Youll see the drives file system displayed to the right of format under the general heading. It is advised not to change the builtin apfs format into mac os extended under any situation. If the drive is called no name, directly above that, you should see the drive capacity of xxxx. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x admfactory.
Go to the applications folder on your macs hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility. Is it possible to format the inaccessible usb flash drive on the mac to fix the issue. But, if you plan on using an external drive with both macs and pcs, you should format the disk with the exfat file system instead. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. The usb drive is corrupted cannot be detected by mac.
Unlike windows in file explorer, mac os x and macos do not include a format drive option in the finder. Mine displays as 2 gb smi usb disk media, then underneath it you will see usb disk. For school or work projects, this portability means you can work from home, work or. Oct 08, 2019 why need to format a usb flash drive on mac 0.
Usb flash drive format tool free download and software. Follow these instructions to partition flash drive on mac. Jan 17, 2020 when you plug your flash drive into the computer, you accidentally dragged it to somewhere else. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos. To find out the current format of the drive, you can look into the system information. Macs and pcs use different file systems, which can make it tricky to put data from your mac on a flash or hard drive and give it to a windows. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. Feb 21, 2020 to format the usb drive to fat32, follow the next steps. Your mac computer comes with a handy utility appropriately called disk utility, which can be used to. Typec flash drive iphone usb flash drive 128 gb high speed memory stick 3 in 1 thumb drive jump drive for android, samsung, iphone, macbook, pc and more devices gold 4. Jan 15, 2020 learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive.
We all make mistakes, and you wouldnt be the first person in the world to accidentally format a usb flash drive. Flash drive not showing up on finder or disk utilitymac. Format usb or flash drive software free downloads and. When you plug your flash drive into the computer, you accidentally dragged it to somewhere else. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. For school or work projects, this portability means you can work from home, work or lab computers while. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. How to format pen drive on mac just like windows, mac also allows a seamless solution to do pen drive format. Jul 05, 2017 youll see the drives file system displayed to the right of format under the general heading. Just like there is an option to format the flash drives on the windows platform, macos is also equipped with a similar option. Usb drives can be formatted on your mac using the disk utility application. If the drive is called no name, directly above that, you should see.
How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. How to delete files from flash drive on mac, formatting flash drive on 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. You have to execute this procedure via disk utility. How to format a usb flash drive on a mac techwalla. Rename the usb flash drive, choose the format as msdos fat for format, master. Go ahead and plug in your flash drive in the usb port on your mac. Choose mac os extended journaled from the format popup menu and click the apply button. Jul 22, 2019 rightclick your flash drive and then select format.
Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows 7. How to format inaccessible or unmounted usb flash drive on mac. Do these steps and you will then be able to format your flash drive on your mac. 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. Select the capacity of the drive respective to the one containing the device you wish to format then click the erase tab. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. On the left side of the window are the drives connected to the computer. How to format a flash drive on macos erase usb macmetric. 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.
For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows central. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. 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. The file system column on the storage sidebar displays the current file format. Go to applications utilities double click and open disk utility. How to format usb flash drive on windows or mac os. To do this, you can take the assistance of disk utility, which is a dedicated system component in mac. See this stepbystep tutorial for how to format your usb drive for mac machine macos and pc windows 10.
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. To format a usb flash drive using powershell commands, use these steps. When you click on usb disk you will see a few tabs. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. Select your usb flash drive on the sidebar, choose erase. Mar 16, 2020 choose between the format apfs or mac os extended format carefully. If you want to use the drive between a windows and mac machine, you can format it to fat32. Select your external hard drive or usb flash drive from the list on the left. Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Erasing will erase the drive and set it up using the format you selected. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmaclinux.
Its exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a mac. So, if you want to format a flash drive connected to a usb, firewire, or thunderbolt usb type c or not on a mac you need do the following procedure. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. There are several applications available online for formatting usb drives such as 321soft usb flash recovery for mac,data recovery for mac, and disk drill. Dec 17, 2018 if your flash drives file system is msdos or exfat you can use it as it is without further formatting. I suppose if they used format then some people would think it meant to reformat the drive and somehow maintain the data.
Usb drive format tool is a tiny freeware utility designed for formatting any usb storage devices usb flash drive, usb stick, usb pen drive, usb portable drive, and. If you have an old flash drive or one that was formatted to work with windows or another operating system, you can still format your flash drive to work on a mac. There are many ways to make a usb flash drive inaccessible or dismantled, the most common are. Volume format most manufacturers use the fat 32 or msdos fat volume format. Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for windows compatibility. How to reformat a jump drive on a mac your business. 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. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system. But if it is ntfs, format your flash drive to make it completely compatible with macos.
Jan 15, 2019 its exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a mac. A drive with two partitions, for example can have one partitioned in exfat and another in a mac os extended format, so you can use the same drive on a mac and a windows computer. A jump drive, or usb flash drive, offers convenient portability to your data. Search for powershell, rightclick the top result, and select the run as. By the way, we will talk about production usb and nonproduction usb. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps.
Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. How to format and use a usb flash drive on your mac. Formatting usb flash drive means emptying all files in the drive and returning to the initial state. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. 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. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. In the sheet that appears click the partition button and your flash drive will be formatted as a mac os x. After that, go ahead and launch the finder and click on your flash drive detected by your mac. You plug out the usb drive that was connected to the mac last time incorrectly, which would cause the identification problem of the drive. Rightclick your flash drive and then select format.
If your flash drives file system is msdos or exfat you can use it as it is without further formatting. Search for powershell, rightclick the top result, and select the run as administrator. In the file system list box, choose exfat, type in a volume label if you want, and then click start. Plug the drive into a usb socket if you have a recent macbook or macbook pro that only has usbc connectors, youll need a usbc to usba adaptor. To format the usb drive to fat32, follow the next steps. Works with my pc and my macthis was a great price for a great flash drive which i was able to download and mac os to allow me to image my macbook pro when i swapped the hard drive for a ssd drive and worked flawless.
By the way, if you formatted a usb flash drive without data backup and you want to recover the. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself. Many of these drives offer a keyring attachment hole, so you will never be without your data. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in. How to format flash drive on macbook pro keepthetech. Whether you want to format a flash drive on your mac or convert a usb hard drive to use as a media player, disk utility makes it easy. Once the disk utility is opened, select your flash drive from the sidebar and click the erase button.