How to open an external drive thats not showing on mac. How to format usb flash drive on a mac 2018 youtube. Are you formatting the disk that came built into your mac. You can, however, format a windows hard drive from a mac if you connect the windows hard drive to the mac and format it through disk utility, or the command line as described above.
Create a bootable install usb drive of mac os x 10. Instead, well just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. A mac cannot be started from an exfat formatted disk. Heres how to access the contents on a usb drive that wont open on your mac. Super eraser for mac is a very powerful yet easytouse mac data erasing software application. Mac os extended journaled this is the default file system format for mac os x drives. However it is an easy way to make the most out of your data storage experience. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Hey guys thanks for watching, i hope you enjoyed, and if you did hit like like button. If you need to erase your disk before installing high sierra or later for the first time on that disk, choose mac os extended journaled. Please back up all your data before you format the usb drive. Copy a data disk uing one optical drive using disk utility on os x how to. Heres how to format a drive using a mac including how to format a drive for windows and mac so the contents can be read on both platforms, and what format to use. Because the process of reformatting a disk drive will very likely erase all content and make recovery impossible.
Once the formatting process is finished, you should be able to transfer files to the newly formatted flash drive. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. For school or work projects, this portability means you can work from home, work or lab computers while still having access to your documents. Then i gave up on the ubuntu dream, almost but i could not reuse my flash drive normally as a storage device after this process. Go to the applications folder on your macs hard drive, then go. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. In a few simple steps you are ready to go and can save your backup files to the external drive, keeping your information safe and giving you peace of mind. The hp usb format tool allows you to format the usb flash drive in the mac os x. It offers secure and easy solution to reformat usb flash drive on mac. I thought this would be as simple as removing the drive from the enclosure shucking it and then putting it into the mac pros drive sled. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows 7 by jack scicluna photography, llc guest writer. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac.
How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility. 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. It is time to learn how to format your external hard drive or other external drives to a common file system for mac and windows. To share a usb drive between a mac and a windows pc, there are two disk formats to choose from. Note that using a drive frequently between windows and mac could increase the. Launch disk utility, located in applications utilities. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. Feb 21, 2020 how to format a usb flash drive with mac to fat32. Best usb format tools pen drive stick formatters for.
Its exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a mac. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for windows compatibility. However, you need to make doubly sure that you complete a quick format. This process wont actually convert the file system. Create a bootable usb drive for ubuntu using mac or windows how to. Whether the usb should be readable by windows machines and mac machines or just by mac.
If you want to insure full mac compatibility of a new external hard drive or flash disk, youll want to format the drive to the mac os extended. Oct 25, 2017 im trying to reformat a usb thumbdrive that id previously been using as a linux boot device. Also, since i dont know whether you are on a pc or mac to perform this operation, im here to break down this guide into two parts. Reformatting a drive on windows is a pretty straightforward process. Alternatively, press spacecommand and type disk utility in spotlight search. Format usb drive, external hard drive on macos catalina. How to convert a mac formatted drive to a windows drive. This wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drive s format on windows and mac computers.
Feb 03, 2020 disk utility in macos high sierra or later can erase most disks and volumes for mac using either the newer apfs apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you. Disk utility cannot erase usb drive apple community. Read this usb drive data recovery guide for more information. Your mac computer comes with a handy utility appropriately called disk utility, which can be used to. However, for this you need to follow the next steps. This is simple to do and means the data on your drive usb stick can be read and written on both macs and pcs. I also show you how to securely format the drive if you have sensitive information on it. The latest trend with computers is not including a cddvd drive. Unfortunately, its harder to recover data on a flash drive with this kind of damage.
Diy fixrepair corrupted usb drive without formatting. Go to open disk utility, which is located under applications in the finder menu. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in. How to format usb drive external hard drive on macos catalina. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive.
Now, when you are formatting a usb drive on mac, you have an important decision to make. Depending on the size and speed of your flash drive, it may take a minute or two. Unfortunately disk utility cannot erase the device. The other formats microsofts ntfs and apples mac os extended dont work well on the other operating system. How to repairfix unreadable usb flash drives on mac. Plug the drive into the mac system choose applications utilities then disk utility from the sidebar pick usb drive from the toolbar select erase name the formatted disk and choose either exfat or msdosfat32 from the menu select erase to format your drive depending on the selection you have picked fat32 or exfat. Apr 04, 2017 most of mac users found that the pendrive or hard drive is readable but not writeable in mac.
Formatting a drive will erase all data and partitions on the disk. 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. Steps for mac connect your ubs drive to your computer. Plug the drive into a usb socket if you have a recent macbook or macbook pro.
Files larger than 4gb can not be stored on a fat32 volume. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. The usb jump drive is usable on both pc and mac computers. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. This is because of the pendrive or hard drive has been formatted in windows as ntfs. Launch disk utility, which is located in the utilities subfolder inside the applications folder. How to reuse revert reformat a usb flash drive from using it as a bootable. Formatting the flash drive as exfat or ntfs will resolve this issue.
How to reformat a jump drive on a mac your business. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Download, extract, and run paulys bootice tool 1 select your usb flash drive from the list, 2 click parts manage. Install the parallels desktop emulator on your mac os. Click to select your usb drive from the left panel.
I really would like to have a usb drive that plays well with the chromebook, car and macintosh. How to format a flash drive on a mac demonstration. This might happen for a variety of reasons, all of which keep you from erasing or reformatting the drives connected to your mac. First, back up the data on the macformatted drive if you have anything important on it. See this stepbystep tutorial for how to format your usb drive for mac machine macos and pc windows 10. The other formats microsofts ntfs and apples mac os extended. To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through all connections, be they usb, firewire, or thunderbolt. Ive got several usb drives that i would like to use as internal drives on my new mac pro 5,1. 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 can also open a finder window, select applications in the sidebar, and head to utilities. Oct 29, 2019 plug the drive into the mac system choose applications utilities then disk utility from the sidebar pick usb drive from the toolbar select erase name the formatted disk and choose either exfat or msdosfat32 from the menu select erase to format your drive depending on the selection you have picked fat32 or exfat. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility.
How to format usb drives on windows 10 by ayo isaiah posted on apr 30, 2016 apr 28, 2016 in 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. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. Reformatting the usb jump drive erases all data and gives you a fresh start. The main reason for formatting a usb drive as fat32 on a mac is that you want to be able to use. Jan 04, 2012 how to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. Select the disk from the menu, select your language, then choose disk utility from the utility dropdown menu and proceed to reformat it to the right settings. If youre using an imac, you may find the usb ports on the side of your keyboard or on the back of the imacs screen. Including how to format a drive to be used on a mac and a pc and. After making a bootable usb drive for installing operating systems like ubuntu via pen drive using softwares like poweriso, when you format your pen drive using windows or ubuntu it will show about only 2 mb of memory in a 4 gb pen drive. If reformatting your ntfs drive for mac is not an option, you can enable write. Need to reformat wd hard drive for mac if you connect your wd hard drive without reformatting, youll be unable to copy files to the disk as mac read only supports ntfs file system. Formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep.
Whether the usb should be readable by windows machines and mac machines or just by mac and not readable in windows. Transferring a 4gb or larger file to a usb flash drive or. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. By default, they format disks with the maconly os x extended file system. Formatting will delete all the data in your device. How to reformat an external hard drive without losing your. Once youve copied any files you need from the usb drive to your mac. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. For mac data recovery wizard free download data recovery wizard pro buy try. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial.
If you only use a mac computer, you can format your thumb drive so it can work on windows systems. Jul 05, 2017 in the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system. Aug 30, 2016 this is an article for mac, it is erasing a hard drive from a mac command line, it is not a windows tutorial. Compare with the other commonly used ntfs file system on a flash drive, fat32 has a compatibility advantage across many operating systems. To format a usb flash drive using file explorer, use these steps. The first part is for mac users, and the second part is for pc users windows 10 based. 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 prehigh sierra mac, of course. A quick format only deletes the organizational structure of the files on the drive, without removing the actual files. How to format a usb flash drive on mac wondershare.
How to format a dr ive on a mac heres how to format a dr ive using a mac including how to format a dr ive for windows and mac so the contents can be read on both platforms, and what format to use. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. Apr 30, 2016 how to format usb drives on windows 10 by ayo isaiah posted on apr 30, 2016 apr 28, 2016 in 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. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to reuse revert reformat a usb flash drive from. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. This video will show you how to format a usb flash drive on a mac running osx mavericks. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. From all above, you can have a general idea of fat32 and exfat file system. A drive with two partitions, for example can have one partitioned in. If your usb drive is seriously broken by hitting, dropping, shaking, etc.
Choose a new name and format for your drive, then click erase. Directions for creating a usb drive tesla motors club. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. Are you about to install macos high sierra or later on the disk. How to erase a disk from command line in mac os x aug 30, 2016 47 comments some mac users may require the ability to erase a disk or erase a hard drive from the command line on mac os, a task which is typically performed through the disk utility application from the gui. In such a case, its necessary to reformat wd hard drive to make it compatible with mac operating system. Test these usb flash drive repair solutions one by one and fix your usb flash drive, pen drive or hard drive without formatting. Usb drives and external hard drives on macos catalina are used for storing and backing up important data such as photos, videos, audios, images, notes, messages, music.
To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. I am puting this tutorial after a failed attempt at installing ubuntu using a flash drive as a bootable device. Transferring a 4gb or larger file to a usb flash drive or memory card. How to reformat a usb drive to its full c apple community. Standard formatting is not solution at all if a file table information on the storage device has been corrupted. And we usually perform formatting in our usb or external hard drive when we want to get rid of viruses, or we want to clean the disk as it was when we purchased it. How to format a startup drive for a mac if you want to format a drive that will be used as your macs startup disk, the procedure is a little different from formatting it for use as a secondary. Cant erase or reformat a drive in macos disk utility. Click the partition tab, if you want to use more than one partition in the drive. It is the easy, secure way to wipe data on usb flash drive under mac os. After disk utility loads select the drive outdented entry with the mfgr. In disk utility on mac, you can erase and reformat storage devices to use with your mac. If your integral usb has a security or zip software preloaded integral splash, secure. 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.
Jan 29, 2020 you cant reformat a drive in macos disk utility when the erase button is grayed out. Under the devices and drivers section, rightclick the flash drive and. Erase and reformat a storage device in disk utility on mac. When i insert the drive, i get a warning that its not readable. But, if you plan on using an external drive with both macs and pcs. Easeus data recovery software comes handy when you need to recover lost data after fixing the usb. Disk utility presents several tools at the top of the window.
Windows formatting tool can not always format the usb flash drive correctly. This works well with the car but the drive cannot be read by a mac. Be sure youve identified the mac drive if you accidentally delete partitions from. How to erase sd card and format usb drive on mac setapp. How to format and use a usb flash drive on your mac. If you have a usb flash drive inserted in your mac, you can see it under the external in the disk utility. Select the relevant device or drive on the left hand side and. Most do not even realize it is possible to manipulate their file storage in this way. Reformat apfs to mac os extended with disk utility recovery mode hard drive. Some flash drives have to be formatted first before you can store files on them. In the sidebar, select the drive you want to erase or reformat. How to format a startup drive for a mac if you want to format a drive that will be used as your mac s startup disk, the procedure is a little different from formatting it for use as a secondary. In this article, we are taking a closer look at the disk utility, which comes with all recent versions of the mac os x operating system and how you can use it to format usb drive on mac.
Your exfatformatted drive or partition can now be used for both windows and mac. Wie sie einen usbstick unter macos formatieren erfahren sie hier. Many computer users who use a removable flash drive have the demand for formatting it to the fat32 file system. You dont have to be a technological wiz to reformat your usb drive. 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. Also when we buy a new usb or hard drive, it often comes with windows compatible not the mac so formatting. How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier. If you have a mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a mac and back up the files. Most usb flash drive users do not ever think to format their drives. Im trying to reformat a usb thumbdrive that id previously been using as a linux boot device. Converting an external hard drive into an internal drive. In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers.
However, this is a tutorial on how to format a usb flash drive, not to do it for no reason. Find out how to format an external drive or usb disk making the drive work with both windows pc and mac can read and write. Windows and or mac os users could use the sd formatter tool to reformat and restore a usb drive. How to fixrepair the unreadablecorrupted usb flash drive on mac. You can get to know how to reformat wd hard drive for mac and pc from this post, if you need to use a western digital external hard drive, like wd elements both under mac and pc. How to format a usb flash drive on a mac techwalla. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows. It is strongly recommended to use mac data erasing software to reformat usb flash drive on mac. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. If the builtin disk came apfsformatted, dont change it to mac os extended.
How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos. If your integral usb has a security or zip software preloaded integral splash, secure 360 then this will be deleted on format, so you may want to. Insert the usb drive into an open port on your mac computer. However, it tells me that it cant read the drive and asks if.
Go to the applications folder on your mac s hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility. Usb drives can be formatted on your mac using the disk utility application. How to format and use a usb flash drive on your mac has been published after epic three weeks beta testing, which ended with great success. Reformatting an external hard drive for use with mac osx is not as difficult as it might seem. Reinstall from macos recovery macos recovery makes it easy to reinstall the mac operating system, even if you need to erase your startup disk first. Create a bootable install dvd or usb drive of os x 10. Oct 15, 2017 however, this is a tutorial on how to format a usb flash drive, not to do it for no reason. Before we recycle, lend, sell or abandon a usb flash drive, we should remove all the personal data on the usb flash drive. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac easily. Insert the drives usb cable into one of the thin, rectangular slots in your computers casing. Locate the drive name from the left hand side of disk utility and click on it. Go to the applications folder on your macs hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility.
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