secure Boot Support was ticked in Ventoy2Disk when the drive was made (run an Update with it ticked if you are unsure)
Boot the USB, and on the verification screen press Enter / OK to open the MOK Manager
Choose Enroll key from disk, open the VTOYEFI partition and select ENROLL_THIS_KEY_IN_MOKMANAGER.cer
Choose Continue, then Yes, set a password you will remember for the next two minutes, and reboot
After the reboot, boot the USB again - the Ventoy menu now opens with Secure Boot still switched on
The full click-by-click version of this process has its own dedicated guide in this series, because this is the step where most people get stuck.
4
Fix an ISO That Does Not Appear in the Boot Menu
Ventoy only lists image files it can boot, and it only looks in one place. Run through this detection checklist before assuming the drive is broken:
Right partition: the file must sit on the big data partition (the one labelled Ventoy), never on the tiny 32 MB VTOYEFI partition
Right file type: only .iso, .wim, .img, .vhd, .vhdx and .efi files are listed - a .zip, .rar or .esd never appears
Complete copy: a file over 4 GB cannot exist on a FAT32 partition, and a half-copied file (USB removed too early) will not boot - eject safely and copy again
Good download: compare the file size, or better the SHA-256 checksum, with the publisher's page - a corrupt download shows in the menu but dies during boot
Current Ventoy: if the image is a brand-new release, do the Step 2 update before anything else
5
Finish With VentoyPlugson - Themes, Menu Names and Plugins
Once the drive updates, boots and detects files correctly, VentoyPlugson is the safe control panel for everything else - it edits the ventoy.json settings file through a web page instead of error-prone manual editing:
Plug in the drive and run VentoyPlugson.exe - your browser opens at http://127.0.0.1:24680
Change the theme, set shorter menu alias names for long ISO filenames, or configure the persistence plugin for live Linux
Keep a backup copy of ventoy.json from the ventoy folder on the data partition before experimenting
That is the complete working system: an updated drive, Secure Boot handled once per PC, a detection checklist for missing files, and Plugson for polish. Every topic above also has a dedicated deep-dive guide in this series.
See Every Step Live in the Full Video
The update, the Secure Boot key enrolment and the file detection checklist are all demonstrated on a real PC in the complete guide video.
Does updating Ventoy delete the ISO files on my USB drive?
No. The Update option in Ventoy2Disk only replaces the Ventoy boot files. The data partition - and every ISO, WIM or other file stored on it - is left exactly as it was. Only the Install option erases the drive.
Do I have to enrol the Secure Boot key on every computer?
Yes. The MOK key enrolment is stored in each PC's firmware, not on the USB drive. It is a one-time, two-minute job per computer; after that the same PC boots Ventoy with Secure Boot on, every time.
Why does my copied ISO not show in the Ventoy menu at all?
The three usual causes are: the file is on the small VTOYEFI partition instead of the big Ventoy data partition, the file type is not a bootable image (ZIP, RAR and ESD files are never listed), or the copy did not finish - most often a file over 4 GB on a FAT32 partition.
This guide is based on the Ventoy Complete Guide video by Technical Anshu - Update, Secure Boot and File Detection Fix - Stuck on a step? Ask in the video comments, help is always there.