Usb formatting tool mac os

How to Format USB Flash Drive to FAT32 on Mac without Data Loss

For Apple Mac users, there are two ways to format USB flash drive to FAT32, including Disk Utility and Terminal command line. Refer to detailed steps of using both tools for FAT32 format. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. Otherwise, you can use data recovery software to recover data from a formatted USB drive.

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Are you looking for a secure way to format USBВ to FAT32 on Mac? You are at the right place. Follow here, you can find two methods that will assist you in doing so on your storage device. And if you lost data during the formatting, reliable Mac file recovery software is ready to help anytime:

Workable Solutions	Step-by-step Troubleshooting
Method 1. Use Disk Utility	Connect USB to Mac > Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility > Select USB and click «Erase». Full steps
Method 2. Use Terminal Command	Connect USB to Mac > Hit cmd + spaceВ keys > Type terminal and hit Enter. Full steps
Bonus Tip. Recover Formatted Data	If you lost data due to formatting, run EaseUS file recovery software > Scan and recover formatted data. Full steps

How to Format a USB Flash Drive with Mac to FAT32

Computer users who use a USB might have the demand for formatting it to the FAT32 file system. Compare with the other commonly used NTFS file system on a flash drive, FAT32 has a compatibility advantage across many operating systems.

It’s a universal format that is compatible with Mac OS X/macOS, Windows, Linux, and DOS systems. So, if users anticipate using the flash drive with more than one operating system, they will definitely benefit from the FAT32 file system.В For Apple Mac users, there are two ways to format a USB flash drive to FAT32, namely Disk Utility and Terminal command line. Below are the detailed steps of the FAT32 format with both methods.

Method 1. Format FAT32 on Mac [Disk Utility]

To format USB to FAT32 with Disk Utility will erase all data on the flash drive, so before you doing so, please do remember to check whether you have saved useful data to another secure device in advance.

To format the USB drive to FAT32, follow the next steps:

Step 1. Connect the USB flash drive to your Mac computer.

Step 2. Go to Applications > Utilities > Double click and open Disk Utility.

Step 3. Select your USB flash drive on the sidebar, choose Erase.

Step 4. Rename the USB flash drive (optional).

Step 5. Choose the format as MS-DOS (FAT) for Format, Master Boot Record for Scheme. Then click Erase.

Wait for the process to complete, then you’ll get an empty new USB flash drive with FAT32 as the file system. You can use it for saving data again.

Method 2. Format FAT32 on Mac [Terminal Command Line]

The command-line behavior does the same way to erase data with the Disk Utility. Again, create a backup before taking this action.

To format FAT32 on Mac with Terminal, follow the next steps:

Step 1. Connect theВ USB flash drive to your Mac computer.

Step 2. Hit cmd + space to run Spotlight, type: terminal, and hit Enter.

Step 3. Type: diskutil list and find out which disk is your USB drive.В

Step 4. Type: sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat /dev/disk2.

• sudo gives you user right.
• Diskutil calls disk utility program.
• eraseDisk commands to format.
• FAT32 sets the file system.
• MBRFormat tells disk utility to format with a Master Boot Record.
• /dev/disk2 is the location of the USB drive.

Wait for the process to complete. After this, you can type «diskutil list»В in the command again to check if the formatting has been successful.В

Bonus Tip: How to Recover Data from Formatted USB

Formatting the USB would erase the data on it completely, so please make sure that you have a backup. If you don’t, you can count on data recovery software to retrieve the lost data.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard has both Windows and Mac versions, so it’s a goodВ choice for data recovery, no matter you’re using a PC or Mac. For Mac users, it only takes a few clicks for the software to scan and display the formatted data. To guarantee an effective data recovery without spending money to no avail, you can install the Mac data recovery free version for the first trial. You can preview all the found data before the final recovery.

To recover data from a formatted USB flash drive on Mac, follow the next steps:

Step 1. Correctly connect your USB flash drive to your Mac. Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac. Start selecting the flash drive and click «Scan» to let the software search lost files on it.

Step 2. After a quick scan and deep scan, all files will be presented in the left panel in the scan results.

Step 3. Select files you want to recover and click the «Recover» button. Don’t save the recoverable files to the USB drive itself in case of data overwriting.

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2021 Top 3 USB Format Tools For Mac Are Here to Help

Are you looking for a reliableВ format tool that canВ format and changeВ the file system of your USB flash drive or external USB driveВ to make it detectable on Mac computers?

Follow through the belowВ guide, you’ll learn how to setВ a suitable file system forВ your USB flash drive and make it detectableВ on Mac:

This guide also works to format your external hard drive, SD card, hard drive, etc., devices to recognizedВ on Mac computers.В

#1. Pick The Best USB Format Tool for Mac — 3 Top Tools

The first thing that comes up in your mind could be which tool that you can use to format the USB flash drive or external USB drive, right?

Here, in this part, we’ve collected 3 top recommended USB format tools that can help you fully format and reset the file system of your device to be usable on Mac:В

USB Format Tool for Mac	Pros	Format Process
Disk Utility for Mac	Free Mac built-in formatВ utility	6 steps to format USB on Mac
Terminal Command for Mac	Free Mac built-in formatВ utility	5 steps to format USB on Mac
Format Software for Windows	Windows advanced format tool Designed for Windows beginners	4 steps for format USB for Mac

So how to select a suitable tool to format your USB flash drive or external hard drive for Mac? For a quick guide, read the tips here:

1. 1. To format a USB flash drive on Mac, Disk Utility is better a better choice. The terminal is far more complex for beginners.
2. 2. To prepare a USB flash drive ready for Mac on a Windows computer, you can try the third-party format software.

After picking the right USB format tool, you can now move to the next guide and decide which format that you should set for the USB flash drive or external hard drive.

#2. Set a Suitable File SystemВ for USB or External USB DriveВ on Mac

Note that Windows uses NTFS butВ Mac can’t write files to volumes with NTFS format. Mac computer can only read NTFS devices.

Here is a list of macOS supported file systemsпјљ

• Apple File System — APFS: Used by macOS 10.13 or later.
• Mac OS Extended: Used by macOS 10.12 or earlier.
• FAT32 and ExFAT: Compatible with both Windows and macOS.

Usually, both APFS and Mac OS Extended file systems are mostly used on Mac hard drives, while the FAT/FAT32 and exFAT are common formats for external storage devices.

So how to set a suitable format for your USB flash drive or external USB drive? Here areВ our suggestions:

• If theВ USBВ drive is less than 64GB, set it as FAT32. If it’s larger than 64GB, set its file system as exFAT.
• If you tend to use it as a Time Machine backup disk, format it as Mac OS Extended Journaled.

#3. Format USB Drive forВ MacВ on Mac/Windows Computers

So how do IВ format a USBВ stick on a Mac computer? Here, we’ll show you how to format your USB flash drive or external hard drive for Mac usage.В

• If you want to directly format the USB on your Mac computer, follow Method 1 and Method 2.
• If you want to format USB on your Windows computer and make it usable on Mac, try Method 3.

Method 1. Format USB or External Hard Drive for Mac using Mac Disk utility

Disk UtilityВ offers users similar features in the disk management tool, such as to create, delete, resize, merge and format partitions. You can try the following steps to format USB or external hard drive for Mac with Disk Utility on Mac:

Step 1. Connect the USB or external hard drive to your Mac computer.

Step 2. On the Apple menu, click «Go» and select «Applications».

Step 3.В Double-click «Utilities» in the Applications window.

Step 4.В Double-click to open Disk UtilityВ in the Utilities window to open it.

Step 5.В Select your USB or external drive, clickВ «Erase», then click the FormatВ columnВ and select a format for your USB.

For example, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or MS-DOS (FAT).

Step 6.В Reset the drive name and click «Erase» to confirm the operationВ on the next pop-up window.

Wait for the process to complete and then you’ll get a new Mac compatibleВ file system on your external hard drive or USB, which will make your device detectableВ and workable onВ Mac.

Method 2. Format USB Drive for Mac using Terminal Command

Terminal command lines work the same as Disk Utility, however, it’s more complex for beginners. If you prefer to use this method, make sure that you follow the steps below carefully:

Step 1. Connect the USB flash drive or external hard driveВ to your Mac computer.

Step 2.В PressВ cmd + space to run Spotlight, type: terminal, and hit Enter.

Step 3. Type: diskutil list and find out which disk is your USB drive.

Step 4. Type: sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat /dev/disk2В and press Return.

• sudo gives you user right.
• Diskutil calls disk utility program.
• eraseDisk commands to format.
• FAT32В isВ the file system. (You can also replace it with another file system.)
• MBRFormat tells disk utility to format with a Master Boot Record.
• /dev/disk2 is the location of the USB drive.

Step 5.В Wait for the process to complete and then close Terminal.

After this, you can use your USB on Mac in a detectable and readable format now.

Method 3. Format USB or External Hard Drive for MacВ on a Windows PC

If you need a simpler format tool to format USB or external hard drive to FAT32 on a Windows computer so to make itВ work on Mac, you can apply a third-party format tool for help.

EaseUS partition software is a popular diskВ management tool that is available for resolve all types of partition managementВ jobs such as format disk partition, extend system partition, settle low disk space problems.

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It allows you to format a USB or external hard drive on your Windows PC in only 4 simple steps:

• Right-click the external drive or USBВ you intend to format and choose «Format».
• Set the Partition label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4), and Cluster size, then click «OK».
• Click «OK» to continue.
• Click the «Execute Operation» buttonВ and click «Apply» to format the hard drive partition.

After this, you can connect the formattedВ external hard drive or USB drive to your Mac computer and use it to save data by then.В

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Note that if you want to transfer a USB flash drive from NTFS to FAT32 without formatting it as you have saved some important data on it, EaseUS Partition Master can help.

Pick a Right USB Format Tool andВ Format Your USB Drive for Mac Now

On this page, we presented 3 reliable USB format tools for you to format a USB flash drive or external hard drive on Mac or Windows computers, making the storageВ deviceВ usable on Mac.

For Mac beginners, Disk Utility is good for you to try. As for Windows users who want to format a USB drive for Mac, EaseUS partition manager software — Partition Master worths your trust.

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After picking the right tool, you can just revert to the right tutorial, take action to format your driveВ usable for Mac computer now.

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