To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. 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. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. The program is able to format and repair usb flash drives under windows 7, windows 10 and earlier versions of the os. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. How to format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. To do so you can either use the disk utility or the terminal command line.
Formatting your flash drive will typically remove any files or folders on the drive, so make sure you back up your files before. Install windows 10 on your mac with boot camp assistant. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. If the installer asks where to install windows, select the bootcamp partition and click format. 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. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. To find it, type disk management or format disk in windows search and select create and format hard disk partitions. Click the erase button click the scheme popup menu, then choose master boot record.
Getting your mac to load from a usb drive is fairly straightforward. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with. The above command will format the usb drive in the fat32 format which is ideal for usb drives. Jan 04, 2012 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. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. In our example, we have fat32 file system which is compatible on windows. In some cases, the usb flash drives need to be formatted to fat32 as it is one of the most preferred and compatible file systems for both mac and windows. Usb cannot format, usb drive is write protected, usb format error, usb becomes raw, and more are the common issues you might encounter when you use a usb flash drive. Whilst the process of downloading and installing an os through the mac app store is straightforward enough, its painful for people with a slower internet connection, or if theyve. Mar 15, 2018 to format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows 7 by jack scicluna photography, llc guest writer. Dec 29, 2015 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.
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. This wikihow teaches you how to change your flash drives default file format. Hp usb disk storage format tool free download and software. Apr 23, 2020 when boot camp assistant finishes, your mac restarts to the windows installer. 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 choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmaclinux. Unplug any external devices that arent necessary during. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. 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.
Jun 14, 2018 format usb drive for both mac and pc use. If you want to format a hard drive or usb flash drive on your computer, disk formatting tool is the best choice. In the file system list box, choose exfat, type in a volume label. If you have an external hard drive or usb flash drive that youd like to use on both macs and windows pcs, choosing the right file system to format the drive can be confusing.
A dropdown menu will appear with the following options. How to create a windows 10 installer usb drive from a mac. Locate your usb stick under this pc, rightclick on it and select the format option. Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. How to quickly make a mac os x bootable usb on windows. Its below the file system heading near the top of the page. If you want to use the drive between a windows and mac machine, you can format it to fat32. In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices. Next format your usb drive to windows fat32 format. Insert the usb flash drive into the usb port of the computer. To share a usb drive between a mac and a windows pc, there are two disk formats to choose from.
And its likely that you can not do it with the windows builtin disk management tool. In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices in the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with windows computers. When boot camp assistant is done, the usb drive will be renamed to wininstall. Better still, it can be read from and written to on any mac running mac os x snow leopard or later and on windows. If youve been a windows user for even a small amount of time, youd know how to format usb drive on windows. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. If youre intent is to only read files loaded from a pc from a mac, the standard windows ntfs format should suffice. You can use fsntfs instead to format the drive as ntfs which will then only work on a windows pc. The ntfs files can be read by the macos, but you cannot. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows.
If you are on an earlier operating system like windows 7, xp, etc. Its fairly straightforward and all you have to do is rightclick on it and select format. So, i tried the hp usb disk storage format tool, and it make short work of the job. Need to access or transfer files between mac and pc. Note that you should replace the disk2 with the name of the your drive from step 3 if it wasnt disk2. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. Aug 16, 2019 on windows 10, the ability to format a usb flash drive can come in handy in a number of scenarios. Remember, this will erase all the files on the drive. In most cases, the installer selects and formats the bootcamp partition automatically. Format a flash drive for both mac os x and windows.
This article shows you how to download a macos dmg file, format a usb drive using a guid partition table, burn the dmg to the drive and boot your mac from the usb. Click on the usb drive in the sidebar in disk utility. How to format a write protected usb on pc or mac with. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. How to create bootable macos usb on windows 10 when the mac failed to boot or want to reinstall macos. Have you ever ran into a problem where youre trying to use a flash drive on both windows and mac. All the steps except the last one are done on a windows 10 machine. Use unetbootin on mac unetbootin is free to use and allows you to make a bootable usb drive for windows 10 using your mac. So, now go to your usb flash drive and check the macos high sierra files. Since the pc and mac are two different operating systems, they use different file systems. Its very easy to format a usb drive on a mac using disk utility. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. You can view the current file system of the usb drive.
If you want to have a clean installation of macos high sierra whether on mac, windows, or any other virtualization software then this is the best way to create macos high sierra bootable usb on windows without mac. Go to applicationsutilities and launch disk utility. Format usb for mac and pc on windows quickly and securely. 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.
By default, macs use hfs, while pcs use ntfs, which are not compatible with each other. It can take about 20 minutes to format and set up the usb installer on the mac. Usb drives can be formatted on your mac using the disk utility application. Format usb or external hard drive for mac on windows pc using thirdparty usb format tool. Run this command using the correct disk number for your usb. Usb disk storage format tool by authorsoft corporation is a free utility that allows you to easily format your usb flash drives. Windows cant normally read macformatted drives, and will offer to erase them instead.
Format usb or external hard drive for mac using mac disk utility. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. You can also make the disk bootable by specifying a file location. Want to use one external drive for both your windows pc and your mac.
This wikihow teaches you how to remove write protection from a usb drive so you can format it in windows or macos. And if you format it to ntfs, it will not be fully supported in mac operating system. How to create macos high sierra bootable usb on windows. For example, in windows xp my computer is equivalent to this pc on windows 10.
Developers of the program claim that the fat is the best format for usb drive to avoid conflicts with other operating systems. As the article mentioned, this is one of the common formats in. Nov 01, 2011 format a flash drive for both mac os x and windows. How to make a windows 10 usb using your mac build a. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. Sep 25, 2019 you will see output like this note your mac s terminal may be black text on a white background if you havent customized it. Use disk utility on mac if you are running an older version of mac, you can use the builtin disk utility app to create a windows 10 bootable usb drive. At this moment, you have to format your usb flash drive to fix the problem. 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. Click the format dropdown menu and select one of the following file formats. So you might want to use other applications to format your external storage devices. 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. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. When boot camp assistant finishes, your mac restarts to the windows installer.
How to format a write protected usb on pc or mac with pictures. For example, you might want to reformat a new or used removable storage device to make sure it. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. This option is near the middle of the dropdown menu. Insert the usb drive into an open port on your windows computer and then launch the windows disk management utility. How to format and create a usb drive or pen drive that is compatible with windows 10, 8, 7 or mac or linux. Most external hard drives and usb drives are compatible for use on mac computers as long as you format the devices for use with mac os x. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines.
This also allows you to restore time machine backups on windows. Heres how to correctly format the drive to work on both. Sometimes we need to format the u disk, then how to format it, here will tell you a way 1. The other formats microsofts ntfs and apples mac os extended dont work well on the other operating system.
As this is only compatible with older versions of mac os, it is recommended that you use an alternative method. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Be absolutely sure you have your files off the drive and that youve selected the correct drive you want to format. Oct 29, 2019 now, when you are formatting a usb drive on mac, you have an important decision to make. U disk is a commonly used mobile storage tool in daily life.
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. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows central. You get to select a new file system for the drive before you click the start button. Best usb format tools pen drive stick formatters for. Open the finder window and navigate to applications install macos sierra. 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. It will not affect the performance of the flash drive. Therefore, now your usb drive is ready to boot macos high sierra and you can install macos high sierra from your usb flash drive. Learn a few ways to make your drive mac and pc friendly. Now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10.
If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. 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. Again, like the first method, you will need a usb drive with a capacity of 16gb as a minimum recommendation and you will also need to download the. So if your system is unstable, you need to run a diagnostic tool on the hard drive, or you just want to load a linux desktop just to see what its all about, lets look at how you start your machine using rescue usb boot media.
How to create macos bootable usb on windows 10 uubyte. In this article, we will introduce 5 disk formatting tools for windows and mac to help you securely format hard drive usb flash drive or memory card on a pc or a mac. You need to erase and format the usb to be compatible with your mac. 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.
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. Apr 30, 2016 now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. 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. Use disk utility follow the steps to format fat32 with disk utility. How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier. Format external hard drive or usb drive for mac easeus. Rightclick your flash drive and then select format. The latest trend with computers is not including a cddvd drive. How to create a bootable usb drive for macos sierra.
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