How to open mac format usb devce in windows youtube. To do this, you can take the assistance of disk utility, which is a dedicated system component in mac. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac in disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. How to create mac os x bootable usb pen drive with windows 10 7. Some of these usb flash drive format software run only in administrator mode, while some run normally. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmaclinux.
This wikihow teaches you how to change your flash drive s default file format. Go to applicationsutilities and launch disk utility. Rather than use a macformatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfatformatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. How to format a hard drive you must format a drive before using it in windows 10, 8, 7, vista, or xp. Plug the drive into a usb socket if you have a recent macbook or macbook pro. The hp usb format tool allows you to format the usb flash drive in the mac os x. 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. Under the devices and drivers section, rightclick the flash drive and. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting. Macs and pcs use different file systems, which can make it tricky to put data from your mac on a flash or hard drive and give it to a windows. Have you ever ran into a problem where youre trying to use a flash drive on both windows and mac. How to format a usb flash drive on mac wondershare. Format usb or external hard drive for mac using mac disk utility format usb or external hard drive for mac on windows pc using thirdparty usb format tool.
Insert the windows 7 or windows 10 dvd into the dvd drive and boot the pc. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos. Use microsofts media creation tool to ensure you have a windows 10 boot drive. The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats.
In general, windows builtin tools disk management and diskpart can format drive to exfat easily. If youve been a windows user for even a small amount of time, youd know how to format usb drive on windows. You can format a hard drive or usb flash disk specifically so that it will be compatible with both mac os x and windows pc computers. Some flash drives have to be formatted first before you can store files on them. How to create mac os x bootable usb pen drive on windows. Usb drives can be formatted on your mac using the disk utility application. In order to write on the usb drive on mac, you need to format the device into apple supported file systems like apfs or mac os extended.
To find it, type disk management or format disk in windows search and select create and format hard disk partitions. You can then rightclick in the empty space and select new simple volume to create a partition and format it with the windows ntfs or fat32 file systems. Means if one want to transfer movie or any stuff greater than 4gb it cant be done in this format. Once youve copied any files you need from the usb drive to your mac. Feb 17, 2020 creating a windows 10 boot drive is easy peasy. How to create macos high sierra bootable usb on windows. Click the scheme popup menu, then choose master boot record. Its fairly straightforward and all you have to do is rightclick on it and select format.
How to format a disk or drive in windows 10 information format is the process of preparing a data storage device such as a hard disk drive, solidstate drive, or usb flash drive for initi. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. Learn how to format your usb flash drive or usb external drive so you can use it on both mac os x and windows computers. In order to be able to access the macos efi partition on windows we first need to mount it. To format a hard drive for compatibility of both mac and windows you can use fat32 format which has both readwrite capability on winmac respectively. It can help you resize partition, extend partition, format partition, convert fat32 to ntfs, check file system, copy. This will erase all contents on the disk, however, so youll need to. Bottom line with so many ways to break the incompatibility barrier between mac and windows, you should never be limited whenever you want to transfer files across devices. Right click on the partition and select delete volume this will remove the partition. Dec 01, 2016 this tutorial will help you create a bootable usb flash drive for your mac on a windows computer.
To format usb drive in windows operating system, it is recommended to use the free usb formatter minitool partition wizard free edition. Now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. Dec 05, 2019 rightclick on windows icon, select disk management. Creating a gpt partition to build a mac os x bootable drive on windows 10. Technician pc windows pc that youll use to format the usb flash drive. Sep 23, 2019 creating a gpt partition to build a mac os x bootable drive on windows 10. Use microsofts media creation tool to ensure you have a windows 10 boot drive handy should you ever run into issues with your current pc. Whether the usb should be readable by windows machines and mac machines or just by mac and not readable in windows. 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. Use these steps to create a bootable media to install mac os x.
How to format and create a usb drive or pen drive that is compatible with windows 10, 8, 7 or mac or linux. The default windows tool has quick format option available to format a usb flash drive, but these freeware can carry out format process in quick format mode, compression mode, etc. We all make mistakes, and you wouldnt be the first person in the world to accidentally format a usb flash drive. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. 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. 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.
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. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Not every flash drive out there can be used with a mac computer right out of the box. Select the mac drive from the list of drives make sure this is the drive you want to work on, if you do it for the windows formatted drive in the list, it may cost you a lot of important data. If you want to use the usb devices in windows you have to know how to do it. How to format usb drive on windows 10 using command prompt. Format usb for mac and pc on windows quickly and securely.
This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through all connections, be they usb, firewire, or thunderbolt. If you want to make your drive compatible with mac and windows, you need to format it with a common file system for mac and windows. Dec, 2019 you can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. After you complete the steps, the usb flash drive from mbr to gpt format, you can use the steps below to create a bootable usb installation media to install mac os x. Therefore, now your usb drive is ready to boot macos high sierra and you can install macos high sierra from your usb flash drive.
I put it in my win 7 pro machine to format it for win7. How to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Disk utility step 1 connect your usb flash drive to the mac computer. You get to select a new file system for the drive before you click the start button. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. However, for this you need to follow the next steps. How to format a usb drive for mac and pc compatibility youtube.
How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Thats why were using a bootable windows 710 installation dvd or usb drive which allows us to format the hard disk. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. If you only use a mac computer, you can format your thumb drive so it can work on windows systems. Convert formatted drive from mac to windows info remo. In this article, we are taking a closer look at the disk utility, which comes with all recent versions of the mac os x operating system and how you can use it to format usb drive. How to format a write protected usb on pc or mac with. However, in disk management, youll find that there is no exfat option when you right click the partition that you need to format and choose format partition, if the partition is on an internal or external hard drive. You need to erase and format the usb to be compatible with your mac. Although we know its limitation of 4gb file size only. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. Install windows from a usb flash drive microsoft docs.
Find out how to format an external drive or usb disk making the drive work with both windows pc and mac can read and write. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. So, now go to your usb flash drive and check the macos high sierra files. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. Means if one want to transfer movie or any stuff greater than 4gb it. Howto mount and edit macos efi partition directly on. Mar 19, 2020 to format a hard drive means to erase any information on the drive and to set up a file system so your operating system can read data from, and write data to, the drive. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. Jul 22, 2019 how to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. Jun 14, 2018 format usb drive for both mac and pc use.
As you can see, exfat is the only file system that works with all versions of windows and. Better still, it can be read from and written to on any mac running mac os x snow leopard or later and on windows. 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. For example, in windows xp my computer is equivalent to this pc on windows 10. Oct 25, 2016 usb devices,that are formatted in mac format. How to format a hard drive on windows or mac avast.
To format a usb flash drive using file explorer, use these steps. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with windows computers. There are a couple ways to mount an efi partition, in my opinion the simplest way is to give it a drive letter. Click on the usb drive in the sidebar in disk utility. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. Similar to windows 10, you can format usb drives on mac using disk utility app. 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. Apr 30, 2016 now, lets take a look at some ways you can format your usb drive on windows 10. Jul 24, 2018 if youve been a windows user for even a small amount of time, youd know how to format usb drive on windows. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. In order for this to work you should have a usb flash drive.
Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. Windows will format the drive as exfat and youll be able to use the drive on both windows and mac. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. In our example, we have fat32 file system which is compatible on windows. Jan 04, 2012 how to format an external drive for mac compatibility. Download hp usb disk storage format tool on mac, install it on emulated windows. It is the recommended file format for windows computers, however, they are not suited for mac os. This drive will be formatted, so make sure it doesnt have any important files on it. May 29, 2018 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. In the disk utility app on your mac, choose view show all devices. The other formats microsofts ntfs and apples mac os extended dont work well on the other operating system. Now, when you are formatting a usb drive on mac, you have an important decision to make. Rightclick on windows icon, select disk management.
Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Therefore, it is advisable to format your external drive as a last result and only if all the devices you have support exfat. It recognizes the drive, installs the drivers, yet never shows up as an active. If you dont have the dvd handy, you need to create a bootable windows usb drive. Formatting a drive will erase all data and partitions on the disk. Type in a name for the drive, then select a format. How to quickly make a mac os x bootable usb on windows. Hi there, i have a usb flash drive which was formatted for a mac. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os.
If you are not able to login to your mac, you need to use time machine backup disk. Though you can mount the drive to view and copy the content, you cant write on the drive. This wikihow teaches you how to remove write protection from a usb drive so you can format it in windows or macos. Format external hard drive or usb drive for mac easeus. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format.
Best usb format tools pen drive stick formatters for. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. Im here to use a windows 10 based hp laptop to format my lexar drive. Ntfs is the default file system for windows operating system and hfs for mac operating system. Formatting your flash drive will typically remove any files or folders on the drive, so make sure you back up your files before.
Dec 16, 2018 how to create bootable usb drive for mac. Read mac formatted drives with windows the tech guy. This is a detailed tutorial on how to format a hard drive in windows 10, windows 8, windows 7, windows vista, and windows xp. How to format pen drive on mac just like windows, mac also allows a seamless solution to do pen drive format. As complicated as that might sound, its not really difficult to format a hard drive in any version of windows. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. When you plug a drive thats been formatted for mac into a windows pc, you may find that it isnt readable.
How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Insert the usb drive into an open port on your windows computer and then launch the windows disk management utility. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Install the parallels desktop emulator on your mac os. How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier. Apr 22, 2012 to format a hard drive for compatibility of both mac and windows you can use fat32 format which has both readwrite capability on winmac respectively. You can view the current file system of the usb drive.
The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. The quickest way is to search on spotlight and click. Disk drill, a premium data recovery solution for mac os x with support for all popular file formats and common storage devices, is here to help you recover deleted files from usb flash drive. To share a usb drive between a mac and a windows pc, there are two disk formats to choose from. How to format flash drive on win7 when it was formatted on. 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. Erase or format your macs drives using disk utility. Select your usb flash drive on the sidebar, choose erase. As this is only compatible with older versions of mac os, it is recommended that you use an alternative method. One simple way to make the drive readable on both platforms is to format it to exfat, which both operating systems can understand. Mar 15, 2018 rather than use a macformatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfatformatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. If you are on an earlier operating system like windows 7, xp, etc.
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