However, you can format the drive to work with both windows and mac by. 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. Also, since i dont know whether you are on a pc or mac to perform this operation, im here to break down this guide into two parts. Mar 16, 2020 you must have come across forums where people ask how to format ntfs on mac. However, with some slight tweaking of settings, you can actually format your removable storage devices in ntfs format, including external hard drives, etc. So if you want your external hard drive to be backward compatible with both oss then you need to reformat it with fat32 or exfat.
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. Jan 15, 2019 its exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a mac. You can insert the usb drive to a windows computer including windows xp, vista, 7, 8, 10 to perform a quick format so as to change its file system to ntfs. As the default file system in windows, it can only read by mac os, writing to it is not available. Feb 21, 2020 how to format a usb flash drive with mac to fat32.
Mac os users must reformat the drive with the fat32 format in order to read and write to the drive. How to format toshiba harddrive for mac apple community. Find my computer in the start menu or by typing it in the search bar. If given a choice, the two common modes are ntfs and fat32. Reasons for formatting your mac the reasons which lead to formatting the mac hard drive are listed below. But unlike other electronics on the market, its possible to reformat an external drive to work wi. If you happen tove simply purchased your self a shiny new exterior drive and mightt get it to work in your mac, its attainable that the drive isnt suitable with macos. Instead, well just be wiping the drive and starting over from scratch. How do i format a usb flash drive to ntfs file system. 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. If you only use a mac computer, you can format your thumb drive so it can. If you keep your hard drives outofthebox ntfs format for all the reasons fat32 displeases, theres a workaround that will allow. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. How to reformat an external drive for mac warehouse.
If i insert the usb drive on a windows machine, windows indicates that i need to format the drive before i can use it. Disk utility application in macos is the best option to format a flash drive on macos. Rightclick on the device you wish to format and select format. If youve just bought yourself a shiny new external drive and cant get it to work on your mac, its possible that the drive isnt compatible with macos. This process wont actually convert the file system. In such a case, its necessary to reformat wd hard drive to make it compatible with mac operating system. The reason i prefer to use exfat instead of ntfs is that exfat is read and write compatible with both windows and mac os you cant write to ntfs on a mac. The native mac hfs format is also supported, choose this file system if you will only be using the datalocker on a mac system. In device manager, look for your usb drive in disk drives tab. You must use the existing name of the volume or the conversion will be canceled. Go finder window on you mac then click on applications the image right.
Incompatibility issues between the file systems of both flash drive and the mac computer. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. But if it is ntfs, format your flash drive to make it completely compatible with macos. Installed the paragon ntfs for mac using 10 day trial. Youll see the drives file system displayed to the right of format under the general heading. Therefore, scroll down until you see a folder utilities double click on it. Formatting cruzer glide for windows and mac sandisk forums. In case the usb flash drive is formatted with the ntfs file system which isnt compatible with macos. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x.
Format usb flash drive to ntfs using disk management 1. Open up your my computer or computer in vista from the start menu and look for the drive that has a removable disk icon. I mounted the usb drive on mac, ran diskutililty and erased using msdos. Formatting it for mac lets you use it, as i said, on both the parallels vm and the mac side. Read this usb drive data recovery guide for more information. Mar 12, 2018 mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdos is the formatting option for pc. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdos is the formatting option for pc. First of all, as i said before, reformating will erase all your data that stored on the hard drive permanently. I click on the format disk button, a window is displayed indicating the capacity of the drive at 200mb. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods.
In order to write or format ntfs, you need a third party app. How to format a usb flash drive to ntfs file system. This is usually assigned to the last drive letter and may show multiple drives if multiple devices are plugged in. Format to ntfs, and use ntfs3g to readwrite on mac. If the usb port or cable of the computer is not working properly, your mac computer wont recognize or read the flash drive. Rightclick or controlclick the drives icon in the finders sidebar or on your desktop and select get info. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. If your flash drive s file system is msdos or exfat you can use it as it is without further formatting. In the format options that will popup, select ntfs to convert your drive to ntfs.
Under the devices and drivers section, rightclick the flash drive and select the format option. How do i reformat a mac hd to ntfs for use with windows 8. If the drive is called no name, directly above that, you should see. How to format usb drives to ntfs on a mac with tuxera disk. When reformatting process is over your drive will befat32 and you can now use it. Well show you how using tuxera ntfs for mac and tuxera disk manager. Typically, reformatting involves changing the ntfs or exfat format to macos extended format or apfs format as they are more compatible with apple systems. The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Connect the drive to a pcmac computer through the usb connector. Tuxera disk manager makes it super easy for flash drives. Offline xbox update worked like a charm via usb stick. Plug the drive into a usb socket if you have a recent macbook or macbook pro that only has usbc connectors, youll need a usbc to usba adaptor. How one can reformat an exterior drive for mac techdata.
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. If the drive comes formatted in ntfs, which is the default file system for windows, youre going to want to reformat the drive because mac os x. On the left side of the window are the drives connected to the computer. I needed to perform an offline system update for xbox one s but i only have macs.
By default, the setting for formatting your drive is set to quick removal. If you have ever tried to format a usb thumb drive or memory stick, you may have noticed that the only file system options you have are fat and fat32. Open the device manager and find your usb drive under the disk drives heading. To enable ntfs on your usb flash drive drive usb flash memory click on my computer this pc and select manage. Os x can default read ntfs disks, but not write to them. Dec 25, 2016 macs can only read but not write to a ntfs file system. But to get a hard drive to be compatible with both mac and pc. How to change the format of a flash drive to ntfs on a mac. If your flash drives file system is msdos or exfat you can use it as it is without further formatting.
The 64gb and higher capacity drive can be formatted as exfat. You can view all available volumes in the computer folder under hard disk drives. First, back up the data on the macformatted drive if you have anything important on it. Its exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a mac. Need to reformat wd hard drive for mac if you connect your wd hard drive without reformatting, youll be unable to copy files to the disk as mac read only supports ntfs file system. All data on the drive will be lost after formatting. Compare with the other commonly used ntfs file system on a flash drive, fat32 has a compatibility advantage across many operating systems. How to format a disk to ntfs using mac os x ask different. Dec 17, 2018 if your flash drives file system is msdos or exfat you can use it as it is without further formatting. Linux users may use the datalocker without reformatting if they they have an ntfs driver installed. Luckily, there are thirdparty tools to help you do so. The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. How to format a flash drive to ntfs on a mac quora.
Macs can only read but not write to a ntfs file system. Format external hard drive for mac with disk utility. If you were using boot camp, i would advise leaving it formatted as ntfs and purchasing ntfs for mac to access the drive on both oss. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os. Microsoft has also developed their file system for windows, ntfs. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. Now here is how to format your fat32 external drive on mac. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Use the file system dropdown menu and select the ntfs option. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Type the name of the volume you want to convert, and then press enter. When you have a new hard drive, or when youre reinstalling windows, the os may ask you to format the drive. There would be any number of similar utilities on the net i would have thought try googling it maybe.
Fat32 works for both oses, but has a 4gb size limit per file, so it. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows central. Ntfs is built for windows operating system therefore it is not supported by mac. Windows uses ntfs and mac os uses hfs and theyre incompatible with each other. In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system. Fat32 works for both oses, but has a 4gb size limit per file, so it isnt ideal. Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Apr 30, 2020 to format an external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. Macs do have some limited support for other file systemsfor example, macs can read files on windowsformatted ntfs volumes, but cant. So the first step you must do is move all of your important data to your pcmac, or to cloud storage service. This will reformat your flash drive and it will fix the flash drive not recognized issue. You can mitigate that by formatting the drive for mac.
Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. When you here just relax and wait until the process is over before you remove the drive. If you have a mac lying around, you can plug the drive into a mac and back up the files. Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Jul 05, 2017 rightclick or controlclick the drives icon in the finders sidebar or on your desktop and select get info. But to get a hard drive to be compatible with both mac and pc, you have to choose the exfat. Need to use a usb drive on both a windows pc and a mac. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows.
In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. How to format usb flash drive to ntfs in windows 10. Many computer users who use a removable flash drive have the demand for formatting it to the fat32 file system. 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. Select the capacity of the drive respective to the one containing the device you wish to format then click the erase tab. That allowed me to format a usb drive as ntfs with full readwrite access and then write the system update files to the usb drive.
Learn how to set up or format a usb drive to the ntfs file system using your mac. Format usb flash drive to ntfs using command prompt with using command prompt, make sure to type in the exact commands to avoid unexpected errors. Use the exfat file system and never format your external. Tried 4 times, each time it came back mac os extended journaled. Format ntfs drive on mac the second task is how to format ntfs drive on mac. Here are three proven methods on how to format usb flash drive to ntfs. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. However not like different electronics in the marketplace, its attainable to reformat an exterior drive to work with the working systems of your selection. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Mar 03, 2020 because the process of reformatting a disk drive will very likely erase all content and make recovery impossible. It does not matter what kind of usb flash drive you are using, you are able to convert its file system from fat32 to ntfs by reformatting.
Aug 16, 2019 under the devices and drivers section, rightclick the flash drive and select the format option. Reformatting hdd when i bought my lacie drive it came with its own format utility for mac and pc formats. As of early 2011, macs do not have a native ability to format volumes using ntfs. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. However, when we connect a ntfs formatted disk to mac, mac os x doesnt allow us to write files to the drive neither edit files, though it can read a ntfs drive. How to repairfix unreadable usb flash drives on mac.