Jul 31, 2018 by default, mac starts from its builtin hard disk, but a startup disk can be any storage device that contains bootable contents that compatible with your mac. While formatting a pen drive, users get an option to change its format. Once you open the disk utility app, you can see all the drives on your mac are listed on the lefthand sidebar. May 01, 2020 how to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Since the pc and mac are two different operating systems, they use different file systems. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup.
Click the erase button or tab, then complete these fields. For this case, it is advisable to install programs called ntfs 3g, which works in, handy with macfuse. However, when you format your hard drive with super eraser for mac, all your data will be permanently lost. So please back up your important files before you run super eraser for mac to format. When you launch the application, you will see that your drive has automatically been identified. If you want to use the drive between a windows and mac machine, you can format it to fat32. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. How to format usb on mac steps connect your usb drive to your mac computer. You can also open a finder window, select applications in the sidebar, and head to utilities disk utility. The quickest way is to search on spotlight and click. If you want to use a usb drive on both mac and windows, then you need to format the drive to the format supported by both systems. If you have never formatted a drive before on the mac, dont worry, its super easy and well walk you through the entire process. Locate the drive name from the left hand side of disk utility and click on it.
How to format a usb stick on a mac using disk utility tech. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. The main reason for formatting a usb drive as fat32 on a mac is that you want to be able to use. Make sure that your usb device is connected properly on your mac. Open the applications folder and click on utilities. Formatting your usb drive on mac is actually very easy to do. Now in this interface, you will see a format option. Oct 15, 2019 select mac os extended journaled, or your preferred format type. Jan 15, 2019 to format a usb drive in fat32 or exfat. However, if the usb flash drive is not mounted on mac, you will lose access to the usb flash drive as well as to the data stored on it. Follow this tutorial to learn how to format your external storage device that is the usb easily, so as to remove any existing viruses in it. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. Recommended format is mac os extended as it is mac compatible.
For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your mac, you should erase your entire disk. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. Rename the usb flash drive, choose the format as msdos fat for format. Otherwise, select the mac os extended casesensitive, journaled format. Go to applicationsutilities and launch disk utility. Oct 29, 2019 here, you can view the format of the selected usb drive. Now, click on the erase button and the disk utility will prepare the usb stick for the next steps youre going to follow. Enter a name for the disk or volume, such as macintosh hd. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. And we can use it to format the usb on mac as well. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start.
Format ntfs drive on mac the second task is how to format ntfs drive on mac. Click on the name of your usb drive in the left window pane in disk utility. If you want to protect the disk with a password, select the mac os extended casesensitive, journaled, encrypted format. Let us go through the exact steps in formatting your usb drive to fat32 on mac using the command line. Apr 26, 2016 to format a usb flash drive, simply plug the drive into your mac, and choose it from disk utilitys sidebar menu. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. Click on the format menu and choose either msdos fat32 or. Rufus for mac 2019 how to create a bootable usb drive on mac. To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. File system formats available in disk utility on mac apple. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility.
And fat32 is the format that both mac and windows pc support. The steps to create a bootable usb drive on mac are very simple when using this powerful utility. This guide provides 2 ways to boot a mac from a usb flash drive. Rename the usb flash drive, choose the format as msdos fat for format, master. Aug 20, 2016 click on your usb stick, then select erase. Launch disk utility, located in applications utilities. Now, just click on the erase button to complete the format. How to format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Windows fat32 usb drive in mac click on the erase button on disk utility and choose the format as either apfs or mac os extended. Make the format mac os extended journaled and use guid partition map as your scheme. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. How to format usb flash drive on mac a stepbystep tutorial.
Uses the mac format journaled hfs plus to protect the integrity of the hierarchical file system. For most reasons to erase, you should erase the disk, which also erases all volumes on that disk. The former option can help ensure that the usb drive is made fully compatible with your mac, since most usb drives are preformatted for windows computers by default. Ideally, mac supports different pen drive formats for a usb drive that you can pick from, as per your convenience. Reformatting the disk still with the external disk selected in disk utility go to the erase tab, select mac os extended journaled from the format dropdown, choose to name the disk. We all make mistakes, and you wouldnt be the first person in the world to accidentally format a usb flash drive.
The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Jul 28, 20 then below you will see the format type which will be ntfs or possibly msdos fat, we need to reformat the volume and make the format mac os extended journaled. Oct 29, 2019 terminal command line in mac can be used to format usb devices. Download disk formatting software for mac doyourdata. By default, macs use hfs, while pcs use ntfs, which are not compatible with each other. The casesensitve format can distinguish between lowercase and uppercase letters.
Just select the one you want to format and click on the erase tab. How to format a usb flash drive on a mac techwalla. Click on the erase tab displayed at the top of the disk. Once youve copied any files you need from the usb drive to your mac. Depending on the size and speed of your usb drive, it may take a minute or two. The 4 disk formatting software for mac above can help you easily format hard drive, usb flash drive, memory card, and other storage media under mac os. Once the software has been downloaded and installed on your mac, simply insert the drive into an available usb port. But dont worry, this page talks about the reasons for this issue, and how to fix usb flash drive not mounting on mac without data loss even if external hard drive is not showing up on mac.
To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. Your mac computer comes with a handy utility appropriately called disk utility, which can be used to. All you have to do is to follow on the steps that we have included below. Plug the drive into a usb socket if you have a recent macbook or macbook pro. Click on the usb drive in the sidebar in disk utility. Most external hard drives and usb drives are compatible for use on mac computers as long as you format the devices for use with mac os x.
May 29, 2018 to format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example. Feb 21, 2020 to format the usb drive to fat32, follow the next steps. We also have a command line disk utility interface in mac. Format external hard drive or usb drive for mac easeus. Go to applications utilities double click and open disk utility. On older mac, you will see an additional scheme option, choose guid partition map. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps.
Ntfs is built for windows operating system therefore it is not supported by mac. 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. Jan 26, 2020 here, we have two options, the first one is the name that you can set for your usb drive. Sometimes we find it necessary to erase or format usb on mac. A popup menu will appear, and you can customize many options here. How to format usb flash drive on a mac 2018 youtube. Select your usb flash drive on the sidebar, choose erase. By default, they format disks with the mac only os x extended file system. In most cases, your mac will show the supported format by default and you dont need to change it. For example, if you install macos or microsoft windows on a usb drive, your mac can recognize that drive as a startup disk.
How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x admfactory. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmaclinux. Choose one of the following mac os extended file system formats for compatibility with mac computers using macos 10. As always, having a backup option will save you when plan a fails for some reason. How to format a usb external disk for mac osx using disk. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer.
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