How to format FAT32 drive on Mac Step 1. Now here is how to format your FAT32 external drive on Mac. Go finder window on you Mac then click on Applications the image right. From there, you need to open disk utility. Therefore, scroll down until you see a folder Utilities Double click on it. UNetBootin is a free USB Bootable Software that has a collection of predefined distributions and system utilities. It is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux but with a separate file for each OS. The tool is specifically designed to create bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions.
Nowadays, when you buy a USB drive, you can use it right out of the box with your Mac. However, unless it’s been designed for use with a Mac, it won’t be formatted using macOS’ preferred file system (either Mac OS Extended or APFS, depending on which version of macOS you’re running).
Jun 09, 2020 In order to create a bootable USB drive for Mac, you need download Mac OS installer. Open App Store on your Mac and search for the latest macOS version. Remember, App Store will only have the latest version which is macOS Mojave at this point when we write this article. Usb format free download - USB Audio ASIO driver, IOXperts USB WebCam Driver, USB Overdrive (Classic), and many more programs.
That’s because most of the computers in the world run Windows, and Windows uses a different file system, usually one known as Fat32. Drives formatted as Fat32 can be read from and written to by macOS, but it’s not optimal and you’re more likely to run into problems than if you use macOS’ native format. Startup apps for mac. So, if you’ve bought a USB drive that’s formatted as Fat32, or any other format other than Mac OS Extended (also known as HFS+) or APFS, here’s how to format a USB drive on Mac. It’s exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a Mac.
In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose View Show All Devices. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with Windows computers. Click the Erase button. Click the Scheme pop-up menu, then choose Master Boot Record. Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose one of the following.
How to format a USB drive on a Mac![]()
1. Not allowing apps to stay in dock on macbook. Plug the drive into a USB socket (if you have a recent MacBook or MacBook Pro that only has USB-C connectors, you’ll need a USB-C to USB-A adaptor).
2. Open a new Finder window and click on the drive. Make sure it has no files on it that you need. The process of reformatting it will wipe all the data from it.
3. Once you’ve copied any files you need from the USB drive to your Mac, go to Applications>Utilities and double-click on Disk Utility.
4. Click on the USB drive in the sidebar and then choose Erase from the toolbar at the top of the window.
5. In the window that drops down type a name for the formatted drive in the box next to Name.
6. Choose a format from the dropdown menu.
7. If you have previously stored sensitive data on the drive, click the Security tab.
8. Choose a security level using the slider. The further to the right you move the slider, the more ‘passes’ the erase tool will make and the more securely files will be deleted. However, it also increases the time it takes to format the drive quite considerably.
9. Click Ok then click Erase.
Tip: You don’t need to erase a whole drive to delete files securely. If you have confidential files or sensitive data you need to remove from your Mac completely, you should use CleanMyMac’s File Shredder. It’s specifically designed to securely delete sensitive data and will render it unrecoverable. You can download CleanMyMac X for free here.
Which format to choose?
If your Mac is running macOS High Sierra or later, you have two options for file formats: APFS and Mac OS Extended. Which should you choose? The key point is that disks formatted as APFS won’t be recognized by Macs running versions of macOS older than High Sierra. So if you think you might need to plug the USB drive into a Mac running an older version of macOS, format it as Mac OS Extended.
APFS is optimized for SSD (solid state drive) such as flash drives, so if you reformat a flash drive on a Mac, you should definitely choose APFS (unless you plan to use it with a pre-High Sierra Mac, of course). Even on hard drives, however, APFS is faster and more reliable than Mac OS Extended.
Finally, if you plan to use the USB drive as a destination for Time Machine backups, choose Mac OS Extended. Time Machine can’t currently back up to an APFS disk and if you select one for use with Time Machine, it will offer to reformat it as Mac OS Extended. You can, however, backup an APFS formatted disk to a Mac OS Extended Time Machine drive.
How to format a USB drive to FAT32 on a Mac
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. 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.
The fact that Fat32 can be read from and written to on both Mac and Windows makes it very versatile. However, there is a significant limitation — individual files have a maximum size of 4GB. So, if you’re using the USB drive to store large video files, you may run into trouble. There is a solution, however, exFAT. Unlike FAT32, exFAT doesn’t have a maximum file limit. Better still, it can be read from and written to on any Mac running Mac OS X Snow Leopard or later and on Windows.
To format a USB drive in FAT32 or exFAT:
1. Plug the USB drive into your Mac.
2. Go to Applications>Utilities and launch Disk Utility.
3. Click on the USB drive in the sidebar in Disk Utility.
Best gmail apps mac os. 4. Click Erase in the Disk Utility toolbar.
5. Type in a name for the formatted disk.
6. Click on the Format menu and choose either MS-DOS (FAT32) or ExFAT.
7. Click Erase.
Your USB drive will now be erased and re-formatted as either FAT32 or ExFAT, depending on the format you chose in step 6.
How to manage your drives easily
If you look for a quick and easy way to manage your drives, try using CleanMyDrive 2. With its help, you can drag-and-drop files directly to any drive, clean hidden junk from external drives, and check disk stats. It works for all drives, including USB drives, SSD, SD cards, external hard drives. All the drives will be at hand in the menu bar, so you can get to see types of drives you have and manage them easily. Mac time lapse apps. CleanMyDrive is absolutely free to use, so download it on the Mac App Store and enjoy!
It’s very easy to format a USB drive on a Mac using Disk Utility. There are a couple of things you should keep in mind, however. The first is that when you format and disk, you will erase all the data currently on it. So if you need that data, make sure you copy it onto another disk before you start. Secondly, there are several formats to choose from, each with advantages and disadvantage. Use the guide above to help you decide which is right for you.
These might also interest you:Get a data lifeguard for Mac
Disk Drill brings deleted files back from the dead.
Ask any Apple fan what the worldwide market share of Windows vs. macOS is and you’ll probably get a response along the lines of “about 50/50.” In Apple-dominated spaces like design, you might get some people estimating that the number associated with Apple is even higher.
In reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth. With a worldwide market share of more than 85%, Windows beats macOS’s 10% by a significant amount. As frustrating as it might be, this is the main reason for why it shouldn’t be surprising that most device manufacturers still make their products with Windows in mind and we have to look up how to format an external hard drive on Mac.
Get Setapp to keep your data safe on Mac
When formatting a drive, it’s important to take precautionary measures. Setapp has all the tools to back up data and recover lost files.
Besides hard drives, two other notable examples of this hurdle are SD cards and USB sticks. Out of the box these devices may function unreliably or even fail to work on Macs at all. The reason? Mac and Windows each use different file systems.
After unboxing a new storage-based item, it’s a wise move to look into how to format a hard drive for Mac (or SD card, flash drive, etc.) to reduce the likelihood of unexpected corruption, data loss, or other performance issues. Read below to see what to do.
How To Format Micro SD Cards And USB Drives
Thanks to Disk Utility, the issue of how to format USB on Mac is fairly straightforward. Likewise, you can use this tool to format Micro SD cards, hard drives, and so on, getting your new device into the right condition:
First of all, let’s cover the obvious point above: when you format USB drive on Mac, or any similar device for that matter, you need to erase everything that’s on it in order to do so. That’s not a problem if the device is new, but means you’ll need to take some precautionary measures if it’s not.
Second, the desired format will depend on the type of device you’re using. If you’re looking at how to format SD card on Mac, for example, you’ll probably want to go with ExFAT, as it’s the most compatible format. If you know you’ll only ever be using it on a Mac, you could use macOS and OS X.
If you’re trying to format flash drive on Mac or figure out how to format an external hard drive, you’ll likely want to go with APFS or macOS Extended. However, APFS doesn’t work with Macs using anything older than High Sierra, so you’ll want to stick with macOS Extended if you have (or will be using the device with) an older Mac.
When you format hard drive for Mac to be used in conjunction with Time Machine, you’ll also want to go with macOS Extended, as Time Machine can’t use APFS directly and will offer to reformat it if you try to do so.
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Wondering how to format hard drive for Mac and Windows at the same time? FAT32 is probably the best option in this case.
Always back up before formatting
Frequent backups are a must. An app like Get Backup Pro for Mac can help you quickly save your data before you format micro SD card or any other device, since it allows you to synchronize across different computers using mounted drives, in addition to simple copy, incremental, and bootable backups.
When you load up Get Backup Pro, you’ll be prompted to create a new project. Just give it a name, choose a destination for the backup and, if desired, set when backups should be triggered automatically.
While it’s certainly possible to back up your files manually, Get Backup Pro can reduce the size of your archives by up to 60% and allows you to recover your files on any machine (even if it doesn’t have the app installed). Altogether, it’s a more elegant solution than putting aside time to drag and drop all the files you want to preserve.
Admittedly, it’s quite ironic that you need to back up data before you do anything, like format external hard drive for Mac, when it’s probably the very device you usually use for backing up. For that reason, you’ll want to own at least a couple of drives or disks to stay on the safe side.
Recover lost data from formatting with no sweat
However careful you’re to back up your files, data loss is always a possibility. In fact, you can do everything right and still encounter disk errors or corrupted data. Perhaps your lost data is simply down to forgetting to back up immediately before you went to format flash drive on Mac!
Whatever the reason, an app like Disk Drill can be invaluable for recovering lost data. Just open it up and you’ll be presented with a range of options including:
You’ll also, and here’s where the app is worth its weight in gold, see a list of all available drives and a Recover option next to them.
Clicking Recover will trigger a deep scan that tracks down deleted files and even reconstructs data that you might otherwise assume to be permanently lost. If you’re looking for a specific item, you can filter everything by name, size, filetype, and date deleted.
In the case of data recovery due to a formatting mishap, Disk Drill is invaluable because it offers a double dose of assistance in that you can use it to:
Avoiding the scourge of data loss forever
There are few things worse than losing your data, whether that happens because your drive or SD card has become corrupted or because you forgot to back up before you decided to format hard drive for Mac. Fortunately, as we’ve seen above, there are ways to get your hands on data that initially seems to be unrecoverable!
Of course, it’s even better if you never get to that spot in the first place and regular backups is the best way to do that. Macs offer a built-in option to do this using Time Machine or iCloud, but the former isn’t compatible with every type of storage device and the latter has a monthly cost associated with it that you might prefer to avoid. That’s why so many people end up looking at how to format external hard drive on Mac, or use other devices like USB sticks.
Using backup software in conjunction with an app that’s capable of recovering lost data from USB flash drives, SD cards, and so on, covers most of your bases when it comes to avoiding catastrophic data loss.
You might also want to add a cloud solution like Google Drive or Dropbox (both of which have free plans) into the mix as an extra layer of protection in case of fire, flood, theft, or something as simple as an unexpected error when you format flash drive on Mac. There’s no such thing as being too prepared.
Best of all, both Get Backup Pro and Disk Drill are available to you on a free trial via Setapp, the best Mac app platform with over 150 tools and utilities to solve any problem. Now that you know you’re safe, it’s time to refocus on something you might actually care about.
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