Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W Setup

Where to Buy

Looking for a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W? Here are the authorized retailers:

Device	Official Store	Amazon	SparkFun	CanaKit
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W	Available ↗	Search ↗	Search ↗	Check availability
MicroSD Cards (32GB+)	—	Search ↗	Search ↗	—
SD Card Adapters	—	Search ↗	Search ↗	—

The Zero 2 W is perfect for compact edge computing projects. You'll need a micro-USB power supply (5V/2.5A), a microSD card (32GB+ recommended), and a mini-HDMI adapter if you plan to connect a display. Consider purchasing GPIO headers if they're not pre-soldered for your project needs.

For more purchasing options and accessories, visit our Where to Purchase Hardware guide.

Step 1

Insert the microSD card into an SD card adapter. You can also use a USB-C to micro SD card adapter.

Step 2

Insert the SD card adapter with your microSD card into your Macbook.

Step 3

You can put EdgeOS on your microSD card in two ways:

You can use the Edge CLI to install EdgeOS to a microSD card or other disk such as an NVME drive or USB drive. We'll assume you have a microSD card inserted into your computer via a card reader. If you need some tips of where to buy one, check out this guide.

3a. List the available disks to install on

macOS

edge imager list --all

--all includes internal disks. This is needed if you're using your computer's internal card reader.

This would be your SD card, microSD card, USB drive, NVME drive, or other disk you want to install EdgeOS on.

You'll see a list of drives including your microSD (or other disk) and a few other drives like your internal disk. You'll need to find the drive that is your external disk. And take note of the name of the drive like /dev/disk30.

Example output:

macOS

me@MacBook-Pro-M4-Max website % edge imager list --all

Available external drives:
---------------------------
[1] Internal Disk (/dev/disk0)
    Capacity: 8 TB
    Available: Zero KB
    Type: Internal

[2] Internal Disk (/dev/disk30)
    Capacity: 127.8 GB
    Available: Zero KB
    Type: Internal

3b. See which types of devices you can install EdgeOS on.

macOS

edge imager list-devices

Example output:

macOS

me@MacBook-Pro-M4-Max website % edge imager list-devices

📱 Fetching available device images...

Available devices:
------------------
[1] jetson-orin-nano
    Latest version: 0.6.2

[2] raspberry-pi-5
    Latest version: 0.6.2

[3] raspberry-pi-zero-2
    Latest version: 0.6.2

[4] test-device
    No version available

You can use raspberry-pi-zero-2 for Pi Zero 2 or Pi Zero 2 W but NOT the original Pi Zero.

3a. Begin flashing EdgeOS to your disk

macOS

edge imager write-device <device-name> <disk-name>

# or if you followed the example above, you can use:
edge imager write-device raspberry-pi-zero-2 /dev/disk30

You should be given a prompt to confirm the action. Type yes and hit enter.

This can take a while on your first run because you will need to download the image. We cache the image after the first run so it'll be faster on subsequent runs.
Once the image is downloaded, it'll begin to flash the image to your disk. This can take a while depending on the size of the disk. We are working on speeding this up by having smaller images available soon!

Step 4

Remove the microSD card from your computer and insert into your Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.

Step 5

Plug in a USB-C to micro USB cable from your Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W to your Macbook. On your first boot, it could take a while to boot up.

Take care not to insert the micro USB cable into the PWR IN port. This will only power the device and not allow you to deploy code or debug.

Next Steps

Ready to write your first Edge application? Continue with our Hello World guide to get started.

Hello World Guide