Select your external hard drive or usb flash drive from the list on the left. Install windows 10 on your mac with boot camp assistant. 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. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows 7. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself.
When you have a flash drive, the first thing you may need to do is format it in such a way so it can be read by both mac and windows machines. 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. 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. Lets see how to format usb drive on a windows pc first. In other words, you can read and write fat32 file format on both the operating system. Have you ever ran into a problem where youre trying to use a flash drive on both windows and mac. For apple mac users, there are two ways to format a usb flash drive to fat32, including disk utility and. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. To learn how to format write protected usb drive via the registry editor, follow these steps. Now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. Gpt is a newer format supporting larger capacities, but isnt compatible with. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. 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. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system.
This is the easiest way and simply requires you to plug in your usb drive, open the windows file explorer and right click your drive to view a number of actions that you can perform. If you only use a mac computer, you can format your thumb drive so it can work on windows systems. Jun 14, 2019 unlike windows in file explorer, mac os x and macos do not include a format drive option in the finder. So, if users anticipate using the flash drive with more than one operating system, they will definitely benefit from the fat32 file system. Go to the applications folder on your mac s hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility. Therefore, no matter you cannot format flash drive to fat32 or ntfs in windows, this freeware can get it fixed. 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. Nov 01, 2011 choosing the best format to work between macs and pcs with a flash drive.
The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. I put it in my win 7 pro machine to format it for win7. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. Go to the applications folder on your macs hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility.
Install windows from a usb flash drive microsoft docs. With exfat, you can write and read on both mac and windows pcs and is our recommended option for an ultraportable usb device. 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. Usb drives have limited space and it becomes essential to format it for getting free space. Apr 23, 2020 if installing windows on your mac for the first time, this must be a full version of windows, not an upgrade. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. Volume format most manufacturers use the fat 32 or msdos fat volume format. This drive will be formatted, so make sure it doesnt have any important files on it. In the application windows look for the utilities folder. Rightclick your flash drive and then select format. 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. Open up your my computer or computer in vista from the start menu and look for the drive that has a removable disk icon. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. How to format a usb flash drive on mac wondershare.
How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. I use the exfat format so you can go between the two of them. How to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac you will be presented with a dropped down panel where you need to type a name for the volume and select the format type as mac os extended journaled and partition map scheme as guid. If you want the storage device to only show up on mac systems, then format your storage device with apfs. Some flash drives have to be formatted first before you can store files on them. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different format. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Aug 27, 2019 in todays technology, if you buy a usb hard drive, you can just simply use it directly using your mac. Feb 21, 2020 its a universal format that is compatible with mac os xmacos, windows, linux and dos systems. Next, click the delete button to start the formatting process.
Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Mac os x users can format a flash disk by loading the disk utility program located in the utilities folder that is inside the applications. Then, click the delete tab and select the msdos fat or exfat format. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux. In the file system list box, choose exfat, type in a volume label if you want, and then click start. Mar 15, 2018 rather than use a macformatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfatformatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs. Hi there, i have a usb flash drive which was formatted for a mac. If you want to use a usb drive on both mac and windows, then you need to format the drive to the format supported by both systems. 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. Learn how to format usb flash drive using cmd in windows 10, 8 and 7. Feb 17, 2020 creating a windows 10 boot drive is easy peasy. Use microsofts media creation tool to ensure you have a windows 10 boot drive handy should you ever run into issues with your current pc. The process for formatting a drive is different depending on the system youre using.
Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. Formatting your flash drive will remove all files or folders on the drive, so make sure you back up your files before formatting your drive. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmaclinux. Jan 15, 2019 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. How to format internal andor external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers. For example, in the screenshot below, the mac formatted drive is disk 2. How to format internal and or external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers.
Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for windows compatibility. Usb flash drive format tool free download and software. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. 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. Feb 21, 2018 when we connect them to retrieve the data they wont even show the disk. Unlike windows in file explorer, mac os x and macos do not include a format drive option in the finder. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos high sierra. If the drive comes formatted in ntfs, which is the default file system for windows, youre going to want to reformat the drive because mac os x. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows. By using the command prompt, you can format any usb flash drive, pen drive or memory stick that is write protected, corrupted, damaged, unreadable, unrecognized by pc and mobile.
It shows windows was unable to complete the format. How to format a usb drive for mac and pc compatibility youtube. How to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac. How to format flash drive on win7 when it was formatted on a mac. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device.
To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. Jul 29, 2019 formatting usb flash drive means emptying all files in the drive and returning to the initial state. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os. Mar 12, 2020 the first technique to format write protected usb drive is by using the registry editor on windows. How to fix cannot format usb flash drive in windows 10. Go to the applications folder on your macs hard drive, then. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. Thankfully, exfat a strict upgrade over fat32, is a file system optimized for usb flash drives. The first technique to format write protected usb drive is by using the registry editor on windows. Like i said, if you want to use the device for both.
External data storage devices such as usb flash drives, external hard disk drives hdds, and solid state drives ssds provide one of the easiest ways to transfer files between separate computers without accessing the internet. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. 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. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. Erase drive but consider consulting an expert first. Technician pc windows pc that youll use to format the usb flash drive. It is a dedicated system utility tool that stores all the vital details and parameters related to windows settings. Format a flash drive for both mac os x and windows cult of mac.
Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows 7 by jack scicluna photography, llc guest writer. Click ok to the format warning and wait until the process is complete. Formatting usb flash drive means emptying all files in the drive and returning to the initial state. Best usb format tools pen drive stick formatters for. If you havent already plugged in your usb flash drive in to your mac. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. How to format a usb flash drive on a mac techwalla. However, there are instances that not unless that your flash drive is build to use for your mac, you will not be able to format it. How to format flash drive on win7 when it was formatted on. The exfat format will not give any limitations on the file size that you are going to store on your flash drive and you can still use it on both windows and macs that are running in mac os x snow leopard or later version.
How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility. Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Moving from windows to mac transferring your documents. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos. The program is able to format and repair usb flash drives under windows 7, windows 10 and earlier versions of the os. It is required to format the usb drive to mac os file system to make it fully compatible with the platform. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in. Format a flash drive for both mac os x and windows youtube. Next, open a command prompt window as administrator. The file allocation table 32 fat32 was the standard windows file system before ntfs. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. Jan, 2020 besides, when windows 10 cannot format flash drive to fat32 for its big capacity surpassing 32gb, this software is also very useful since it breaks out this limitation and is able to format a large hard drive such as 2tb to fat32.
Under the devices and drivers section, rightclick the flash drive and select the format option. It recognizes the drive, installs the drivers, yet never shows up as an active. Windows will format the drive as exfat and youll be able to use the drive on both windows and mac. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. 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 format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it.
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. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. Luckily, you can fix cannot format usb flash drive in windows 10 using few tricks. The latest trend with computers is not including a cddvd drive. 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. The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. You can format a hard drive or usb flash disk specifically so that it will be compatible with both mac os x and windows pc computers. How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. At the bottom of the main window are storage device details, including disk description, connection. A corrupted disk erases all the data present on the disk and doesnt allow it to format the disk. 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. Apr 30, 2016 now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10.
Format a flash drive on mac and make it compatible with windows computers connect the usb to your mac and open applications utilities disk utility. 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. You should go ahead and format your storage drive with exfat. It will not affect the performance of the flash drive.
So, if it needs to be formatted at all, you need to format it as fat32. 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. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. Not every flash drive out there can be used with a mac computer right out of the box. Heres how to format a new flash drive thumb drive usb stick on a mac for both pc and mac. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. And fat32 is the format that both mac and windows pc support. Double click on the finder icon that is located in the dock. By the way, we will talk about production usb and nonproduction usb. Windows cannot read a mac formatted disk, but macs can read a windows formatted one. Apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you. First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window.
Developers of the program claim that the fat is the best format for usb drive to avoid conflicts with other operating systems. Jul 22, 2019 how to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. 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. Use the file system dropdown menu and select the ntfs option. 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.
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