How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. Feb 21, 2020 its a universal format that is compatible with mac os xmacos, windows, linux and dos systems. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. Connect the drive to a usb port on your windows machine. 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. Lets see how to format usb drive on a windows pc first. Formatting your flash drive will typically remove any files or folders on the drive, so make sure you back up your files before. The file allocation table 32 fat32 was the standard windows file system before ntfs. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. How to read a macformatted drive on a windows pc safe. A window will pop up where you can choose the format ntfs, fat32, or exfat. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac.
Not every flash drive out there can be used with a mac computer right out of the box. The file being bigger than 4gb would not go on it, seeing how fat32 cant handle it. Sometimes windows 10 setup can become confused if it sees a thumb drive. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. I use the exfat format so you can go between the two of them. How to format usb drive external hard drive on macos catalina. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows.
If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. Dont worry, the following part will show you the solution for windows and mac os users. In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system. 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. The best way to fix flash drive not recognized on windows and mac. First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window. If you wish to boot the drive on a pc or use it with older versions of windows, you may also need to set the partition scheme to master boot record mbr for full windows compatibility. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows.
Flash drive not recognized issue on windows and mac. A file system is a method and structure of data used by an operating system, called windows, linux or mac os, for reading media files such as disks, removable drives, etc. Windows will format the drive as exfat and youll be able to use the drive on both windows and mac. Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. 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. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Here in this article we would use certain third party tools to read the mac formatted drive on windows. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmaclinux. I put it in my win 7 pro machine to format it for win7. Both mac os x and windows allow users to format their hard drives using builtin utilities. Apr 30, 2016 now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. 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. Simple and easy to use, macdrive is recognized as the leader for accessing mac disks from windows for almost 20 years. 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.
How to format flash drive on win7 when it was formatted on a mac. Once made your own decision as above guided, its time to format your usb drive a desired file system. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. This article will teach you how to format the usb flash drive so both macs and pcs can read them. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself. To do this, you can take the assistance of disk utility, which is a dedicated system component in mac. This will erase all contents on the disk, however, so youll need to. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. To share a usb drive between a mac and a windows pc, there are two disk formats to choose from. Be careful using these instructions to ensure you are formatting the correct disk. So, if you want to use an external hard drive on both windows and mac, you need to format it to a filesystem that is compatible with windows pc and mac. This free download is able to format my usb thumb drive that could not be formatted with windows built.
However, i was disappointed to find that the stock filesystem, msdos fat, does not support transferring large files. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. For apple mac users, there are two ways to format a usb flash drive to fat32, including disk utility and. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label. The process for formatting a drive is different depending on the system youre using. 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 files, pdf files, word documents, among other files. For example, in the screenshot below, the macformatted drive is disk 2. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos.
How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier. Now you can share files between a mac and windows computer. Sep 26, 2018 windows pc and mac use different filesystems. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats.
Here in this article we would use certain third party tools to read the mac formatted drive on. Have you ever ran into a problem where youre trying to use a flash drive on both windows and mac. Just like windows, mac also allows a seamless solution to do pen drive format. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. Moving from windows to mac transferring your documents. I dont know why i am so amused that you can format a drive for fat32 much more easily on a mac with a utility that comes included with every mac when the format is not one that you would normally use on a mac. I use the exfat format so you can go between the two. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in. Use microsofts media creation tool to ensure you have a windows 10 boot drive. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
It may even already be formatted fat32 if you just brought it home from the store. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. In todays technology, if you buy a usb hard drive, you can just simply use it directly using your mac. Should it be gpt ot mbr, should it be nfts or fat32, etc. So that brings me, whats the best format to have your flash drive, if you will be using it back and forth. Sep 20, 2016 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. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it.
You can do this in disk utility on your mac, where it is called msdos fat format, but it is probably easier to just reformat the drive on your windows machine. How to format flash drive for pcmac with large file sizes. You can use this format if you share the drive between mac os x and windows computers and have no files larger than 4gb. The drive will be erased with the selected format and will be usable on both macs and windows pcs.
Jul 22, 2019 how to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. Jan 30, 2017 its for windows only, no mac os x version. How to recover data from flash drive not recognized on windows when you fix the usb flash drive not recognized with format solution, all your data on the drive will got formatted and lost. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. 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. So, if users anticipate using the flash drive with more than one operating system, they will definitely benefit from the fat32 file 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. 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. How to format a usb drive for mac and pc compatibility youtube. Even though most people associate formatting with system installation, there are many other reasons why you might want to format your hard drive. Flash drive works on mac but not pc apple community. Would it be possible to format it in a way that they.
Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows 7. Its a universal format that is compatible with mac os xmacos, windows, linux and dos systems. 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. Now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. 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 a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility. 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. Read mac formatted drives with windows the tech guy. It recognizes the drive, installs the drivers, yet never shows up as an active. Format usb drive, external hard drive on macos catalina. Go to the applications folder on your mac s hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility.
Windows 7 professional, windows 7 ultimate, windows 8. How to format and create a usb drive or pen drive that is compatible with windows 10, 8, 7 or mac or linux. Rightclick your flash drive and then select format. Disk drill, a premium data recovery solution for mac os x with support for all popular file formats and common storage devices, is here to help you recover deleted files from usb flash drive. It can help you manage system partitions, erase an external unit like a thumb drive, and even repair your disk. Aug 27, 2019 in todays technology, if you buy a usb hard drive, you can just simply use it directly using your mac. 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. Jul 16, 2017 heres how to format a new flash drive thumb driveusb stick on a mac for both pc and mac. I was recently trying to put a file on a 16gb flash drive that is formatted via fat32. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. 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. When you plug a drive thats been formatted for mac into a windows pc, you may find that it isnt readable. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. Youll see the drive s file system displayed to the right of format under the general heading.
So dont format until you get the important files out of the drive. How to format a usb drive for mac and pc compatibility. But if it does not contain any important files, then you can surely go ahead by clicking the format button. 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. Select your drive from the list and rightclick on it. This wikihow teaches you how to change your flash drives default file format. One simple way to make the drive readable on both platforms is to format it to exfat, which both operating systems can understand.
Go to the applications folder on your macs hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility. Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for windows compatibility. On this guide we will show you how to recover data from flash drive not recognized on windows. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. Oct 29, 2019 just like windows, mac also allows a seamless solution to do pen drive format. For example, in the screenshot below, the mac formatted drive is disk 2.
Usb flash drive format tool free download and software. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. You should go ahead and format your storage drive with exfat. Transferring a 4gb or larger file to a usb flash drive or memory card. How to format usb driveexternal hard drive on macos catalina.
We all make mistakes, and you wouldnt be the first person in the world to accidentally format a usb flash drive. In the file system list box, choose exfat, type in a volume label. 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. If you want to use the drive between a windows and mac machine, you can format it to fat32. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os. If you are installing from a retail windows 10 usb thumb drive, you. Volume format most manufacturers use the fat 32 or msdos fat volume format. Feb 17, 2020 creating a windows 10 boot drive is easy peasy. How to format flash drive on win7 when it was formatted on. Therefore, its perfect for a usb flash drive or external disk, especially when you need to save files more than 4gb in size. How to format a large capacity usb flash drive, fat32, windows. Fat32 file allocation table readwrite fat32 from both native windows and native mac os x. Transferring a 4gb or larger file to a usb flash drive or.
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. Some flash drives have to be formatted first before you can store files on them. I have seen all of these recommended in different articles, books and sites. As you can see, exfat is the only file system that works with all versions of windows and. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. 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. 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. Heres how to format a new flash drive thumb driveusb stick on a mac for both pc and mac. Next, open a command prompt window as administrator. If you only use a mac computer, you can format your thumb drive so it can work on windows systems. While if youre using the usb drive as a windows computer backup drive, to store highdefinition videos, movies, pictures and any other large files, at the same time, asking for a high security, choose ntfs. 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.