For Apple Mac users, there are two ways to format USB flash drive to FAT32, including Disk Utility and Terminal command line. Refer to detailed steps of using both tools for FAT32 format. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. Otherwise, you can use data recovery software to recover data from a formatted USB drive.
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Are you looking for a secure way to format USB to FAT32 on Mac? You are at the right place. Follow here, you can find two methods that will assist you in doing so on your storage device. And if you lost data during the formatting, reliable Mac file recovery software is ready to help anytime:
| Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
|---|---|
| Method 1. Use Disk Utility | Connect USB to Mac > Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility > Select USB and click 'Erase'...Full steps |
| Method 2. Use Terminal Command | Connect USB to Mac > Hit cmd + space keys > Type terminal and hit Enter...Full steps |
| Bonus Tip. Recover Formatted Data | If you lost data due to formatting, run EaseUS file recovery software > Scan and recover formatted data...Full steps |
How to Format a USB Flash Drive with Mac to FAT32
Use Disk Utility to erase (format) your Intel-based Mac computer's built-in disk (or SSD). These instructions are only applicable for Mac computers with an Intel processor. Erasing your Mac deletes all of its files permanently, so make sure you create a backup of any files that you want to keep. FAT32: A file system that has been in business since the early 1980s.They were once the goto file system for formatting windows based devices. NTFS: NTFS or New Technology File System is the current standard in windows machines. It is the recommended file format for Windows computers. However, they are not suited for Mac OS.
Computer users who use a USB might have the demand for formatting it to the FAT32 file system. Compare with the other commonly used NTFS file system on a flash drive, FAT32 has a compatibility advantage across many operating systems.
It's a universal format that is compatible with Mac OS X/macOS, Windows, Linux, and DOS systems. So, if users anticipate using the flash drive with more than one operating system, they will definitely benefit from the FAT32 file system. For Apple Mac users, there are two ways to format a USB flash drive to FAT32, namely Disk Utility and Terminal command line. Below are the detailed steps of the FAT32 format with both methods.
Method 1. Format FAT32 on Mac [Disk Utility]
To format USB to FAT32 with Disk Utility will erase all data on the flash drive, so before you doing so, please do remember to check whether you have saved useful data to another secure device in advance.
To format the USB drive to FAT32, follow the next steps:
Step 1. Connect the USB flash drive to your Mac computer.
Step 2. Go to Applications >Utilities > Double click and open Disk Utility.
Step 3. Select your USB flash drive on the sidebar, choose Erase.
Step 4. Rename the USB flash drive (optional).
Step 5. Choose the format as MS-DOS (FAT) for Format, Master Boot Record for Scheme. Then click Erase.
Wait for the process to complete, then you'll get an empty new USB flash drive with FAT32 as the file system. You can use it for saving data again.
Method 2. Format FAT32 on Mac [Terminal Command Line]
The command-line behavior does the same way to erase data with the Disk Utility. Again, create a backup before taking this action.
To format FAT32 on Mac with Terminal, follow the next steps:
Step 1. Connect the USB flash drive to your Mac computer.
Step 2. Hit cmd + space to run Spotlight, type: terminal, and hit Enter.
Step 3. Type: diskutil list and find out which disk is your USB drive.
Step 4. Type: sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat /dev/disk2.
- sudo gives you user right.
- Diskutil calls disk utility program.
- eraseDisk commands to format.
- FAT32 sets the file system.
- MBRFormat tells disk utility to format with a Master Boot Record.
- /dev/disk2 is the location of the USB drive.
Wait for the process to complete. After this, you can type 'diskutil list' in the command again to check if the formatting has been successful.
Bonus Tip: How to Recover Data from Formatted USB
Formatting the USB would erase the data on it completely, so please make sure that you have a backup. If you don't, you can count on data recovery software to retrieve the lost data.
Format Flash Drive Windows 10
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard has both Windows and Mac versions, so it's a good choice for data recovery, no matter you're using a PC or Mac. For Mac users, it only takes a few clicks for the software to scan and display the formatted data. To guarantee an effective data recovery without spending money to no avail, you can install the Mac data recovery free version for the first trial. You can preview all the found data before the final recovery.
To recover data from a formatted USB flash drive on Mac, follow the next steps:
Step 1. Correctly connect your USB flash drive to your Mac. Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac. Start selecting the flash drive and click 'Scan' to let the software search lost files on it.
Step 2. After a quick scan and deep scan, all files will be presented in the left panel in the scan results.
Step 3. Select files you want to recover and click the 'Recover Now' button. Don't save the recoverable files to the USB drive itself in case of data overwriting.
After you upgrade your Mac to macOS Catalina, you may need to format a hard drive, memory card or USB flash drive for some reasons. Such as:
- Format hard drive/memory card/USB drive to fix logical errors.
- Format hard drive/memory card/USB drive to empty all data.
- Format hard drive/memory card/USB drive to permanently erase all data before selling or donating old hard drive/memory card/USB drive.
- Format hard drive/memory card/USB drive to new file system.
But, how to format hard drive/memory card/USB drive on macOS Catalina? Don't worry. We will introduce three easy and simple methods to help you format hard drive/memory card/USB drive on macOS Catalina.
Mac Os 10.13.6 Update
Three methods to format hard drive/memory card/USB drive on macOS Catalina
When you are going to format a hard drive/memory card/USB drive on macOS Catalina, you can follow the guide below. We would like to give you three options to format a hard drive/memory card/USB drive after upgrading to macOS Catalina.
Method 1: Format hard drive/memory card/USB drive on macOS Catalina with Disk Utility
Disk Utility is the easy and quick way to format a hard drive/memory card/USB drive on macOS Catalina. Just connect the hard drive/memory card/USB drive to your Mac, then open Disk Utility. Choose the targeted hard drive/memory card/USB drive, and click on 'Erase' button. Then you can securely format the hard drive/memory card/USB drive on macOS Catalina.
But, after format, the lost data on the hard drive/memory card/USB drive still can be recovered by Mac data recovery software.
Related article: How to Recover Files from Hard Drive Which Is Erased by Disk Utility on Mac?
Method 2: Format hard drive/memory card/USB drive on macOS Catalina with AweCleaner for Mac
AweCleaner for Mac is an all-in-one Mac cleaner/manager. It offers a tool named Disk Manager. This tool can help you quickly format a hard drive/memory card/USB drive after you click on 'Format' button. The formatted data also can be recovered by Mac data recovery software, such as Magoshare Data Recovery for Mac.
Method 3: Format hard drive/memory card/USB drive on macOS Catalina with AweEraser for Mac
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AweEraser for Mac is a powerful data erasure application for Mac OS. It can help you securely format hard drive/memory card/USB drive on macOS Catalina, and permanently erase all data from the hard drive/memory card/USB drive. Just choose mode 'Erase Hard Drive' to format and wipe hard drive/memory card/USB drive on macOS Catalina.
It means once the hard drive/memory card/USB drive is formatted by AweEraser for Mac, all the data information on the hard drive/memory card/USB drive will be gone forever, can't be recovered by any data recovery software. If you are going to sell, donate or dispose your hard drive/memory card/USB drive, you can use AweEraser for Mac to format/wipe the hard drive/memory card/USB drive to avoid data recovery.
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Just free download AweEraser for Mac here: