Blue background featuring the Kali Linux dragon silhouette and an orange USB drive labeled ‘KALI,’ with the text ‘Kali Linux Live USB.’

Create a Kali Linux Live USB with Persistence & Encryption (Windows, macOS, Linux)

Last updated on | 472 replies

Introduction

Kali Linux is a specialized Linux distribution for ethical hacking, penetration testing, and digital forensics. A Kali Linux Live USB lets you run Kali on almost any computer without permanent installation.

This guide shows how to build a Kali Linux Live USB that can save changes between sessions (persistence), plus optional LUKS encryption for extra security.

  • Capacity: For basic use, 8–16GB is often enough. If you plan to store larger files or use more tools, aim for 32GB+.
  • Persistence Partition: If you want a large persistence partition (e.g., 16GB+), ensure your USB has enough space for both the Live image and that partition.
  • Performance: Huge partitions can slow down read/write speeds on older USBs. Encryption also adds overhead—larger partitions take longer to format and open.
  • Optional Extra Partition: You could leave space for a FAT/NTFS partition if you need cross-platform file sharing.

1. Download Kali Linux ISO

Grab the latest Kali Linux Live ISO from the official Kali website. Choose the correct architecture for your system:

  1. x86_64 (Intel/AMD) for most PCs and older Intel Macs
  2. Apple Silicon (ARM64) for M1/M2 Macs

For stability, use the “Point Release Live Image” (e.g., Kali 2024.4). Weekly images are more up-to-date but less tested. If possible, use torrents for faster downloads.

Optional (Recommended): Verify the ISO
Because Kali is a security-focused distribution, it’s good practice to verify the downloaded ISO. Check the official Kali docs for details on validating checksums or GPG signatures to ensure the image hasn’t been tampered with.

2. Create a Kali Live USB

After downloading the Kali Linux ISO (and optionally verifying it), the next step is to write it to a USB drive. This creates a bootable “Live” environment that you can run on most PCs or Macs without installing Kali permanently. Below are methods for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

2.1 Windows: Rufus

Rufus is a user-friendly tool for Windows that can create a Kali Live USB. If you want persistence, Rufus can set that up automatically during this step.

  1. Download and open Rufus.
  2. Select your USB under “Device.”
  3. Click SELECT and choose the Kali Linux Live ISO.
  4. If desired, set a “Persistent partition size” (e.g., 4GB) for automatic persistence.
  5. Click START and confirm any prompts.
  6. When Rufus finishes, eject the USB.
Screenshot of Rufus on Windows showing a 128 GB USB drive, Kali Linux ISO selected, a 4 GB Persistent partition size, MBR partition scheme, and a volume label set to ‘Kali Live.’
Using Rufus to create a bootable Kali Linux USB drive with a 4 GB persistent partition.

If you forgot to set persistence or used another tool, see Step 4 to add or fix persistence later.

2.2 macOS & Linux: Balena Etcher (GUI)

Balena Etcher is a cross-platform tool for flashing OS images. On macOS and Linux, Etcher does not create a persistence partition automatically, so you’ll need to set it up manually (see Step 4).

  1. Download/install Balena Etcher.
  2. Insert your USB drive (8GB or larger).
  3. Open Etcher and choose “Flash from file”, selecting the Kali Live ISO.
  4. Pick your USB drive as the target, then click Flash.
  5. When done, safely eject the USB.

2.3 macOS & Linux: dd (CLI)

If you prefer the command line, you can use dd to write the ISO directly to the USB. This also doesn’t create persistence automatically, so you’ll need to add it later (see Step 4).

  1. Identify your USB (e.g., /dev/sdb or /dev/disk2) via lsblk, fdisk -l (Linux), or diskutil list (macOS).
  2. Unmount the USB (sudo umount /dev/sdb* on Linux or diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2 on macOS).
  3. Write the ISO:
    sudo dd if=/path/to/kali.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress
    (Adjust of= as needed.)
  4. Finish & Eject:
    Run sync then remove the USB.

3. Boot and Test Your USB

Now that you’ve created your Kali Live USB, the next step is to boot from it and confirm it works. This usually involves changing your system’s boot order or using a one-time boot menu. Below are general guidelines for both PCs and Macs.

3.1 Windows & Linux: BIOS/UEFI

  • Power on or restart your PC. During startup, press the key for your system’s boot menu or BIOS/UEFI settings (often F2, F12, Esc, or Delete).
  • In the boot options, select your USB drive. It may be listed by its brand or as “USB HDD.”
  • Save and exit. Your system should reboot from the USB and show the Kali boot menu.
  • Alternate (Windows 10/11): Hold Shift while clicking “Restart” to open Advanced Startup. Then go to Use a device → USB.
  • Tip: Some PCs have a dedicated one-time boot menu key (e.g., F9 on HP). Use that to boot from USB without permanently changing BIOS settings.

3.2 macOS Boot

  • Insert the USB drive.
  • Reboot your Mac. Immediately press and hold the Option (Alt) key.
  • Select “EFI Boot” or “Windows” (the name can vary) when the boot options appear.

Apple Silicon (M1/M2): Shut down your Mac, then press and hold the power button until the startup options screen appears. Choose your USB drive to boot from it.

3.3 Test Persistence (If Configured)

When Kali’s boot menu appears, you’ll typically see:

  • Live system (amd64)
  • Live system (amd64) fail-safe mode
  • Live system (amd64) forensic mode
  • Live system with USB persistence
  • Live system with USB encrypted persistence
  • Start installer
  • Advanced install options
  • Utilities

If you used Rufus to create a persistence partition, select “Live system with USB persistence.” Once on the Kali desktop, create a test file (e.g., on the Desktop), then reboot and pick the same persistence option. If the file remains, persistence is working!

If you did not set up persistence yet, just choose “Live system (amd64)”.

Default Credentials: The default username is kali, and the password is kali. To become root, use sudo su.

4. Manually Adding Persistence

Some tools—like Rufus on Windows—can create a persistence partition automatically, but others (Etcher, dd, etc.) do not. If you didn’t enable persistence or used a tool that lacks this feature, you can still manually add persistence to your existing Kali USB. The basic idea is to create a second partition labeled persistence, format it to ext3 or ext4, and add a configuration file so changes are saved across reboots.

4.1 Key Requirements

1. You generally cannot modify a USB while you’re booted from it if the main partition is read-only (e.g., the Kali ISO partition). You’ll need a second environment—a different USB, a VM, or another computer—so your target USB isn’t in use.

2. You need a tool that can shrink the main partition and create an ext3 or ext4 partition labeled persistence. Windows Disk Management and macOS Disk Utility generally cannot do this because of the read-only ISO partition and lack of native ext3/ext4 support.

4.2 Windows Users

Option A: Rufus (Automatic)
If you created your USB in Windows using Rufus, you can select a “Persistent partition size” during the initial setup. That way, Rufus automatically creates persistence.

Option B: Manual Creation with MiniTool Partition Wizard
If you forgot to enable persistence in Rufus or used another tool, you can still add persistence manually. A popular free option is MiniTool Partition Wizard Free:

  • Install MiniTool Partition Wizard (Free edition).
  • Shrink the main partition (the one containing Kali) to free up space.
  • Create a new partition in the unallocated space:
    • Partition Type: Primary
    • File System: Ext4
    • Partition Label: persistence
  • Apply the changes, then safely remove the USB once it’s done.
A screenshot of a partition creation dialog box titled "Create New Partition." The partition label is set to "persistence," the file system is "Ext4," and the size is about 10.53 GB. The dialog also shows fields for partition type (Primary), drive letter (None), cluster size (Default), and unallocated space values before and after set to 0.00 GB.
Creating a new partition labeled “persistence” with an Ext4 file system in MiniTool Partition Wizard Free

After creating the partition, you’ll finalize it in Kali Live (see 4.6 Configure the Persistence Partition).

4.3 macOS Users

macOS Disk Utility generally can’t resize the read-only ISO partition nor format ext3/ext4. To add a persistence partition, you must use a Linux environment—for example, boot from another Linux USB, or use a Linux VM (e.g., VirtualBox or VMware) and pass the USB through to it. Then follow the steps in 4.5 Resizing/Creating a Partition to shrink and create the persistence partition.

4.4 Linux Users

If you have another Linux system (installed or a second Live USB), you can use GParted or parted to shrink the main Kali partition and create an ext3/ext4 partition labeled persistence. You’ll then configure that partition (see 4.6) so Kali saves data across reboots.

4.5 Resizing/Creating a Partition

Regardless of your operating system, the main steps to add persistence are:

  • Shrink the existing Kali partition (the read-only ISO partition).
  • Create a new ext3 or ext4 partition labeled persistence.

Below are two common methods on Linux. For Windows, see MiniTool Partition Wizard (See 4.2 above), and for macOS, you’ll need a Linux environment or VM with GParted or parted.

Method A: GParted (GUI)

  • Boot into a Linux environment where your target USB isn’t mounted.
  • Run sudo gparted and select the USB (e.g., /dev/sdb).
  • Shrink the existing partition, then create a new ext3/ext4 partition labeled persistence.
  • Apply the changes. Note the partition name (e.g., /dev/sdb2).

Method B: parted (CLI)

If you prefer the command line:

sudo parted /dev/sdb
(parted) print
(parted) resizepart 1 <new_end>
(parted) mkpart primary ext4 <start> <end>
(parted) set 2 lba off
(parted) quit

Example Steps:

  1. Identify your USB device (e.g., /dev/sdb).
  2. print shows current partitions.
  3. resizepart shrinks the main partition.
  4. mkpart creates a new partition for persistence.
  5. quit to apply changes.
  6. Note your new partition name (e.g., /dev/sdb2).

4.6 Configure the Persistence Partition

Note: If you plan to encrypt this partition, you can skip this step and go straight to Step 5.

After creating the partition, label it persistence (if you haven’t already), then format it and add the persistence.conf file:

sudo mkfs.ext3 -L persistence /dev/sdb2
sudo e2label /dev/sdb2
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/my_usb
sudo mount /dev/sdb2 /mnt/my_usb
echo "/ union" | sudo tee /mnt/my_usb/persistence.conf
sudo umount /mnt/my_usb

Note: Adjust /dev/sdb2 if your partition name differs (e.g., /dev/sdb3 or /dev/sdc2).

4.7 Reboot and Use Persistence

Reboot your system and choose “Live (amd64) USB Persistence”. If everything is set up correctly, any changes you make will now persist across reboots.

5. (Optional) Encrypt the Persistence Partition (LUKS)

Important: This will wipe data in your persistence partition, so back up any important files first.

5.1 Identify the Correct Partition

If you already know the persistence partition (e.g., /dev/sdb2), skip to Step 5.2.

Otherwise, run:

sudo fdisk -l

You’ll see one larger FAT32 partition for the “Live” system and a smaller 83 Linux partition for persistence. For example:

Output:

Disk /dev/sdb: 115.7 GiB, 123480309760 bytes
...

Device       Boot  Start     End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1           2048 34603007 34600960 16.5G  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sdb2       34603008 42969087  8366080     4G 83 Linux

Here, /dev/sdb2 is the persistence partition. If you don’t see it, go back to Step 4 and create one first.

5.2 If the Partition Is Currently Mounted (e.g., Rufus)

If you created this USB with Rufus and booted “Live system with USB persistence,” the persistence partition is auto-mounted, so cryptsetup will fail (“device in use”). To fix this, you need to prevent Kali from mounting it on reboot:

  • Rename the partition label (e.g., sudo e2label /dev/sdb2 old_persist). This stops Kali from recognizing it as a persistence partition on reboot.
  • Reboot into a non-persistent session (e.g., “Live system (amd64)”) so the partition is not in use.
  • Now the partition is free. Proceed to Step 5.3 to encrypt it.

5.3 LUKS Format & Configuration

Step 1: Initialize LUKS, where /dev/sdb2 is your own persistence partition:

sudo cryptsetup --verbose --verify-passphrase luksFormat /dev/sdb2

Type YES (in capitals) to confirm, then pick a secure passphrase. (If needed, generate a passphrase here).

Step 2: Open the container:

sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdb2 my_usb

Enter your passphrase.

Step 3: Format & create persistence.conf:

sudo mkfs.ext3 -L persistence /dev/mapper/my_usb
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/my_usb
sudo mount /dev/mapper/my_usb /mnt/my_usb
echo "/ union" | sudo tee /mnt/my_usb/persistence.conf
sudo umount /mnt/my_usb
sudo cryptsetup luksClose my_usb

Reboot and choose “Live system with USB encrypted persistence.” Enter your LUKS passphrase on boot. Your data is now protected.

User Feedback & Common Issues

Over time, this guide has received many comments—some for older Kali versions. Below are common issues and tips:

  1. Partition Label Must Be “persistence”
    Ensure the partition label is exactly persistence.
  2. Password/Keyboard Layout
    LUKS passphrases can fail if you switch keyboards. Use a simple passphrase with lowercase/numbers only to avoid issues.
  3. Stuck at “Please unlock disk /dev/sdb2”
    Some older builds had encryption bugs. Update Kali or try another USB brand.
  4. “Failed Unmounting /run/live/medium” or “/tmp”
    Disabling Secure Boot or using Legacy BIOS can help. Some USB sticks are incompatible.
  5. Resize Errors/“Invalid Config File”
    Some Windows tools fail on certain USBs. Wiping partitions with diskpart or GParted can fix it.
  6. Data Only Saves in Persistence Partition
    Make sure you’re booting “(Encrypted) USB Persistence.” The persistence.conf must have / union.
  7. Sluggish Performance on Large USBs
    Use USB 3.0 or consider a full Kali install on USB if speed is critical.

Conclusion

You now have a Kali Linux Live USB that supports persistence and optional LUKS encryption. Whether you’re on Windows, macOS, or Linux, you can create a portable pentesting environment. If you get stuck, consult the official Kali docs or leave a comment below!

Let me know if this helped. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, or 🍊 buy me a smoothie.

472 replies

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  1. Works! Commenting from an encrypted persistence live boot.

    “Running apt-get update && apt-get upgrade” now to see if moving to the latest breaks anything, will report back.

    Reply

      1. 2018.2 amd64

        looks like the problem is w/newer versions of dm-crypt I think. When I ran apt-get upgrade and it got to updating, it provided me with a warning about how the hooking method that was being used will be deprecated soon. It’s fine I guess if you already have an encrypted partition setup, but if you try to create a new one, nothing.

        I will find the exact warning and post it here later.

        Reply

  2. when i rebooted, it asked “Please unlock disk /dev/sdb3 and it had worked.
    but when check “new folder” i was created, nothing was saved.
    what should i do ?

    Reply

  4. Hello!
    i multiple times have created a new USB Stick after this instruction, but Kali does not auto mount my Partition with encrypted persistence??

    I dont know why! I have also tried other Instructions, that i have found in Goolge, but same error!
    Without the encryption it works, but with encryption kali does not ask me for a password, when i boot from my USB!

    I also have tried several Notebooks…

    Can you help me?

    And sorry for my bad English, i am a German User with terrible English Skills =)

    Best Regards
    Mark

    Reply

  7. Story time:

    This command – “mkfs.ext4 -L persistence /dev/mapper/my_usb” – is the culprit

    For whatever reason, after running this command, the type of drive shown from “fdisk -l” still shows “Microsoft Basic Data” for the drive.

    I figured it out by using the mkfs command while going through your other guide instead of setting up the partition as EXT4 when I start with miniTool partition wizard. lo and behold, I saw with a quick fdisk -l afterwards that the type hadn’t changed

    So I ran Gparted and reformatted the partition as EXT4 and labeled it “persistence”, now when I run fdisk -l it shows “Linux filesystem”

    Restart into the persistence option and BOOM! Mission accomplished.

    I would recommend perhaps modifying the guide to run “Gparted &”, and format the partition as EXT4 after using the cryptsetup luksOpen command instead of mkfs. If you want to keep that step as command line, when running Gparted it shows you what command it does to sucessfully change the partition.

    Reply

    1. Ok, thanks for the feedback. I cannot recreate the problem here though I’ll need to do more tests.

      The partition shouldn’t be showing as Microsoft Basic Data. When you run fdisk -lwhen first booting into Kali, the persistence partiton type should show as HPFS/NTFS/exFAT. Are you sure you created it as unformatted as specified in Step 3. Create Persistence Partition?

      Reply

    2. I think I’m having the same issue. After running “mkfs.ext4 -L persistence /dev/mapper/my_usb”, fdisk-l continues to show the partition as “HPFS/NTFS/exFAT.” By using Gparted, I am able to format it as EXT4 and get it to display as “Linux”. Unfortunately, Kali still ignores the persistence.conf when I reboot. I formatted my persistence partition as “unformatted” in step 3.

      Reply

  8. When I rebooted, it asked “Please unlock disk /dev/sdb2” and I thought it had worked. The second time I rebooted it didn’t ask for a password, and nothing was saved. The persistent encrypted partition is there, it just doesn’t boot off it (I always chose “Live system (encrypted persistence, check kali.org/prst)”).

    Reply

  10. I’ve followed this guide word for word, no luck.

    Everytime I boot and choose “encrypted persistence”, it does not unlock the drive upon boot. I boot into Kali’s gui first, root toor, then I have to use “cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdb2 persistence” and then mount it.

    Because it doesn’t unlock the drive on boot, it can’t read the persistence.conf file, so no persistence is maintained.

    I’m using kali-linux-xfce-2018.3-amd64.iso as my image (I ran a hash check to confirm it’s good). I’ve imaged using rufus, UNetbootin, and DD. I’ve managed the partitions using Windows disk manager, gparted, parted, and the minitool partition wizard.

    I’m imaging on to a 32 gb flash drive (I’ve tried two different ones to see if the hardware was causing the issue). I’ve flashed the image as a GPT filetable and MBR. I’ve booted using UEFI and legacy.

    Could really use some help.

    Reply

    1. Do you get the message Please unlock disk /dev/sdb2 on boot?

      A lot of these issues are caused by an incompatible USB drive. Is the second USB you tried the same brand? Also if possible try creating partitions on a different computer as there could be some other USB hardware issue. If you can pick up a new USB drive, I recommend the SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 Flash Drives. I have loads of them and they’ve never failed me.

      Reply

      1. Nope, no message on boot to unlock /dev/sdb2. As for the brand, both of them are SanDisk, one is a Cruzer Glide 32gb, the other is an Ultra 32 gb.

        I will try to create the partitions on a different machine and report back.

        Reply

        1. Nope, tried on a different machine. Nothing.

          On a related note, I just noticed upon startup as it loads

          “sdb sdb1 sdb2
          WARNING: unable to load module dm-crypt
          WARNING: cryptsetup is unavailable”

          I think there might be something wrong with the xfce version of Kali…I will try the base image and report back”

          Reply

          1. Nope. That didn’t do it either. No warning this time for dm-crypt or cryptsetup either…or at least one that I can see… 🙁

          2. That’s a pain. And sdb2 is definitely the right partition? Try cryptsetup -v luksFormat /dev/sdb2 --debug in Step 5 to see if any errors come up in the debug.

            Also see if you can get unencrypted persistence working using my other guide. If that works, then you know your USB and partitions are ok and it’s some other issue with encryption only. Also try and copy and paste the commands from the guide just to rule out typos, and make sure you have the correct device, sdb2, etc.

          4. I can’t believe I’m about to say this because I am a total noob, but I think I might be able to offer some insight here.

            I think it’s an issue with the new Kali version 2018.3

            I followed the instructions above like you and installed the newest ISO which is 2018.3 but it doesn’t prompt you for the password during the boot sequence anymore. When you boot in, you can unlock your persistence through the Places> menu and selecting the encrypted drive but it seems unstable.

            I am a total noob, so please take everything I say with a big pinch of salt, but if I had to make a largely uneducated guess, I would say it seems to be an issue with the persistence partition not mounting correctly on boot.

            If you follow the instructions above to the letter, but instead go back to using the 2018.2 ISO, (which is still on the kali index website), it will work perfectly. The upgrade to the new kali version from within using apt upgrade command, that might work for you.

            Like I said, I am a completely newbie so I might be way offside here, but thought I would share what I’ve seen.

            Good luck, let us know if you figure it out.

  11. Hi, thank you for your guide.
    I followed the steps many time, I tried with a complicated passphrase with symbols lowercase and numbers, and then I tried again only with lowercase and numbers.
    And everytime I ve got this error : IO error while encrypted keyslot.
    Command failed with code -1 (wrong or missing parameters).
    What should I do?

    Reply

    1. What happens when you run

      cryptsetup -v luksFormat /dev/sdb2 --debug

      where sdb2 is your persistence partition.

      Reply

      1. Thank you for your quick answer. It says it will overwrite data on dev/sdc2 I put YES. It asks me to enter my passphrase, then to verify. I post you the complete lines. ibb.co/gV96Q9

        Reply

        1. It seems to be having problems writing to that partition. All I can suggest it that you format your USB and try creating the partitions again from scratch. Or if you can, try on a different USB drive.

          Reply

          1. You found the issue, I tried from scratch, and it goes wrong again.
            Then I tried from a different usb key, and everything is working perfectly now, thanks to you.
            You are a savior. Thank you so much.
            Take care

  12. Dear,

    I’ve followed your procedure with success but we I’ve rebooted the machine I lost every time all configurations (keyboard, wifi password, etc.) and also all apt updates.
    I’ve used this iso: kali-linux-2018.2-amd64 with a 32GB pendrive.
    Have you any idea?
    Thank you!

    Rgds,
    Davide

    Reply

  14. If I want to be sure no data can be stored on the USB drive, can I just unmount the encrypted partition ?

    Reply

    1. Then don’t set up persistence at all. Kali live doesn’t write to the USB unless you set up persistence.

      Reply

  17. Where does the persistance live? I mean where is the encyrption with this set up? Is it the whole disk or partition? Or is it just the users home directory for instance?

    Cheers – great article

    Reply

    1. The entire persistence partition is encrypted. e.g sdb2 and this is where your home folder resides. The 4GB system partition (sdb1) is not encrypted because otherwise you wouldn’t be able to load the LUKS encryption software on boot.

      Reply

      1. Thanks
        I suppose this is my issue, insofar as I would want logs, browsing history, passwords, well everything really. Someone could just get the USB Drive and access all you have been doing in terms of software etc

        Thanks

        Reply

        1. All that will be encrypted. The persistence partition is where files, settings, logs, etc, are saved to. The partition where Kali resides is not written to at all. It’s a Live USB and is therefore effectively read-only.

          Reply

  18. I’m having a hard time getting this to work. I followed the guide as exactly as I possibly could, and yet when I turn off the system to reboot the log says failed unmounting /lib/live/medium. Then upon booting in encrypted persistence, I get to the point where it says Please unlock disk, and I type my password in and nothing happens. I have to force shutdown. What could be the reason behind this… I have cleaned, repartitioned, and reformatted the usb many times now to no avail. Thanks for the help

    Reply

    1. When you type your password, there is no feedback in Linux like there is in Windows/Mac, eg. no stars or dots. This seems to throw off a lot of people. Just type your password carefully and press enter.

      Reply

      1. Thank you, I should have clarified that I understand there is no visual when entering a password. I entered it correctly, and hit enter, nothing happened. Then, I had to force shutdown the machine.

        So, I decided to give it a whirl on my desktop instead of my laptop. Everything worked perfectly, including encrypted persistence….. So, I tried again on my laptop, and nothing… same problem, cant get past please unlock disk password request. Then I thought, what if i plug in the keyboard from my desktop to my laptop and it worked! But now the touchpad doesn’t work when i plug in the external keyboard.

        I’m using a surface book, and I have no idea why this is happening. Again, Thank you

        Reply

  19. 2 things,
    first no matter what partition tool I use I can not resize the partition with the image on it.
    thinking this was not a huge issue I proceeded to finish per the instructions.

    second after rebooting, logging in with persistence, creating a file and rebooting I find the file or any changes at all are not saved.

    could my first problem be causing the second? if not what is causing it not to save? I followed every step and got no errors.

    Reply

    1. Yeah, you’ll need to get your partitions right first.

      I would suggest removing all partitions from the USB drive and trying again.

      1. Press Windows + R simultaneously, type cmd, click “OK” to open an elevated command prompt.
      2. Type diskpart and hit enter
      3. Type list disk. Soon diskpart will list all the hard drives on your computer, including your USB flash drive that is connecting with the computer. Assuming that your USB flash drive is drive G:
      4. Type select disk G and hit enter.
      5. If there are one more partitions on the flash drive and you wish to delete some of them, now type list partition and hit enter. There should list all the partitions, numbered as 0, 1, 2…
      6. Type select partition 0 and hit enter
      7. Type delete partition and hit enter
      8. Repeat step 6 and step 7 to delete partition 1 or 2…
      9. After deleting all the target partitions, type create partition primary and hit enter.
      10. Exit the command prompt. Right-click on the USB drive in explorer and format it.
      Reply

      1. to clarify, I did create a second partition but the disk imaging software I was using created a partition for the image the exact size of the image and would not allow me to increase it’s size.
        I’ve since used Universal USB Installer as per this guide and was able to make the 4gb partition for kali and partition the remaining space for persistence.

        I’ve followed the guide exactly now a few times without error and still nothing is saving.

        should this be the only line in persistence.conf

        / union

        Reply

        1. Yes, it’s just / union. Did you try doing the partitions in MiniTool Partition Wizard?

          In most cases, this is a partition issue or the wrong commands are entered in part 5 and 6. If you can, copy and paste them and make sure you have the correct device name.

          Reply

          1. thanks for all the help. yes, the last 6 attempts I used all tools mentioned in this guide. I’ve tried this and other guides over the last 4 days all with no success and I’m still unsure if I keep making a typo and that is causing it to fail. I’ll be trying again with many different USB and microsd in usb adapters and I’ll try doing it without typing 120wpm. I’ll even triple check my spelling of “persistence” as it’s just one of those words I’ll spell wrong 50% of the time. thanks again for the help and writing this guide, it’s by far the easiest to follow and seems to wok great when using the tools described. I’m sure the problem is with me and my spelling and impatient typing. OR could it be I’ve been using a microsd card in a USB adapter? ultimately I NEED kali on a microsd with persistence but I’ll try a standard usb right now.

  21. setelah saya reboot, saya tidak bisa memasukan passphrase padahal saya sudah membuat mudah passphrase saya

    after I reboot, I can’t enter the passphrase even though I have made my passphrase easy

    Reply

    1. Are there any symbols in your password? Is it case sensitive? Because I suspect it might be a keyboard layout issue. Try a password all lowercase with no symbols next time.

      Reply

  22. Perfect!

    I’ve been through countless guides for setting up encrypted persistence and this has been the only one that worked properly.

    Thank you.

    Reply

  24. Worked perfectly! I wasted hours trying to work with kali.org’s now 2 years outdated instructions and was about ready to give up. Even found the suggested software better than what I’d been using.

    Reply

    1. That’s great to hear. Yes, the reason I made this article is because the official Kali guide is out of date and not very noob-friendly.

      Reply

  25. I followed each step. ( I’ve done this before with other kali versions and it worked perfectly) . But with the 2018.2 version, at the final step when i boot the live persistence, it’s asking me for the username & password and the default ones, root/toor are not working. I have tried other combinations like user, admin, live but none are working. I keep getting the message “Sorry, that didn’t work. Please try again.”
    Can you help me, please?

    Reply