Nowadays, when you buy a USB drive, you can use it right out of the box with your Mac. Nevertheless, unless it's been designed for utilise with a Mac, it won't be formatted using macOS' preferred file system (either Mac OS Extended or APFS, depending on which version of macOS yous're running).

That'due south because about of the computers in the world run Windows, and Windows uses a different file organisation, usually 1 known equally Fat32. Drives formatted equally Fat32 can be read from and written to by macOS, but it'southward not optimal and you're more probable to run across problems than if you utilise macOS' native format. Then, if you've bought a USB drive that'south formatted as Fat32, or any other format other than Mac Os Extended (too known equally HFS+) or APFS, here'south how to format a USB drive on Mac. It's exactly the same procedure if y'all demand to reformat a flash drive on a Mac.

How to format a USB bulldoze on a Mac

1. Plug the drive into a USB socket (if you lot have a contempo MacBook or MacBook Pro that only has USB-C connectors, you'll need a USB-C to USB-A adaptor).

two. Open a new Finder window and click on the drive. Make sure it has no files on it that you need. The process of reformatting it will wipe all the information from it.

3. In one case you've copied whatsoever files you need from the USB drive to your Mac, become to Applications>Utilities and double-click on Deejay Utility.

4. Click on the USB drive in the sidebar and and so choose Erase from the toolbar at the top of the window.

5. In the window that drops down type a name for the formatted bulldoze in the box next to Name.

6. Cull a format from the dropdown carte.

7. If you have previously stored sensitive data on the drive, click the Security tab.

8. Cull a security level using the slider. The farther to the right you move the slider, the more 'passes' the erase tool volition make and the more than deeply files will be deleted. However, it also increases the time it takes to format the bulldoze quite considerably.

9. Click Ok then click Erase.

Tip: You don't need to erase a whole bulldoze to delete files deeply. If yous have confidential files or sensitive data you need to remove from your Mac completely, y'all should use CleanMyMac'south File Shredder. It's specifically designed to deeply delete sensitive data and volition render information technology unrecoverable. You can download CleanMyMac X for complimentary here.

Shredder module of CleanMyMacX

Which format to choose?

If your Mac is running macOS Loftier Sierra or later, you have two options for file formats: APFS and Mac OS Extended. Which should you cull? The key bespeak is that disks formatted as APFS won't exist recognized past Macs running versions of macOS older than Loftier Sierra. And so if you recall you might need to plug the USB bulldoze into a Mac running an older version of macOS, format it equally Mac Bone Extended.

APFS is optimized for SSD (solid country drive) such as wink drives, so if you reformat a flash drive on a Mac, you should definitely choose APFS (unless y'all program to apply it with a pre-Loftier Sierra Mac, of course). Fifty-fifty on hard drives, however, APFS is faster and more reliable than Mac OS Extended.

Finally, if you program to use the USB bulldoze equally a destination for Time Machine backups, cull Mac OS Extended. Fourth dimension Machine tin can't currently dorsum up to an APFS deejay and if you select one for use with Time Automobile, it will offering to reformat it every bit Mac OS Extended. You tin, however, fill-in an APFS formatted deejay to a Mac Bone Extended Time Machine drive.

How to format a USB drive to FAT32 on a Mac

The main reason for formatting a USB bulldoze as Fat32 on a Mac is that you want to be able to utilize the drive on a Windows PC, as well as a Mac — mayhap to transfer files between the two machines. You lot may likewise be preparing the bulldoze for use equally, say, a storage device for a media player or to record TV programmes on a Telly with a USB port.

The fact that Fat32 can be read from and written to on both Mac and Windows makes it very versatile. However, there is a significant limitation — individual files take a maximum size of 4GB. And so, if y'all're using the USB bulldoze to shop big video files, you lot may run into trouble. There is a solution, however, exFAT. Different FAT32, exFAT doesn't have a maximum file limit. Better still, it can be read from and written to on any Mac running Mac OS X Snow Leopard or later and on Windows.

To format a USB bulldoze in FAT32 or exFAT:

1. Plug the USB bulldoze into your Mac.

ii. Go to Applications>Utilities and launch Disk Utility.

3. Click on the USB drive in the sidebar in Disk Utility.

4. Click Erase in the Disk Utility toolbar.

5. Type in a proper name for the formatted disk.

6. Click on the Format menu and choose either MS-DOS (FAT32) or ExFAT.

7. Click Erase.

Your USB bulldoze will at present be erased and re-formatted as either FAT32 or ExFAT, depending on the format you chose in step 6.

How to manage your drives hands

If you look for a quick and easy way to manage your drives, try using CleanMyDrive 2. With its help, you can drag-and-drop files directly to any drive, make clean hidden junk from external drives, and cheque deejay stats. Information technology works for all drives, including USB drives, SSD, SD cards, external hard drives. All the drives will exist at hand in the menu bar, so you can get to run across types of drives yous have and manage them hands. CleanMyDrive is admittedly free to utilise, then download it on the Mac App Store and savor!

manage-usb-drive-easily

It's very easy to format a USB drive on a Mac using Disk Utility. There are a couple of things yous should go on in mind, however. The showtime is that when you lot format and disk, you will erase all the data currently on it. So if you demand that data, make sure you re-create it onto some other deejay earlier you start. Secondly, there are several formats to choose from, each with advantages and disadvantage. Employ the guide higher up to assistance you decide which is correct for you.