Most flash drives are formatted for use with windows. If given a choice, the two common modes are ntfs and fat32. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Usb disk storage format tool allows you to format a usb flash drive on windows quickly and correctly.
Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. Now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. One major advantage about this file system is that nearly all the operating systems can read and write from it. Fat32 formatter for mac if youre using a mac, you dont need special software to format a usb drive in the fat32 format. Here, we are going to learn the procedure to format a usb drive and an external hard drive on mac. For apple mac users, there are two ways to format usb flash drive to fat32, including disk utility and terminal command line. There, you will see the format option where you have to select the msdos fat format and master boot record scheme. Next navigate to applications and select utilities, then select disk utility by doubleclicking on it. You can use apples builtin disk utility before you format the drive, make sure theres nothing valuable on it thats not also backed up elsewhere, since all data will be lost.
How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. Its much simpler to format any drive thats isnt running the operating system such as the c. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Disk drill, a premium data recovery solution for mac os x with support for all popular file formats and common storage devices, is here to help you recover deleted files from usb flash drive. Jul 24, 2017 in the fat32 format window, select the drive to format and type a volume label if you want to. The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Select the drive you want to format and click erase button. Name the formatted disk and choose either exfat or msdos fat32 from the menu. For a hard drive to be able to be read and written to in both a pc and mac computer, it must be formatted to exfat or fat32 file format.
After removing the usb write protection, you can apply any one of the aboveprovided solutions in part 1 to format your usb drive to fat32. Make sure the flash drive is fully compatible with mac. If your drive is an apfs format or a mac os format you can format your drive easily but if it is a fat32 format this may be a problem. I can copy, paste, move, create new folders, or delete files. In the fat32 format window, select the drive to format and type a volume label if you want to. The instructions below are for windows 10, but other versions of windows from windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exfat for use with mac as well. Oct 29, 2019 even if you try to format fat32 drive on mac, you might end up causing more issues. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac easily. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os atto digital. You can format a fat32 usb drive on a mac using disk utility. The commandline conduct is the same way to erase data with disk utility.
Format to fat32 for usb or external hard drive in windows. In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system. Fat32 has several limitations, including a 4 gb perfile limit. Apr 17, 2020 to format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Now here is how to format your fat32 external drive on mac. But sometimes things can go wrong when you are trying to format 64gb usb flash drive or format 128gb usb flash drive to fat32. Before you format the drive, make sure theres nothing valuable on it thats not also backed up elsewhere, since all data will be lost. Click on the usb drive in the sidebar in disk utility. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. Using windows command prompt to format drive to fat32. Go to applications utilities double click and open disk utility. How to format internal andor external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers. How to format a hard drive on windows or mac avast.
Go to applicationsutilities and launch disk utility. Navigate to applications utilities, and click it twice to open it. Format to fat32 for usb or external hard drive in windows 10. Dec 29, 2015 the instructions below are for windows 10, but other versions of windows from windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exfat for use with mac as well. However, you may not format drives larger than 32gb to fat32 successfully the windows xp and windows server 2003 will only format drive in fat32 if it is less than 32gb.
Rename the usb flash drive, choose the format as msdos fat for format, master boot record for scheme. Select your usb flash drive on the sidebar, choose erase. How to format 128gb usb flash drive to fat32 easeus. This is the easiest way and simply requires you to plug in your usb drive, open the windows file explorer and right click your drive to view a number of actions that you can perform. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. Fat32 is the most widely used file system for usb flash drives. It lets you create, delete, and clone partitions in addition to formatting hard drives to chosen formats. How to format hard drive to fat32 file system up to 2tb. Installed the paragon ntfs for mac using 10 day trial. How to format usb drives larger than 32gb with fat32 on windows.
Best usb format tools pen drive stick formatters for. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. The partition need formatting to fat32 is not the first primary partition on removable disk. Go finder window on you mac then click on applications the image right. Dec, 2019 you can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. It is a file system in windows 95, 98, and windows millennium edition. The usb external hard drive is made by seagate and it has a 1tb capacity. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. Therefore, scroll down until you see a folder utilities double click on it. Rename the usb flash drive, choose the format as msdos fat for format, master. Jul 16, 20 when you have a new hard drive, or when youre reinstalling windows, the os may ask you to format the drive. Msdos fat this is disk utilitys name for the fat32 filesystem. You may need to format your usb drive to fat32 if you want to transfer files between mac and windows pc with the usb drive or use the drive for the navigationaudio system in your car.
And then, choose the file system you want in the dropdown list. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac easily recoverit. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. If you want to format an external hard drive, you have to connect the external hard drive to your mac first. Click on the format menu and choose either msdos fat32 or. Fat stands for file allocation table, and it is a computer file system architecture. Offline xbox update worked like a charm via usb stick. Select the drive you want to format and click on erase. Apr 30, 2016 now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. Jan 15, 2019 to format a usb drive in fat32 or exfat.
Now, you can follow the steps to be highlighted below to get it successfully formatted. A window pops up to warn you that all data on the drive will be lost. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. To format the usb drive to fat32, follow the next steps. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. External data storage devices such as usb flash drives, external hard disk drives hdds, and solid state drives ssds provide one of the easiest ways to transfer files between separate computers without accessing the internet. How to format a disk to ntfs using mac os x ask different. We all make mistakes, and you wouldnt be the first person in the world to accidentally format a usb flash drive. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps.
That allowed me to format a usb drive as ntfs with full readwrite access and then write the system update files to the usb drive. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. Formatting with this tool is much quicker than the command. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. Now you need to select the usb from the left had side pane. If you want to use the drive between a windows and mac machine, you can format it to fat32. How to format a drive in fat32 in windows 10 make tech easier. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x.
How to format external hard drive to fat32 in windows. How to format usb drives larger than 32gb with fat32 on. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. Connect the usb drive to mac and launch disk utility from application. Click on ok, but make sure the perform a quick format option is checked before you do so. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Unfortunately, windows 10 does not allow users to format usb or hard disk drives larger than 32gb in fat32. There are various reasons why you should format the usb flash drive on a mac. How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier.
The problem windows cannot format drive to fat32 that is larger than 32gb1tb. Mac computer has a builtin utility called disk utility, which can be used to format any. This will make it readable by both macs and microsoft windows computers. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. Some usb flash drives or external hard drives have to be formatted first before you can store files. When you have a new hard drive, or when youre reinstalling windows, the os may ask you to format the drive. As earlier stated, you need to first back up your usb drive before formatting the drive as you may not be able to recover the contents again. In this post, we are taking how to format usb flash drive or external hard drive on mac. Sep 05, 2011 very easy way to format an external hard drive into fat32 with a mac using the disk utility. Jul 05, 2017 youll see the drives file system displayed to the right of format under the general heading. Format usb flash drive or external hard drive with disk utility. And you will find two ways which will teach you how to format a usb drive to fat32 on mac, including disk utility and terminal command. Format fat32 drive on mac first, let us look on how to format fat32 drive on mac macos sierra.
How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x admfactory. On the left side panel, you will see the usb drive name. If you have made the mistake of buying a flash drive they runs on a fat32 file format you dont have to discard it altogether. How to format external hard drive, usb flash drive on mac. The difference between macos and windows is that they use different file systems. Windows recognizes only the first primary partition on removable device like usb flash drive, thus you cant format the partition except the first one on usb flash drive or sd card. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Select your usb drive which you want to format and click on erase.
If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. Fat32 is a versatile file system that has been around for decades. Usually, if you want to format a usb flash drive in windows, you just need to rightclick it and choose format option in the menu. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. You can specify the file system of the formatted usb media. If youre using a mac, you dont need special software to format a usb drive in the fat32 format. Youll see the drives file system displayed to the right of format under the general heading. It functions just fine when connected to a windows pc, playstation3, or even a chromebook notebook. Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. This lee sapara with a 30 second short video on formatting a usb drive to fat 32 on your mac. It is hard to format a drive larger than 32gb into fat32. Select the quick format option, and then click the start button. Feb 21, 2020 to format the usb drive to fat32, follow the next steps.
You need to connect your hard drive usb to your mac system and then open disk utility application. You will be asked if you really want to go through with the format in the resulting popup click on ok. Connect the usb drive you want to format to fat32 to the computer. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. Amazons choice for fat32 external hard drive silicon power 2tb rugged portable external hard drive armor a60, shockproof usb 3. I needed to perform an offline system update for xbox one s but i only have macs. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. This page tells how to format a usb or external hard drive into fat32 and resolve the issue of being unable to format usb to fat32. How to format usb drive or external hard drive on mac. Additional disks are generally used for data storage and data transfer, such as an external usb hard disk, memory card, or a thumb drive.