Whether the usb should be readable by windows machines and mac machines or just by mac and not readable in windows. Better still, it can be read from and written to on any mac running mac os x snow leopard or later and on windows. You can also make the disk bootable by specifying a. The release date of usb disk storage format tool for mac is unknown and we cannot say for sure if it will be released at all. Launch the file explorer and from it find the usb drive. 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.
Nov 27, 2011 ntfs windows nt file system readwrite ntfs from native windows. Hp usb disk storage format tool utility will format any usb flash drive, with your choice of fat, fat32, or ntfs partition types. Creating windows 10 bootable usb on mac is a common task for people who have multiple computers at home. My chinese sucks so i thought it might be practical for other users to translate it and add some of my own experiences to it. Jul 28, 20 this will work in all modern versions of apple mac osx including 10. Sometimes we need to format the u disk, then how to format it, here will tell you a way 1.
How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. Read only ntfs from native mac os x to readwrite format ntfs from mac os x, here are some alternatives. On windows, just right click your removable drive format file system and select exfat. When you cannot format usb drive in windows explorer, or the usb drive not shows in my computer or windows explorer, you can go to the windows disk management to format usb drive. It will not affect the performance of the flash drive. For example, if you encrypt the usb stick with a linux utility, you can only access those files by connecting the usb to a linux computer, and only one with that same encryption utility installed on it. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive.
In the file system list box, choose exfat, type in a volume label. Oct 29, 2019 now, when you are formatting a usb drive on mac, you have an important decision to make. Connect the usb drive or the desired external hard drive to the windows 10 computer. Click the format popup menu, then choose one of the following. If you cant format usb, sd, external hard drive or hard drive partition, relax. You can specify the file system of the formatted usb media. The good news is that formatting usb on mac is also as easy as on windows 10. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. Apr 28, 2020 learn how to format usb flash drive using cmd in windows 10, 8 and 7. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows. Mar 03, 2020 if you are on an earlier operating system like windows 7, xp, etc. Usb disk storage format tool one of the best usb format tool.
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. Launch disk utility, found within applicationsutilities connect the drive you wish to format for dual compatibility to the mac click the drive name on the left side list in disk utility, and then click the erase tab click the pulldown menu alongside format and select msdos fat. Is there a way to retrieve data from a mac formatted usb stick on a pc running windows xp or windows vista. A dropdown menu will appear with the following options.
In the application windows look for the utilities folder. 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. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os. You have to format the drive to exfat or fat32 if the burning process failed due to the wrong partition scheme. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. Always in disk utility, select the new partition that we created in the previous step, and click on the. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. Its below the file system heading near the top of the page. Format a flash drive for both mac os x and windows.
In macos, choose apple menu system preferences, click software update, then install all available windows support software updates. Formatieren einer festplatte fur windowscomputer mit dem. Download aomei partition assistant and launch the software. 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. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with windows computers. Lets see how to format usb drive for mac and pc on windows. So you might want to use other applications to format your external storage devices. How to create a windows 10 installer usb drive from a mac. This will work in all modern versions of apple mac osx including 10. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. 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. Fat32 file allocation table readwrite fat32 from both native windows and native mac os x. Learn how to format usb flash drive using cmd in windows 10, 8 and 7.
Go to the applications folder on your mac s hard drive, then. Right click on the unallocated for the usb drive and select new simple volume. Click on the usb drive in the sidebar in disk utility. This is a free pc app that actually allows you to explore and transfer or extracts the files from a mac volume. Now, when you are formatting a usb drive on mac, you have an important decision to make.
We all make mistakes, and you wouldnt be the first person in the world to accidentally format a usb flash drive. 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. Depending on the file system you using to format usb stick. If your computer warns you that the windows was unable to complete the format of usb drive, dont worry. When boot camp assistant is done, the usb drive will be renamed to. How to format flash drive for pcmac with large file sizes. Fix cant format usb flash drive error and restore it to.
Install windows on your older mac using boot camp apple support. For example, you might want to reformat a new or used removable storage device to make sure it. Wie sie einen usbstick unter macos formatieren erfahren sie hier. On windows 10, the ability to format a usb flash drive can come in handy in a number of scenarios. Jan 15, 2019 better still, it can be read from and written to on any mac running mac os x snow leopard or later and on windows. Sep 23, 2019 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. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows central. This option is near the middle of the dropdown menu. The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats.
For example, in windows xp my computer is equivalent to this pc on windows 10. To share a usb drive between a mac and a windows pc, there are two disk formats to choose from. How can i read a mac formatted usb stick on windows. Usb disk storage format tool allows you to format a usb flash drive on windows quickly and correctly. Developers of the program claim that the fat is the best format for usb drive to avoid conflicts with other operating systems. If you want to use the drive between a windows and mac machine, you can format it to fat32. You can also make the disk bootable by specifying a file location.
Under the external tab, highlight your flash drive. Usb disk storage format tool by authorsoft corporation is a free utility that allows you to easily format your usb flash drives. 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. Choose this format if the size of the disk is 32 gb or less. How to encrypt a usb stick on linux, windows or mac os. How to format usb to fat32ntfsexfat on windows and mac. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. 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. Usb sandisk 8 gb device showing as 200mb, how do i get my. If your mac restarts after installing an update, open software update again to install any additional updates. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. Thankfully, exfat a strict upgrade over fat32, is a file system optimized for usb flash drives. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows.
Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. The program is able to format and repair usb flash drives under windows 7, windows 10 and earlier versions of the os. Note, when you do this all the existing data on your usb stick will be wiped and you wont be able to recover. This file system works for both windows and mac, with limitations for linux. The other formats microsofts ntfs and apples mac os extended dont work well on the other operating system. How to read a mac formatted usb stick on windows and vice. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos. 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 format a usb external disk for mac osx using disk. Ntfs windows nt file system readwrite ntfs from native windows. This article will provide effective methods to get all these problems fixed and. Go back to disk management, and the os should now report the usb drive with the near total size but as unallocated. Insert the usb flash drive into the usb port of the computer.
To remove the read only limitation of the apple usb restore stick, so we can format it and use it for other purposes, follow the following steps. You can make this your client name or your company name. Jun 14, 2018 format usb drive for both mac and pc use. Step 1 run the program after unzipping the file you will find a program called sm32xtest. If you havent already plugged in your usb flash drive in to your mac. Hp usb disk storage format tool free download and software.
Then do a right click with your mouse to pull up a menu. And if you format it to ntfs, it will not be fully supported in mac operating system. The file allocation table 32 fat32 was the standard windows file system before ntfs. Yes, any usb stick can be used with mac and windows, provided the format is correct. Initially external disks may be formatted for windows and after you connect it to your mac it appears in the device list in the finder, but is a read only disk meaning that you cant write to it in its current format. Oct 06, 20 hp usb disk storage format tool utility will format any usb flash drive, with your choice of fat, fat32, or ntfs partition types.
If youve been a windows user for even a small amount of time, youd know how to format usb drive on windows. In the main interface, locate the usb drive, right click it and choose format partition. Initially external disks may be formatted for windows and after you connect it to your mac it appears in the device list in the finder, but is a read only. To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. Read only ntfs from native mac os x to readwriteformat ntfs from mac os x, here are some alternatives. In general any fat format should work on both a pc and a mac as i understand it not from personal experience for from others and again in general if you select photos in photos and export them file menu export to a desktop folder then drat that folder to a fat formatted usb stick you should be able to use those photos on either a mac. Go to applicationsutilities and launch disk utility. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows 7. Double click on the finder icon that is located in the dock. Rightclick your flash drive and then select format. It can take about 20 minutes to format and set up the usb installer on the mac. You get to select a new file system for the drive before you click the start button and thats it.
Aug 16, 2019 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. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for windows compatibility. Apr 30, 2016 now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. With a new healthy volume, right click and format the usb drive. This works with any hard drive, flash drive, ssd, usb drive, or just about any other. You will see output like this note your macs terminal may be black text on a white background if you havent customized it. Rightclick the usb drive and select format at the menu. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Linux, windows, and mac os all have native file encryption systems that are free to use. 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. Locate your usb stick under this pc, rightclick on it and select the format option. The quickest way is to search on spotlight and click the result under top hit.
How to quickly make a mac os x bootable usb on windows. In the file system list box, choose exfat, type in. Nov 01, 2011 format a flash drive for both mac os x and windows. Now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. You can also open a finder window, select applications in the sidebar, and head to utilities disk utility. Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats.
Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. The trick is actually not all that hard, but it took me a while to find a solution that would work on a chinese website. Best usb format tools pen drive stick formatters for. Select mac os extended journaled, or your preferred format type. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. Click the scheme popup menu, then choose master boot record.
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