Best usb format tools pen drive stick formatters for. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. So, now go to your usb flash drive and check the macos high sierra files. How to format a flash drive to fat32exfatext4 in windows. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. 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. To boot ubuntu from usb media, the process is very similar to the windows instructions above. Whether the usb should be readable by windows machines and mac machines or just by mac and not readable in windows.
How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. The other formats microsofts ntfs and apples mac os extended dont work well on the other operating system. Yes, connecting an external hard drive or usb flash key to a mac will generally read and work fine as is because the mac can easily read other filesystem formats, including windows msdos, fat, fat32, exfat, and ntfs formats, but unless you intend on using the drive between a windows and mac machine, formatting it to be entirely mac compatible. This option is near the middle of the dropdown menu. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep.
Under the devices and drivers section, rightclick the flash drive and select the format option. Mac computers running high sierra or mojave may be able to boot from usb flash drives that are exfat formatted. Select your usb flash drive on the sidebar, choose erase. In the file system list box, choose exfat, type in. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. If you want to use the drive between a windows and mac machine, you can format it to fat32. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. How to create a bootable mac os usb on windows isoriver. In most cases, the installer selects and formats the bootcamp partition automatically. 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. How to quickly make a mac os x bootable usb on windows.
How to create macos high sierra bootable usb on windows. This works with any hard drive, flash drive, ssd, usb drive, or just about any other. If youre having issues trying to create a bootable media, you can get a usb flash drive that comes with mac osx ready to install. Select mac os extended journaled, or your preferred format type. How to create a windows 10 installer usb drive from a mac. It can take about 20 minutes to format and set up the usb installer on the mac. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. How to format a usb drive for mac and pc compatibility youtube. And if you format it to ntfs, it will not be fully supported in mac operating system. How to format usb to fat32ntfsexfat on windows and mac. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac.
If you want the usb device to be readable by the both mac and windows devices, then you have three options ntfs, fat or exfat. Creating windows 10 bootable usb on mac is a common task for people who have multiple computers at home. However, os x and windows both can read and write to a format called fat32, which used to be used for windows all the way back into the msdos days. Therefore, now your usb drive is ready to boot macos high sierra and you can install macos high sierra from your usb flash drive. Format external hard drive or usb drive for mac easeus. 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 are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc.
The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Dont click the format disk button or windows will erase the contents of the driveclick cancel. 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. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. Click on the usb drive in the sidebar in disk utility. Download transmacs latest version for windows from this link. This is the easiest way format usb flash drive to fat32, exfat or ntfs. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. After the usb flash drive is inserted into the usb port, press the power button for your machine or restart if. To share a usb drive between a mac and a windows pc, there are two disk formats to choose from. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. 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.
This article will introduce how to format usb drive for mac and pc on widows with diskpart tool and aomei partition assistant. The former option can help ensure that the usb drive is made fully compatible with your mac, since most usb drives are preformatted for windows computers by default. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. The quickest way is to search on spotlight and click. When boot camp assistant finishes, your mac restarts to the windows installer. Go to applicationsutilities and launch disk utility. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with. Its fairly straightforward and all you have to do is rightclick on it and select format. On windows 10, the ability to format a usb flash drive can come in handy in a number of scenarios.
Format usb for mac and pc on windows quickly and securely. How to format a usb flash drive using file explorer. Its below the file system heading near the top of the page. You can make this your client name or your company name. Format usb or external hard drive for mac on windows pc using thirdparty usb format tool. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with windows computers. 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. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. So, apple could fix this problem by changing to boot camp assistant to format the usb flash drive as exfat instead of fat32. In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. Download hp usb disk storage format tool on mac, install it on emulated windows.
Right click on your usb drive option in transmac and select format disk for mac. Format usb or external hard drive for mac using mac disk utility. Better still, it can be read from and written to on any mac running mac os x snow leopard or later and on windows. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive.
I will show you how you can use unetbootin to create a bootable usb, it can be used no only for mac but for windows and linux distributions too unetbootin is free software and it is also available for windows and linux check the path name of your usb disk. Now, you can follow these two solutions to format any hard drive, flash drive, usb drive, ssd or any other external storage drive so as to make them work on your mac now. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. So, if users anticipate using the flash drive with more than one operating system, they will definitely benefit from the fat32 file system. Confirm the bios boot sequence lists the usb drive first, or make that change as needed. Go ahead and plug your usb disk to a pc which is running windows so that it can be recognized by system. For example, in the screenshot below, the macformatted drive is disk 2. Its a universal format that is compatible with mac os xmacos, windows, linux and dos systems.
Always in disk utility, select the new partition that we created in the previous step, and click on the. To boot from the disk, you need to hold down the option key when you hear the boot chime. Now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. If you want to use the usb devices in windows you have to know how to do it. We all make mistakes, and you wouldnt be the first person in the world to accidentally format a usb flash drive. When boot camp assistant is done, the usb drive will be renamed to. For now, you can use the following steps to create a usb windows 10 flash drive installer. First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. Use the file system dropdown menu and select the ntfs option.
How do i format a usb drive on a pc that was formatted on a mac. There are a few subtle differences between exfat and fat32, but most of these are only an issue if you are using a. You get to select a new file system for the drive before you click the start button and thats it. Now remove the usb drive and insert it into the mac computer. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. How to open mac format usb devce in windows youtube. 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. Step 1 open file explorer to find the usb drive, rightclick on it and select format. If the installer asks where to install windows, select the bootcamp partition and click format. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows. Now, when you are formatting a usb drive on mac, you have an important decision to make. The hp usb format tool allows you to format the usb flash drive in the mac os x.
However, for this you need to follow the next steps. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. Use unetbootin on mac unetbootin is free to use and allows you to make a bootable usb drive for windows 10 using your mac. I recommend using exfat instead, which is essentially a newer version of the same format. In this article, we will introduce 5 disk formatting tools for windows and mac to help you securely format hard driveusb flash drive or memory card on a pc or a mac. After that, rightclick the usb drive and select restore with disk image. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos. As you can see, exfat is the only file system that works with all versions of windows and.
Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for windows compatibility. Click the scheme popup menu, then choose master boot record. A dropdown menu will appear with the following options. How to create macos bootable usb on windows 10 uubyte. Then do a right click with your mouse to pull up a menu. If you want to format a hard drive or usb flash drive on your computer, disk formatting tool is the best choice. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. Next, open a command prompt window as administrator. You have to format the drive to exfat or fat32 if the burning process failed due to the wrong partition scheme. For apple mac users, there are two ways to format a usb flash drive to fat32, including disk utility and. Unplug any external devices that arent necessary during.
Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Go to the applications folder on your macs hard drive, then go. Install windows 10 on your mac with boot camp assistant. 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. The good news is that formatting usb on mac is also as easy as on windows 10. Once your bootable usb installation media is ready, remove it and insert it into your mac, power it on, holding down the option key, and select the usb you just created to reinstall mac os x. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup.
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