Format Usb Mac

Dec 29, 2020 Format FAT32 on Mac Disk Utility To format USB to FAT32 with Disk Utility will erase all data on the flash drive, so before you doing so, please do remember to check whether you have saved useful data to another secure device in advance. To format the USB drive to FAT32, follow the next steps: Step 1. To begin to format USB for Mac and PC on a Windows 10 computer, insert the USB drive into an open port and then launch the Windows Disk Management Utility. To find it, type 'disk management' or 'format disk' in Windows Search and select 'Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions.' Step 2: Select the Drive to Format. Nov 30, 2020 Format USB Drive in Mac If you want to use the USB drive on your Mac computer only, formatting it to be entirely Mac compatible file system is highly recommended, such as HFS+ file system. If you want to use the drive between a Windows and Mac machine, you can format it to FAT32. Go to the Applications folder on your Mac's hard drive, then go to the Utilities folder, and launch Disk Utility. Select the drive you want to format. Warning: the following steps will delete any info you currently have on the drive. Click the Erase button. Click the Format menu, then choose either MS-DOS (FAT) or ExFAT.

1. Format Usb Macbook
2. Format Usb Mac Windows
3. Format Usb Mac To Fat32
4. Format Usb Mac Exfat
5. Format Usb Mac Download

Formatting a USB drive is one of those things that most of us do so rarely, we forget how to do it every time. Fortunately, macOS has simple built-in tools that make it super easy. In this article, we'll show you how to format a USB drive for use with Windows, Time Machine compatibility, or simply to erase it.

Using Disk Utility To Format A USB Drive

The simplest way to format a USB on macOS is through the Disk Utility. First, plug your USB drive into your Mac. Depending on which Mac you're using, you may need to use a flash drive that has a USB C socket or an adapter from USB A to USB C.

Once your USB drive is plugged into your Mac, open Finder. You should see the drive in the sidebar.

Make sure that there are no files on the drive that you wish to keep because the formatting process will erase everything on the drive.

Next, press command + spacebar to pull up Spotlight, type 'Disk Utility', and hit return. This will open the Disk Utility app.

In the sidebar of Disk Utility, click the USB drive you want to format and then click Erase in the toolbar at the top of the window.

A dropdown menu should appear asking you to rename your drive. You can name it anything you like, or simply leave the name the same

Next, choose the format that you're going to reformat the drive to. You'll see the drive's current format already selected, like so:

If you're not sure which format to choose, here are some pointers:

Format Usb Macbook

• APFS (Apple File System): This is a relatively new drive format from Apple that is now macOS's default. It's secure, simple, and reliable. However, it's not readable by a non-Apple machine (meaning you can't plug the drive into a Windows or Linux computer) and Macs running software older than High Sierra won't be able to read the drive. If none of these things affects you, choose this format.
• Mac OS Extended (Journaled): This was the default Apple drive format before APFS. It's more or less the same as APFS, just a bit older. You can't move files to a drive using this format on Windows computers either, but you can view the files on it on a Windows computer, which is a small point for compatibility.
• Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled): This is the same as Mac OS Extended (Journaled), with the exception that you can give your drive a case-sensitive name ('Flash Drive') instead of an all-uppercase name ('FLASH DRIVE').
• MS-DOT (FAT): This file format comes with a big benefit and a big drawback. It's compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux, making it a great option if you need to move files between the three operating systems. However, MS-DOT (FAT) only allows files that are 4GB or less. And, since it's a little older, it has no security features.
• ExFAT: The same as MS-DOT (FAT) except that it supports files over 4GB in size.
• NTFS: This is the Windows equivalent to APFS; it's Windows's default drive format. A Mac computer can read files on an NTFS drive, but it can not write files to that drive. This is a good option if you're formatting the drive for a Windows computer.

Finally, there's Security Options…:

This brings up a slider where you can choose how deleted the files you erase from your drive really are. Can t read pdf on mac. On the least secure option, a sophisticated program would be able to recover the deleted files, and on the most secure option, it would be more or less impossible for anybody to recover the files. If you're not in a rush, the most secure option is obviously best, though you should be safe on the least secure setting, unless you have particularly sensitive data on the drive.

All that's left to do is press erase! Once you do this, Disk Utility will erase all of the data on your drive and format it to your format of choice. How long this takes will depend on how many files you have on the drive, how much storage the drive holds, and which security settings you chose.

And that's it!

FAQs

What happens when you format a USB drive?

When you format a USB drive on macOS, the computer wipes all of the data off of the drive, making it a blank slate of computer memory. It then configures this memory to whatever format you choose.

Will formatting a USB drive delete my files?

Yes, formatting a USB drive will delete all of your files on that drive (though not the files on the rest of your computer) so make sure you have them backed up somewhere if they are valuable to you. And if you don't want those files to be saved, choosing the highest security settings when formatting the drive will ensure the erased files are unrecoverable after formatting.

Why would you format a USB drive on macOS?

There are a few reasons to format a USB drive on macOS. First, to prepare the drive for Time Machine; macOS should handle this for you. Second, to make the drive compatible with Windows or Linux devices, as all three operating systems use slightly different USB formats. And third, to erase all of the data on a USB drive.

Format Usb Mac Windows

How do I format a USB drive for Time Machine?

Most USB drives should automatically bring up a prompt for Time Machine the first time you plug them in, assuming they are blank. Otherwise, you can format a USB drive for Time Machine by opening Disk Utility, selecting the drive you want to format, clicking Erase, and choosing the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format.

Once formatted, open System Preferences, click Time Machine, click Select Disk…, and choose your USB drive from the available options.

In our guide today we will talk about how to format Macs if you want to reinstall Apple's operating system from scratch and maybe try to solve a problem that does not allow you to perform an operation.

Content index

Preliminary operations

Format Usb Mac To Fat32

Before discovering the precise instructions for formatting a Mac, you need to do a couple of preliminary steps. In particular, you need to backup your data to create a backup of the most important files and have a USB stick with at least 8 GB if you want to install macOS from a pendrive.

In this case we list below some guides to be taken into consideration for backing up your data and for choosing the most suitable memory stick if you did not.

How to format a Mac using Recovery

The first solution that we propose to restore your computer as new via formatting is to use the Recovery mode called Recovery. This includes a number of tools that allow you to do many things, including restoring backups using Time Machine.

That said, let's see the steps to follow:

• Turn off your Mac by choosing Turn Off from the menu that appears after pressing the Apple logo on the top left.
• After that, turn the Mac back on while holding down the Cmd + R keys until the Apple logo appears and a loading bar in the center.
• Now, click on the word Use English as the main language and go to the next window by pressing the arrow at the bottom.
• At this point, click on Disk Utility and click Continue to access the archive disk management tool.
• In the window that appears, click on the icon relative to the hard disk or that of the SSD present in the computer through the left sidebar and click on Format.
• In the next step, fill in the Name field, set Mac OS Extended (Journaled) in the drop down menu of Format and Partition Map (GUID) in the Schema drop down menu.
• Now, all you have to do is click on the Format button to start formatting the Mac drive. Please note that the steps may be slightly different from version to version but the procedure is quite intuitive.
• Once the formatting has been successfully completed, close the Disk Utility tool , choose the MacOS Reinstall option from the MacOS Utility window and click Continue to proceed with the download and installation of the latest version of Apple's operating system on the PC.

How to format a Mac using a USB stick

In case you would prefer to use an alternative solution to the Recovery tool, then you can rely on a simple pendrive and the DiskMaker X program. It is a completely free application that allows you to create a bootable USB stick in order to install macOS in just a few simple steps.

Format Usb Mac Exfat

Let's see how to make the most of the program:

Format Usb Mac Download

• The first operation to do is to download the latest version of macOS (eg macOS Mojave ) from the Mac App Store to copy it later on the pendrive. To do this, simply type macOS in the Search field of the store and proceed with the download or go to the Purchased tab and choose Install that you find in correspondence with the previously downloaded operating system.
• At this point, log onto the official website of DiskMaker X using a simple browser (ie. Chrome, Firefox, or Safari ) and click Download DiskMaker X.
• After installing the free software, connect the USB stick to one of your Mac's USB ports and start the app.
• Now, from the window that appears, select the version of macOS downloaded from the Apple store just before to copy it to the pendrive.
• Then, click on the Use this copy button and confirm the formatting of the USB stick by pressing on An 8 GB USB Thumb Drive.
• In the next step, select the name of the pendrive on which you want to copy macOS, press the Erase keys then create the disk and Continue and type in the password of the Apple account to start copying the files.
• After completing the previous operation, restart the computer by holding down the Alt key on the keyboard.
• From the menu that appears, select the icon of the USB stick containing the operating system (which should be called Install macOS).
• From here, start the Disk Utility tool, select the Mac disk icon on which to install the OS via the left sidebar and press Format.
• After setting the Name, Format and Scheme (following the instructions given earlier), click on Format to start formatting.
• Once the operation is complete, close the tool and press the Install MacOS icon.

How to install macOS

Since we have already written and published a guide on the installation of the Apple operating system, we advise you to read it to properly perform this procedure. Find it below.