Formatting a usb drive for mac and windows

Windows cant normally read mac formatted drives, and will offer to erase them instead. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. It is the reliable disk formatting tool for windows mac. Oct 25, 2016 usb devices,that are formatted in mac format. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. How to format usb drive on windows 10 using command prompt. 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. Once the drive is formatted it will be compatible to be read and written to on both a mac and pc, and the resulting fat file system is compatible with all versions of mac os x, windows 95, 98, windows xp, vista, 7, windows 8, even windows 10, its one of the most widely recognized. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. This article will introduce how to format usb drive for mac and pc on widows with diskpart tool and aomei partition assistant. U disk is a commonly used mobile storage tool in daily life. In the windows format program, the first drop down menu has only 200mb option. If you only use a mac computer, you can format your thumb drive so it can work on windows systems.

Note that using a drive frequently between windows and mac could increase the. The mass adoption of usb drive makes it one of the most used storage media today. The above command will format the usb drive in the fat32 format which is ideal for usb drives. The drive will now be formatted for use by windows systems. Should you choose fat32 or ntfs while formatting the usb flash drive.

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. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow. 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. How to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. It is a dedicated system utility tool that stores all the vital details and parameters related to windows settings. Also when we buy a new usb or hard drive, it often comes with windows compatible not the mac so formatting it even needed in this case. Apr 14, 2020 why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. 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. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows 7 by jack scicluna photography, llc guest writer. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. Mar 31, 2020 how to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. If you lost all saved data on the usb drive by formatting, apply easeus data recovery wizard for instant help.

The first technique to format write protected usb drive is by using the registry editor on windows. In order to write on the usb drive on mac, you need to format the device into apple supported file systems like apfs or mac os extended. Here, you can view the format of the selected usb drive. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. If you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Nov 21, 2017 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. While formatting a pen drive, users get an option to change its format. Therefore, its perfect for a usb flash drive or external disk, especially when you need to save files more than 4gb in size. Some flash drives have to be formatted first before you can store files on them. This also allows you to restore time machine backups on windows. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex.

Learn how to format usb flash drive using cmd in windows 10, 8 and 7. Formatting your flash drive will typically remove any files or folders on the drive, so make sure you back up your files before. I decided to format the drive and reload my music with more folders to allow myself to select by genre, etc. 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. Apr 30, 2016 now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. A window will pop up where you can choose the format ntfs, fat32, or exfat.

Turn on the pc and press the key that opens the bootdevice selection menu for the computer, such as the escf10f12 keys. Simply erasing a usb drive in disk utility will automatically format it too. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Install windows from a usb flash drive microsoft docs. 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. Oct 29, 2019 this will display a popup with crucial details related to the connected pen drive. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Windows cannot natively access a mac formatted drive. Formatting flash drive on mac so it can be used also on windows. Because there are different types of formats for different purposes, its good to know the. Ideally, mac supports different pen drive formats for a usb drive that you can pick from, as per your convenience. This wikihow teaches you how to change your flash drive s default file format. Use the wizard to create a partition with the ntfs or fat32 file system. 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.

A drive can be formatted with exfat using either a windows or a mac computer. Erase or format your mac s drives using disk utility. 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. You have to format the drive to exfat or fat32 if the burning process failed due to the wrong partition scheme. Creating windows 10 bootable usb on mac is a common task for people who have multiple computers at home. If you know youre going to use a drive on both mac and windows, you. When i plug the same usb to a windows, the os tells me that the drive must be formatted. Do you know what is the best file system for a usb drive. Mac computers are capable of formatting any storage device internal or external such as hddssd, usb flash drive, and external storage. Now, when you are formatting a usb drive on mac, you have an important decision to make. My usb is a 16gb corsair, so 200mb is no where near the truth. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. This is a detailed tutorial on how to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, and windows xp.

Note that using a drive frequently between windows and mac could increase the chances of file corruption, so make sure you have backups of. Select your drive from the list and rightclick on it. Paragon disk wipe allows you to create a bootable usbflash drive or external hard drive that will help you to completely erase a whole hard disk, a separate partition or just clean free space. Now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. From what i understand, windows doesnt always like the way mac s do the formatting on some larger drives, though, so give it a try and if your windows machines dont like it, just format the drive with windows. Here is a tutorial help you read mac drive on windows. Apr 26, 2016 if you are a mac users, here are overviews of different file format systems, and how to choose which format to use for your usb drive to ensure compatibility with other operating systems. 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. 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. Format your external drive with exfat for both mac and. Why need to format external hard drive for mac and pc. Dec, 2019 you can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines.

Thankfully, exfat a strict upgrade over fat32, is a file system optimized for usb flash drives. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. On my mac i can see the usb mounted and empty in the finder. Now you can share files between a mac and windows computer. I have an audio system that will allow me to play music stored on usb in file format fat 121632. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. If you want to use the drive between a windows and mac machine, you can format it to fat32. Sometimes we need to format the u disk, then how to format it, here will tell you a way 1. Be careful using these instructions to ensure you are formatting the correct disk. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows. Click the link below to download the 5 day free trial of a great utility macdrive install that, then restart your pc, start the utility and connect the drive, you will then have access to that mac drive like any other pc hard drive.

Aug 30, 2019 today this video will show you how to format an external hard drive on windows and mac. How to format a hard drive you must format a drive before using it in windows 10, 8, 7, vista, or xp. This wikihow teaches you how to change your flash drives default file format. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. First off, ensure your flash drive is already plugged in to your pc.

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. To learn how to format write protected usb drive via the registry editor, follow these steps. Heres how to correctly format the drive to work on both. You can use fsntfs instead to format the drive as ntfs which will then only work on a windows pc. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmaclinux. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. Right click on the partition and select delete volume this will remove the partition. Dont worry, the following part will show you the solution for windows and mac os users.

I formatted using windows 10, loaded music and my player will no longer play. Your exfat formatted drive or partition can now be used for both windows and mac. To erase and format any drive connected to a mac computer running os x yosemite, use disk utility. Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label. Dec 05, 2019 rightclick on windows icon, select disk management. How to format a usb drive for mac and pc compatibility youtube. Unformat usb drive how to recover formatted usb drive.

Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Even if the mac is unable to mount the storage, following this method will enable you to format the storage. And, if you just need to get files off of a mac formatted drive once, you can just use the trial and be done with the application by the time it expires. 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.

This wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drives format on windows and mac computers. The process for formatting a drive is different depending on the system youre using. Rightclick in the unallocated space on the initialized disk and select new simple volume. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. The good news is that formatting usb on mac is also as easy as on windows 10. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Jul 22, 2019 have you ever ran into a problem where youre trying to use a flash drive on both windows and mac. Most usb flash drives on sale are designed to work with windows operating systems that run on fat32. How to format a usb flash drive on a mac techwalla. Like i said, if you want to use the device for both. Jan 15, 2019 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.

How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier. Dec 16, 2018 similar to windows 10, you can format usb drives on mac using disk utility app. 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. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. If you want to know how to unformat usb drive to get back the disappeared files, you can free try this unformat usb tool to help you recover formatted usb flash drive data on windows 1078xpvista or mac os x 10.

Similar to windows 10, you can format usb drives on mac using disk utility app. This works with any hard drive, flash drive, ssd, usb drive, or just about any other. To share a usb drive between a mac and a windows pc, there are two disk formats to choose from. When usb flash drive becomes corrupted, inaccessible and even raw, you can format the device to make it usable again. Format usb for mac and pc on windows quickly and securely. 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. Overview of formatting usb drive on mac mac systems have a different os to windows and this is where most of the problems like. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. Jun 14, 2018 format usb drive for both mac and pc use.

Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows 7. 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. If you want to use the usb devices in windows you have to know how to do it. Firstly, bear in mind that formatting the drive will erase all content stored on it. Here, easeus software will guide you to format corrupteddamagedraw usb drive without losing data.

Lets see how to format usb drive on a windows pc first. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. How to format a usb drive for mac and pc compatibility. 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. Here we will explain reasons and give answers to whether you should format usb drive to fat32 or ntfs with the best usb format tool. The other formats microsofts ntfs and apples mac os extended dont work well on the other operating system. How to format a usb flash drive on mac wondershare. 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. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need.

You could convert the drive to fat32 or exfat that both mac and windows can read. Whether the usb should be readable by windows machines and mac machines or just by mac and not readable in windows. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. 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. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. I bought a drive, loaded music on it and it played well. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac easily. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux.

You should go ahead and format your storage drive with exfat. Well show you everything you need to know about the. Cant access mac hard drive on windows 10 microsoft. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers. Next, you should assign a file system to the drive.

Select the option that boots the pc from the usb flash drive. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. How to open mac format usb devce in windows youtube. Select the mac drive from the list of drives make sure this is the drive you want to work on, if you do it for the windows formatted drive in the list, it may cost you a lot of important data. The latest trend with computers is not including a cddvd drive. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. There will be no space wasted by protected mac partitions. Paragon disk wipe allows you to create a bootable usb flash drive or external hard drive that will help you to completely erase a whole hard disk, a separate partition or just clean free space.

How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. If you run into the issue of not having enough space format it to be the ex fat as. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. Insert the usb flash drive into the usb port of the computer. This article will teach you how to format the usb flash drive so both mac s and pcs can read them. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. In this video tutorial, i show you how to easily format an external hard drive to work on both a mac and a pc. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos. Though you can mount the drive to view and copy the content, you cant write on the drive.

How to format usb to fat32ntfsexfat on windows and mac. 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. Nov 11, 2009 formatting was completed successfulno errorswarnings. Note that using a drive frequently between windows and mac could increase the chances of file corruption, so make. Have you ever ran into a problem where youre trying to use a flash drive on both windows and mac.