Apr 30, 2020 this is the best format to pick if you have an external ssd or usb flash drive that you dont intend to use with a windows device. Learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. In order to do usb formatting, go to your usb drive and move on to the erase tab. In the format list box select exfat, enter a volume label if you want, then click erase. Reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial.
This mode is only available on apple computers made after 2009 that were running os x lion or later. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. How to format a flash drive on a mac demonstration. If you need some assistance, we walk you through the process, stepbystep down below. In the top menu bar, go to view, and choose show all devices. Tried 4 times, each time it came back mac os extended journaled. If your mac is from before 2009 or never had os x lion, click here to jump to the next section. For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your mac, you should erase your entire disk. Open up your my computer or computer in vista from the start menu and look for the drive that has a removable disk icon. How to format a usb flash drive on a mac techwalla. Open terminal, which is in the utilities folder of your applications folder. The command line approach to disk erasure in macos is a bit different and it requires precise syntax to insure that you are erasing the proper disk, making this. How to install mac os x yosemite on a thumb drive laptop mag.
How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. Type disk utility in the search box and press enter. Go to the applications folder on your mac s hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume.
So, if users anticipate using the flash drive with more than one operating system, they will definitely benefit from the fat32 file system. Here are the following most common reasons why would you like to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac under mac os extended journaled. With the arrival of os x lion in 2011, apple changed its softwaredelivery method to a download model with the mac app store instead of using physical dvds and other media. Rightclick on the device you wish to format and select format. But, if you plan on using an external drive with both macs and pcs, you should format the disk with the exfat file system instead. This process wont actually convert the file system.
Select your thumb drive in the disk utility window then click the erase tab. I repartitioned the flash drive in disk utility, giving it the mac friendly format and partition map schemes. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another. A jump drive, or usb flash drive, offers convenient portability to your data. Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. To erase and format any drive connected to a mac computer running os x yosemite, use disk utility. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. Click on the view button in the upper lefthand side, change to show all devices. Some mac users may require the ability to erase a disk or erase a hard drive from the command line on mac os, a task which is typically performed through the disk utility application from the gui. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. How to create a bootable macos catalina installer drive. Instead, well just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch.
How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. To leave the mac in an ootb out of the box state, dont continue with the setup. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. By default, they format disks with the maconly os x extended file system. How to create a bootable installer for macos apple support.
To install os x snow leopard from the usb drive, youll need to reformat the mac s hard drive. Use the exfat file system and never format your external. However, you wont be able to use this system with time machine. Aug 16, 2019 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. The setup assistant will guide the new owner through the setup process after heshe turns on the computer. Mac os x can only be installed on a hard drive formatted in mac os extended journaled, filesystem. How to format an external drive in os x by shujaa imran jan 2, 2016 mac most external drives ship in formats that are universally recognised amongst nearly all operating systems fat, im looking at you, but there may be times where you might want to completely wipe a drive andor set it up to be compatible with apples mac lineup only. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through. Enter a name for the disk or volume, such as macintosh hd. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. Instead, press command and q keys to shut down the computer. Jan 02, 2016 how to format an external drive in os x by shujaa imran jan 2, 2016 mac most external drives ship in formats that are universally recognised amongst nearly all operating systems fat, im looking at you, but there may be times where you might want to completely wipe a drive andor set it up to be compatible with apples mac lineup only.
To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. Connect the usb flash drive or other volume that youre using for the bootable installer. It is the reliable disk formatting tool for windows mac. May 28, 2009 would reformatting it to mac os extended for use with fce still allow it to use normal raid abilities. To do this, look towards the top of the screen and click on utilities from the top menu and then click disk utility from the dropdown menu. For instructions on how to format a drive in mac os 10. Learn how to format usb flash drive in mac os x, its very easy to format pen drive in mac os x, its my another mac os tips and tricks. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive.
If you do not see the scheme option, then you have selected the volume and not the drive. An external drive that you can use as an installer for macos catalina is a handy thing to have. Disk utility application in macos is the best option to format a flash drive on macos. May 26, 2017 i explain how to format a storage device for your mac. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows central. This works with any hard drive, flash drive, usb drive, ssd or any other external storage drive for both a mac os x and windows pc. In this article, we are taking a closer look at the disk utility, which. Apr 16, 2008 heres how to reformat a hard drive with mac os x 10. In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file. Format a flash drive or external hard drive for macos x. If you have multple macs to upgrade, its a lot more efficient to plug in the usb installer drive. After returning to mac os x, the u3 system partition was at last nowhere to be found. Fat32 works for both oses, but has a 4gb size limit per file, so it. However, if the usb flash drive is not mounted on mac, you will lose access to the usb flash drive as well as to the data stored on it.
I realize this is not the right forum for posting this, but i thought someone here might be knowledgable about backup in general and how to best format an external drive for use with fce, while maintaining the ability to have a mirrored. How to force a hard drive to unmount for formatting in mac os x disk utility duration. Select the nonindented entry for your seagate drive. So if you think you might need to plug the usb drive into a mac running an older version of macos, format it as mac os extended. The biggest strength of this system is the speed, as well as the encryption and metadata handling. Jul 05, 2017 macs support a variety of file systems.
Select the upper level of the drive you would like to format and click the erase button. Type or paste one of the following commands in terminal. If your mac has a solid state drive, you can skip this part. Jan 15, 2019 so if you think you might need to plug the usb drive into a mac running an older version of macos, format it as mac os extended. First, back up the data on the mac formatted drive if you have anything important on it.
Jan 15, 2020 learn how to use macos recovery to reinstall the mac operating system on your builtin drive or an external drive. The last chance for you to rescue data is to send the broken usb drive to a specialized data recovery service center nearby, and let the professionals try their best. All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your mac. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. Click your primary drive, then click erase if youre wiping a mechanical drive, click security options in the window that pops up.
Some flash drives have to be formatted first before you can store files on them. Why is this offered as a scheme for mac os extended journaled. This format will allow you to use your flash drive on mac without any limitations. Fortunately, while formatting your flash drive on a mac is different than other operating systems it still remains a pretty easy task. Paragon disk wipe allows you to create a bootable usb flash drive or external hard drive that will help you to completely erase a whole hard disk, a separate partition or just clean free space. Feb 21, 2020 its a universal format that is compatible with mac os xmacos, windows, linux and dos systems. While downloading an os x or macos version offers instant gratification, it means youre left without an installer. How to wipe your mac and reinstall macos from scratch. Mac os extended journaled this format is considered as default file system format of the mac os x drives. This is usually assigned to the last drive letter and may show multiple drives if multiple devices are plugged in. I know the first one guid partition map is for booting modern macs. Guid table formatting for intel mac start up disks. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wi. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
For apple mac users, there are two ways to format a usb flash drive to fat32, including disk utility and. How to reformat a jump drive on a mac your business. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. For school or work projects, this portability means you can work from home, work or lab computers while. Reformatting external drive to mac os ext apple community. Locate the drive name from the left hand side of disk utility and click on it. The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. The second one master boot record is old, from the 80s dos 2, for old pcs. Tutorial how to format hard drive on your mac os x the.
Most external hard drives and usb drives are compatible for use on mac. Mar 15, 2003 ok, for various reasons im planning on reformatting my 40 gb external fw drive. Formatting the mac s hard drive using disk utility. If you have a mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a mac and back up the files. Many of these drives offer a keyring attachment hole, so you will never be without your data. How to make a bootable flash installer of os x or macos. Set the format to mac os extended journaled and the scheme to guid partition map. You can also open a finder window, select applications in the sidebar, and head to utilities disk utility.
How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. Okay, so you may have a lot of files that you want to get rid of, but you definitely have some files you want to keep. May 01, 2020 how to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. There are all kinds of reasons why you might want to format a storage drive for your mac from cleaning it up for a fresh install of os x to creating an encrypted drive for work. Choose mac os extended journaled from the format popup menu and click the apply button. In the sheet that appears click the partition button and your flash drive will be formatted as a mac os x. When copying that same folder from the flash drive to my hard drive the two were close1 minute 36 seconds for the os x extended format and. Sep 06, 2019 the simplest way to install macos or os x on a new hard drive is by using internet recovery mode. How to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac.
Apfs is optimized for ssd solid state drive such as flash drives, so if you reformat a flash drive on a mac, you should definitely choose apfs unless you plan to use it with a prehigh sierra mac, of course. But dont worry, this page talks about the reasons for this issue, and how to fix usb flash drive not mounting on mac without data loss even if external hard drive is not showing up on mac. With mac os extended journaled format, you can setup os x startup drive. The simplest way to install macos or os x on a new hard drive is by using internet recovery mode.
Because there are different types of formats for different purposes, its good to know the differences before accepting the default settings. Format a flash drive for both mac os x and windows duration. Sep 29, 2000 in fact i will try to start an ufs install on that partition with the os x beta cd as soon as my friend gets it back to me i wonder why the erase disk option in the finders special menu is disabled by apple it would be great if this feature could be unlockable like some others described up here. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup.
Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for windows compatibility. Make sure that it has at least 12gb of available storage and is formatted as mac os extended. How to create a bootable usb drive with os x snow leopard. By default, they format disks with the mac only os x extended file system.
Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. Usb drives can be formatted on your mac using the disk. This is problematic if you need to reinstall os x or macos on a newly formatted hard drive. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Its a universal format that is compatible with mac os x macos, windows, linux and dos systems. Launch disk utility, located in applications utilities. Booting is not an issue for my use of this flash drive. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. Simply erasing a usb drive in disk utility will automatically format it too.