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key, and select the usb you just created to reinstall mac os x. I recommend using exfat instead, which is essentially a newer version of the same format.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