Formatting a flash drive for windows and mac

This article will teach you how to format the usb flash drive so both macs and pcs can read them. Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for windows compatibility. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. How to format a usb flash drive on mac wondershare. Before continuing, make sure that you have a backup of any files that you want to keep. Transferring a 4gb or larger file to a usb flash drive or memory card. It shouldnt matter whether you format it on your mac or on a windows machine. A dropdown menu will appear with the following options. When i plug the same usb to a windows, the os tells me that the drive must be formatted. Rightclick your flash drive and then select format. Formatting an external disk or a flash drive for mac. Dec 17, 2018 if your flash drives file system is msdos or exfat you can use it as it is without further formatting. In the sheet that appears click the partition button and your flash drive will be formatted as a mac os x extended journaled drive.

Formatting the device as ntfs will make it unwriteable on a mac computer. This option is near the middle of the dropdown menu. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility posted by ant on march 11th, 2012 43 comments if you have an external hard drive or usb flash drive that youd like to use on both macs and windows pcs, choosing the right file system to format the drive can be confusing. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility. That makes using the drive a bit troublesome on mac machines. In this article, we will introduce 5 disk formatting tools for windows and mac to help you securely format hard driveusb flash drive or memory card on a pc or a mac. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows.

The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. Disk utility application in macos is the best option to format a flash drive on macos. The main reason for formatting a usb drive as fat32 on a mac is that you want to be able to use the drive on a windows pc, as well as a mac perhaps to transfer files between the two machines. Not every flash drive out there can be used with a mac computer right out of the box.

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. Mar 15, 2018 if you know youre going to use a drive on both mac and windows, you should use the exfat file system, which is compatible with both. Tesla dashcam flash drive formatting and setup on a mac. How to format flash drive on win7 when it was formatted on a mac. For example, in the screenshot below, the mac formatted drive is disk 2. Formatting your flash drive will typically remove any files or folders on the drive, so make sure you back up your files before. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos. Formatting usb flash drives for mac when you buy a usb flash drive, also called a jump drive, thumb drive, usb stick or one of many other names, it usually comes formatted for windows computers. Aug 16, 2019 in this guide, we show you virtually every method to format a usb flash drive and quickly erase its contents or fix data corruption and other issues using windows 10s builtin tools.

It will automatically locate the connected drive, and you can load it. The latest trend with computers is not including a cddvd drive. For example, in the screenshot below, the macformatted drive is disk 2. Usb flash drive format tool free download and software. Format a flash drive on mac and make it compatible with windows computers. Mine displays as 2 gb smi usb disk media, then underneath it you will see usb disk. Nov, 2018 get your flash drive formatted and set up for dashcam on v9 of tesla incar software. 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. You should go ahead and format your storage drive with exfat.

On my mac i can see the usb mounted and empty in the finder. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. How to format a flash drive on my mac boo apple community. Formatting flash drive on mac so it can be used also on. How to clear a flash drive on pc or mac with pictures. Heres how to correctly format the drive to work on both. Click the partition tab, if you want to use more than one partition in the drive. Formatting cruzer glide for windows and mac sandisk forums. To put it simply, if you want to share external hard drive between mac and pc, you need to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. Its below the file system heading near the top of the page. Learn how to format your usb flash drive or usb external drive so you can use it on both mac os x and windows computers. Windows cant normally read macformatted drives, and will offer to erase them instead.

Rightclick on the flash drive or memory card, then select format. To share a usb drive between a mac and a windows pc, there are two disk formats to choose from. Hi, a relative gave me their sandisk cruzer glide 16gb usb drive. Proceed based on whether youre erasing your startup disk or some other disk. 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. Only use this option if your flash drive has been previously formatted and you are sure that your flash drive is not damaged. Deleting files on a cruzer usb flash drive using a mac. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with.

The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. Jul 22, 2019 have you ever ran into a problem where youre trying to use a flash drive on both windows and mac. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows 7. By the way, we will talk about production usb and nonproduction usb.

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 format drive with compatible file system for mac and. Click the file menu and select load file system from device. In the essay, we will talk about how to format usb flash drive on windows and on mac os and how to recover usb data. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os. Jun 14, 2019 unlike windows in file explorer, mac os x and macos do not include a format drive option in the finder. If you want to use this external disk or a flash drive formatted for mac on windows you will need to use hfs explorer or hfs for windows by paragon software. 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. Fat32 is popular but the 4gb filesize limit makes it inconvenient, for instance, when you want to make a bootable macos sierra usb drive which the system file takes about 8gb of. The fat32 format can be used read or write with both mac and windows pc and because of this, it makes the device more versatile. This also allows you to restore time machine backups on windows. This wikihow teaches you how to change your flash drives default file format. Some flash drives have to be formatted first before you can store files on them.

If your flash drives file system is msdos or exfat you can use it as it is without further formatting. Erasing a disk or volume permanently deletes all of its files. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. But if it is ntfs, format your flash drive to make it completely compatible with macos. If you want to use the drive between a windows and mac machine, you can format it to fat32. In this guide, we show you virtually every method to format a usb flash drive and quickly erase its contents or fix data corruption and other issues using windows 10s builtin tools. The process for formatting a drive is different depending on the system youre using. Now, as you can see, formatting your flash drive on your mac is a very easy thing to do. Thankfully, exfat a strict upgrade over fat32, is a file system optimized for usb flash drives. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. Flash drives if you want to work with files larger than 4gb. 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 external hard drive or usb flash drive that youd like to use on both macs and windows pcs, choosing the right file system to format the drive can be confusing.

I put it in my win 7 pro machine to format it for win7. Files larger than 4gb can not be stored on a fat32 volume. Unlike windows in file explorer, mac os x and macos do not include a format drive option in the finder. How to format flash drive on win7 when it was formatted on. Basically, formatting is the process of preparing the storage devices such as hard disk drive, solidstate drive, usb flash drive, or any other for initial use. If you plan to use the drive only for your mac, then you can easily reformat it in mac os extended format using disk utility. If you want to format a hard drive or usb flash drive on your computer, disk formatting tool is the best choice. Formatting was completed successfulno errorswarnings. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in.

Dont worry, the following part will show you the solution for windows and mac os users. Apr 30, 2016 how to format usb drives on windows 10 by ayo isaiah apr 30, 2016 apr 28, 2016 windows if you have a malfunctioning or corrupted usb drive, formatting it may be the best way to get it back to its original working state. If you have a malfunctioning or corrupted usb drive, formatting it may be the best way to get it back to its original working state. I found instructions on how to format the drive on mac, and it appears that it worked ok, mac says that it has approx 16gb space and is formatted with exfat. If you have important data on your usb flash drive, you should backup your drive before formatting it.

How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. Before you get deep, it is important that you understand what is drive formatting. Get your flash drive formatted and set up for dashcam on v9 of tesla incar software. When you click on usb disk you will see a few tabs. Next, open a command prompt window as administrator. If youre moving it between mac and windows, you want to format your flash drive with the fat32 filesystem. Now, when you are formatting a usb drive on mac, you have an important decision to make. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. Then, click on the delete tab and select the mac os plus with registrations or mac os plus uppercase lowercase with registration and click on the delete button.

How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Transferring a 4gb or larger file to a usb flash drive or. Go to the applications folder on your mac s hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility. If you plan to use the drive only for your mac, then you can easily reformat it. Have you ever ran into a problem where youre trying to use a flash drive on both windows and mac. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or. Formatting the flash drive as exfat or ntfs will resolve this issue. How to format a usb flash drive on a mac techwalla. How to format a usb drive for mac and pc compatibility youtube.

If you know youre going to use a drive on both mac and windows, you. But if you didnt foresee that, you may have formatted your drive with apples hfs plus, which windows cant read by default. My usb is a 16gb corsair, so 200mb is no where near the truth. Volume format most manufacturers use the fat 32 or msdos fat volume format. How to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. In the file system list box, choose exfat, type in a volume label.

How to format usb flash drive on windows or mac os. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. Like i said, if you want to use the device for both. 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. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmaclinux. How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier. You may also be preparing the drive for use as, say, a storage device for a media player or to record tv programmes on a tv with a usb port. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. I would like to use it on both mac and windows machines. The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Even if your drive is healthy, you may still want to format it to get rid of the contents there.

Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Be careful using these instructions to ensure you are formatting the correct disk. It recognizes the drive, installs the drivers, yet never shows up as an active. 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. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. When you purchase something after clicking links in our. There are several ways to format drive in windows pc, you can do that in this pc or in disk management. How to format a flash drive on macos erase usb macmetric.

Feb 03, 2020 use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows. Whether the usb should be readable by windows machines and mac machines or. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. In addition, it is important to take note when formatting a flash drive as ntfs. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Flash drive formatting and setup on a mac pure tesla. Jan 30, 2017 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 sdcard in fat, fat32, exfat. To do it on the mac, plug in the flash drive, and open disk utility in your applicationsutilities folder. Therefore, its perfect for a usb flash drive or external disk, especially when you need to save files more than 4gb in size. Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Lets see how to format usb drive on a windows pc first. Mar 03, 2020 as you can see, exfat is the only file system that works with all versions of windows and macos and does not have any max filesize or partitionsize limits.

Go to the applications folder on your macs hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility. All you need to have is the knowledge on how you can do. First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window. Formatting a memory card, flash drive or device using a pc. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Nov 11, 2009 formatting was completed successfulno errorswarnings. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows 7 by jack scicluna photography, llc guest writer. How to format a usb flash drive as exfat on windows pc. Hi there, i have a usb flash drive which was formatted for a mac. Most of the external hard disks and flash drives are formatted for microsoft windows operating systems. Note that using a drive frequently between windows and mac could increase the chances of file corruption, so make sure you have backups of.

Click here for instructions to format with mac solution 2 format in ntfs warning. Whether the usb should be readable by windows machines and mac machines or just by mac and not readable in windows. How to format a hard drive for mac internal, external or flash. To use hfsexplorer, connect your mac formatted drive to your windows pc and launch hfsexplorer. I understand that you are unable to format the usb flash drive and not getting recognized on windows 7 computer. In this article, we will introduce 5 disk formatting tools for windows and mac to help you securely format hard drive usb flash drive or memory card on a pc or a mac. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need.