Format Flash Drive For Mac And Windows

21-04-2021 by



You can format the external hard drive or USB drive to make it compatible with both Mac and Windows machines. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesn’t worry it’s not complex.

If you are tech savvy and use Windows and Mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between Mac and PC. Windows and macOS filesystems are different and you might need to format the drive every time to use on both platforms. You don’t need to format the hard drive every time you can choose a filesystem while formatting the drive so the hard drive or USB drive work on both Mac and PC

So to get rid of these situations we bring here a guide that will help you to format your drive which works on both platforms and you don’t need to format and backup data every time. After cross-compatible formatting, simply unplug the drive from one machine and then plug it into another. Sounds good to you right? So let’s started, how this works.

Understand file systems for Mac and Windows

There are three common file system types to format an external USB or hard drive, SSD drive, SD card and etc. FAT32, NTFS, and exFAT let’s have a look what’s the difference between these formats.

How to format internal and/or external drive to work properly on Mac and Windows computers? External data storage devices such as USB flash drives, external Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), and Solid State Drives (SSDs) provide one of the easiest ways to transfer files between separate computers without accessing the Internet. Here’s how: Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for Windows compatibility. Go to the Applications folder on your Mac’s hard drive, then go to the Utilities folder, and launch Disk Utility. Select the drive you want to format. If you’re both Mac users, swell; with Mac and Windows in the mix, you might be tempted to pick FAT32 when formatting that thumb drive. But FAT32 is distinctly out of date. Designed for an earlier.

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FAT 32 Format

This format is pretty old but supported and it’s not efficient as compared to NTFS. It doesn’t support big features but offers great compatibility which means it’s compatible with all versions of Windows. It can only support 4GB file size and up to 8TB hard drivers. It’s not capable to store files larger than 4GB.

NTFS Format

NTFS is a modern format system and Windows also uses this format for itself and for other non-removable drives by default. This format is also compatible with all versions of Windows but limited to none Windows OS as FAT32.

exFAT Format

exFAT drives are faster at reading and writing as compared to FAT32. This format can store large files and it’s also lightweight. It’s compatible with all versions of Windows and the best thing it’s along with Windows it’s also compatible with macOS, Linux, and Android, etc.

  • If your drive is formatted as Windows default format NTFS then it’s only readable to macOS. You can’t do more than that or you have to install a separate app on Mac to read write the drive.
  • Drive with macOS format HFS+ cant readable to Windows.
  • FAT32 format works on both Windows and Mac but the problem is you can only work with files with a maximum size of 4GB.

Learn more: Copy data on NTFS drive in macOS

FAT32 is much better than NTFS and HFS+ becuase it works on both operating systems. You can also install drivers on each OS to make work your drive. So exFAT is much better than all of these formats and a simple option but this will not work on Leopard.

Format a USB Drive on Mac

Time needed: 5 minutes.

First, let’s see how to format an external hard drive or USB drive in macOS which works with both Mac and PC platforms, first plug-in your drive into a macOS machine.

  1. Disk Utility

    Open Disk Utility on your macOS, press cmd + spacebar keys, and type Disk Utility in the spotlight search. Open Disk Utility from the search results.

  2. Erase Drive

    On the Disk Utility interface, select an external drive click on the Erase button from the top of the window (make sure and backup your drive before erasing it).

  3. Drive format

    Now enter the name for the external drive which will be used after formatting and also select the exFAT for Format option and click on the Erase. This will format the drive as exFAT format and your drive is now compatible with both platforms.

Format USB Drive in Windows

The below steps for formatting external drive is for Windows 10 and also works the same with an old version of Windows. To format your external drive hard drive in Windows to use on Mac and PC platforms, first plug-in your drive with a Windows machine.

Open the Disk Management tool by right-clicking on the start menu icon and then select Disk Management. Now right click on the external drive and click on the format option (double-check the drive name and capacity to make sure you are going to format the right drive.)

Now enter the Volume label as you need and change the File system for exFat and click OK. Now you are done.

Share your experience, how do you use an external hard drive on both Mac and PC. Did you format the drive as exFAT ? or use any utility that helps the system to read another type of file system. Please leave a comment below.

Related Content

Dec 16, 2020 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions

'My USB Drive keeps on hanging. But I find other formatting styles not to be quite effective. Can someone enlighten me on how to format the flash drive using cmd?'

It is no secret that USB flash drive comes with more flexible features for different use. They`re the widely used removable storage devices. And when buying one, the possibility of formatting never crosses your mind.

But the truth is that, with time, there will rise a necessity to format your flash disk drive. Not necessarily a negative situation, not necessarily when you want to fix a USB flash drive problem, but also when you realize you can demand more from it.

And here's the question that brings things into perspective: When is it appropriate to format your flash disk drive?

Let's explore some situations that necessitate formatting USB using CMD.

Part 1: Why Do You Need to Format a USB Flash Drive

1. To Change the File System

The default file system for most USB drives is Fat 32, which is only appropriate if you`re using it on different operating systems like Mac OS, Linux, and Windows. But if you're using it exclusively on Windows, you can demand more from it by safely changing the file system to NTFS.

And here is how the NTFS file system will serve you better:

  • NTFS System file is more powerful and includes features that can host Active Directories
  • NTFS has better protection from unauthorized physical access
  • Your drive will support file large than 4GB
  • Work faster on Windows—It is built for speed, and even more.

However, do not convert the file system to NTFS, if your flash drive is less than 2GB as it will affect its performance.

And to change from one file system to another, you must format your USB flash drive.

2. To Execute Fast Erasure of Bulk data

Removing personal data from a flash disk drive might be the most common reason why many people format flash drives. This is more common when you want to donate, sell, or you`ve bought a new drive, and you want to get it set for new usage.

Note that if you're seeking data privacy by formatting, it isn`t 100% secure as it doesn`t erase the digital signature of your data in the storage medium. The new user can retrieve non-overwritten data using recovery software.

3. To fix Bad Sector and Flash Drive Corruption

Sometimes flash disk drive denies access to the users due to the RAW data file system. Under this situation, Windows asks you to format it before you can use it. And there is no other way you can go about it.

If the data on such drive is essential, and you don't want to lose it but access it, you can format the USB drive with CMD then use a recovery tool to retrieve your data.

4. When you Want to Create a Bootable Flash Drive

If you want to create a bootable USB flash drive to use to deploy Windows server's essential or install an operating system to have Windows portable USB drive, you'll be forced to format the flash drive first.

A bootable Windows portable USB drive can save you a lot of time and energy of carrying your computer along.

5. When you want to Get Rid of Viruses

If your computer is infected with viruses, formatting or erasing the flash drive and starting over will undoubtedly remove any virus. However, this isn't the appropriate way to deal with malware. If your backup still has the virus your computer will be re-infected.

With the right reasons to format your flash disk drive, the next question you`ll ask yourself is:

How do you effectively format your drive?

As you know, there is a more straightforward way to format flash disk drive on Windows. But you should head over to formatting USB using CMD if you`re experiencing the following problems:

  • When Windows was unable to complete format
  • When the disk cannot be fixed and formatted using the disk manager.

Part 2: How to Format USB Using CMD

Step 1: Open the Windows Command Prompt and key in 'diskpart' and click enter.

Step 2: A Window will pop up and ask you to ask you if you want to allow the Diskpart software to run your computer. Click on the 'Yes' button to proceed.

Step 3: A new window will pop up. Then Key in 'List disk.' It is vital you know which disk is the USB Key You`re formatting. This command list all storage media connected on your PC.

Step 4: Key in 'Select disk Y,' where Y is the disk you wish to format. In this case, Y is 2. If your selection is successful, you`ll see 'Disk Y is now selected the selected disk.'

Step 5: Type 'Clean' to format your flash disk drive with cmd. If the formatting is successful, the cmd will tell you that Diskpart has succeeded in cleaning the disk.

Step 6: Then enter, 'create partition primary' to create a specified partition.

Step 7: Key in (format fs=NTFS). If you like other file system format, change the command NTFS to the desired one such as exFAT, FAT32, etc.

The process can take some time.

Step 8: Type 'assign' and give a drive letter to the flash drive

Now if you were wondering about how to format a USB using CMD, you should be done already.

Part 3: How to Recover Formatted USB Pen Drive in Windows 10

Some circumstance like data changing to RAW format makes your data inaccessible and forces you to format your pen drive using CMD. And if you didn`t mean to lose your data, you can get your data back utilizing the correct recovery software. And in this case, we`ll review one of the world`s best data recovery tool for formatted USB flash drive—Recoverit Data Recovery.

Features of Recoverit

  • Comprehensive Scan: The tool employs an advanced algorithm that scrapes deep into your flash disk drive to bring back all your formatted file that is accessible. The algorithm delivers a high recovery rate of 96%.
  • Clutter-Free User Interface: Quickly access the powerful and seamlessly knitted utilities to recover your formatted file. Recoverit utilizes graphics and words flawlessly to offer you an intuitive user interface that reduces recovery into a 3-steps procedure—Select, Scan, and Recover.
  • Quick Data Recovery: Recover it has faster processing speed in both operational and scanning functions that quickly permeates your flash drive to get the formatted files in no time.

Video: How to Recover Accidentally Lost Files

Format Flash Drive For Both Windows And Mac

How to Use Recoverit Software to Recover Formatted Flash drive

Step 1: Launch the program

After a successful download and installation on your computer, you can begin to enjoy the free version of this App. Plugin your Flash disk drive to your PC and launch the Recoverit tool.

Step 2: Select the location

Format Pen Drive For Mac And Windows

On the main screen select the flash disk drive you want to recover. Select the path or location, and click the 'start' button to initiate the scan.

Step 3. Hit the 'Scan' button

Recoverit will thoroughly scan through your flash drive to get your formatted data. You will be able to see the entire list once it is populated.

Flash Drive For Mac And Pc

Windows

Step 4: Preview and recover the data you want

Format Flash Drive For Mac And Windows

Use the preview function to ascertain if you precisely need to retrieve the file. You can preview multiple data, including photos, videos, audios, pdfs, docs, etc. After the preview, hit the recover button to retrieve all the selected files.

How To Format Thumb Drive For Both Mac And Windows

The Bottom line: Formatting a USB flash drive is a straightforward job on Windows systems. But at a time, you might not be able to execute USB formatting using the windows-suggested method. Instead, you`ll get the error message 'Windows was unable to complete the format.' And that`s where CMD USB formatting comes handy—it will wipe the disk clean. And if you never intended to lose your data, you should carefully choose the data recovery tool or end up with tons of inaccessible files.

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