Format Flash Drive On Mac To Fat32

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Step 1 MAC: HOW TO FORMAT A FLASH DRIVE TO FAT32 IN MAC OS X. Connect a Flash Drive to your Mac OSX computer. Open Finder, search for Disk Utility.

How To Format Flash Drive On Mac To Fat32

Dec 16, 2020 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions

USB drives are something of daily use for a modern-day person. From listening to music to transferring important files from pc to pc, we use flash drives for a variety of reasons. These flash drives are plugged into several different devices and hence are at risk of corruption or malfunctioning and might require to be formatted at times. The USB flash drive can be formatted in a variety of ways like depending upon the operating system and other features.

Sometimes, certain devices may only read specific USB file systems. So learning how to format your USB to a new file system is something that will come in handy.

Part 1: What is FAT32 Format?

FAT32 is an improved version of the FAT system which was introduced in 1996 by Microsoft with its Window95 OSR2 system. The purpose of its development was to be a better version of the FAT16 in terms of speed, performance, robustness, flexibility, and to support larger volumes.

Part 2: What Should You Do before Formatting a USB Drive?

You can have a drive format to FAT32 on an Apple Mac computer using Apple's Disk Utility, which comes with macOS. You can also format the drive in a variety of other formats depending on your needs. How to reformat a disk to FAT32 on a Mac.Technical notes: Formatting a disk using Windows maxes out the partition at 32GB, but not if the formatting is done. Well, don't worry. If you need to format USB drive to NTFS/FAT32/exFAT/EXT 2,3,4/HFS+ file system, please follow the steps as below. Well then, how to format USB drive to FAT32/NTFS/exFAT/EXT 2,3,4/HFS+ if you have the need. Don't worry, the following part will show you the solution for Windows and Mac OS users. Part 1: Format FAT32 Drive on Mac First, let us look on how to format FAT32 drive on Mac (macOS Sierra). You could be wondering what FAT32 is. It is a file system in Windows 95, 98, and windows Millennium Edition. One major advantage about this file system is that nearly all the operating systems can read and write from it.

A USB drive may contain songs, videos, documents, important files, etc. depending on the person who uses it. So most people don’t prefer formatting unless they want to get rid of those files. Formatting can also be done on faulty USB drives in which case, the user should move all the data in it before deletion.

If a device is not being detected or faulty, formatting is the last step. The user should try all the options to make it visible whether it is a Windows or Mac. Even then if it doesn’t work trying to repair and recover the files is the next option.

Part 3: How to Format USB to FAT32 on Windows 10?

In some cases, the USB flash drives need to be formatted to FAT32 as it is one of the most preferred and compatible file systems for both mac and windows. But, while trying to format a flash drive in the usual manner, problems may arise or the FAT32 option might not be available. In such cases, we can resort to alternative as well as simple methods to achieve the goal.

Let us have a look at how a USB flash drive can be formatted to FAT32 via file explorer as well as via disk management.

Method 1: Format USB to FAT32 via File Explorer

A common and easy way to format a USB drive to FAT32 is to make use of the File Explorer.

Step 1: Connect the USB drive or the desired external hard drive to the Windows 10 computer

Step 2: Launch the File Explorer and from it find the USB drive. Right-click on the drive and select Format

Step 3: Select the FAT32 type as the target file system and select the box beside Quick Format. Tap on Start to start the formatting process.

When you are notified about the completion of the process tap OK. Your USB is now is FAT32.

Method 2: Format USB to FAT32 via Disk Management

Disk management is a built-in utility of Windows which is made to help users with the disk partition related problems or works. It is also one of the most preferred choices when it comes to formatting USB to FAT32.

Step 1: Right-click on My Computer and select the Manage option

Step 2: Under Storage tap the Disk Management option

Step 3: from the volume list select the thumb drive

Step 4: Right-click on it and then tap Format

Step 5: Select FAT32 format from the file system: list box

Step 6: tap OK

Part 4: Format USB to FAT32 on Mac - macOS 10.15 Catalina

Formatting a USB flash drive to FAT32 on Mac is easy as windows. To do so you can either use the disk utility or the terminal command line.

Method 1: Use Disk Utility

Follow the steps to format FAT32 with Disk Utility:

Step 1: Plug the USB drive that needs to be formatted to the Mac computer.

Step 2: Navigate to Applications and then to Utilities. Tap it twice to open.

Step 3: Choose the drive that needs to be formatted and tap on Erase.

Step 4: You can rename the USB drive if needed. Choose the MS-DOS(FAT) to format.

Format

Step 5: Select the Master Boot Record for the scheme and then tap Erase.

Step 6: When the process is complete the USB drive is converted to the FAT32 file system.

Method 2: Use Terminal Command Line

How to format flash drive on mac to fat32

The command line also works in the same way as the disk utility to format the USB drive.

Follow the steps to format FAT32 with the Terminal command line:

Step 1: Plug the USB flash drive that needs to be formatted to a Mac computer.

Step 2: To run Spotlight press cmd + space and type: terminal and press Enter

Step 3: Type diskutil list and then find the drive that is acting as your USB

Step 4: Type sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat /dev/disk2

  • Sudo - grants you the user right.
  • Diskutil – calls the disk utility program.
  • erase disk – to command to format the drive
  • FAT32 - selects the file system
  • MBRFormat – pass information to disk utility commanding to format with a Master Boot Record
  • /dev/disk2 - it is the USB drive location

The process may take some time to complete. Wait patiently. On completion type diskutil list in command box if you want to check whether the formatting had been successful

Part 5: How to Recover Lost Data after Formatting a USB Drive to FAT32?

The formatting USB drive is an easy task. But before formatting, some might be worried about the files or data in the USB drive. There may be irrelevant as well as very important files that can’t be replaced in a USB drive. But what to do if the drive is a corrupt one or malfunctioning in some ways?

You need not worry as there are varieties of applications available in the market for recovering such files. An application like Recoverit helps you to recover almost all data, ranging from documents to big size videos from a USB drive even after formatting to FAT32.

Recoverit Data Recovery is one of the best and preferred applications in the market and the steps for data recovery are pretty simple and the same whether it be a Windows or a Mac. the recovery of data from an external drive can be done in these three simple steps

  • Select a location
  • Scan the location
  • Preview and recover data

Recoverit Data Recovery - The Best File Recovery Software

Recoverit allows the user to recover any lost data regardless of the model and type of the external device. There is a high success rate in the recovery of files using Recoverit whether it be memory cards, external hard disks, cameras, USB flash drives, music players, etc.

How To Format A Flash Drive To Fat32 On A Mac

Step 1: Select the external device/drive

To recover deleted or lost files from an external device, it needs to be selected as the target location for data searching and scanning

Step 2: Scan the removable media

A complete scanning will be initiated once you select Start. The scanning usually takes some time depending on the size of the USB drive In between the process, the desired files can be located and filtered.

Step 3: Preview of files and recovery

After the whole scanning process, Recoverit allows the user to preview the located files. All the files including photos, videos, documents, videos, audios, etc. can be previewed.

Then, select the files that you need to recover and tap the Recover bar.

All the files will be recovered and saved for your use.

Conclusion

The loss of files from a USB drive or the drive itself malfunctioning is a common issue in today’s world. The loss of important files and data can have a huge impact on our domestic life as well as work. But, applications like Recoverit helps us to tackle these issues and move forward.

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Usb Drive Format Fat32 Mac

Some USB drives can’t be used directly with a Mac system until you format them to be compatible with the macOS extended file system. There are basically two ways to format USB to FAT32 on Mac; Terminal Command and Disk Utility and in case you lose important data while formatting, it is possible to recover the data using a data recovery tool. We’ll look at all these in detail in this article.

Reasons to Format USB to FAT32 on Mac

There are a number of reasons why you need to format USB to FAT32 on a Mac. Let’s look at some of these in detail.

1. Formatting your USB to FAT32 is the most appropriate thing to do because it can be written and read on both Mac and Windows operating systems.

2. Since many USB drives can’t be used on Mac PC directly, formatting it to FAT32 makes it usable whether you want to use it on Mac or Windows.

3. If you plan to use the drive to store different file formats, especially video files, formatting the USB to FAT32 is actually necessary.

Please note that it is recommended that you back up your USB drive first before you format it to avoid losing important data. Let’s look at the step-by-step guide to format USB to FAT32 on Mac.

Method #1: How to Format USB to FAT32 on Mac with Disk Utility

Follow the steps highlighted below to format a USB drive to FAT32 on Mac:

Step One: Connect the USB drive that you want to format into your Mac system.

Step Two: Navigate through the menu to Applications and then Utilities. Click twice to open the program.

Step Three: Choose the drive that you would like to format and click 'Erase'.

Step Four: Although this step is optional but it is recommended. Rename the USB and select 'MS-DOS(FAT)' as the format.

Step Five: Select 'Master Boot Record' for the scheme and click 'Erase' to format USB to fat32 on Mac.

Format Flash Drive Mac Fat32 Terminal

When the formatting process is completed, the USB flash drive is ready to use as a FAT32 file system and you can begin to save data on it again. Note that any previous data you have on it would have been erased during the formatting process.

Method #2: How to Format USB to FAT32 on Mac with Terminal Command Line

Follow the step by step guide to formatting a USB drive to FAT32 on Mac using Terminal Command Line:

Step One: Insert your USB drive to the Mac system.

Step Two: Click 'cmd + space' to run the spotlight. Type in 'Terminal' and then click the 'Enter' key.

Step Three: Type in 'diskutil list' to locate your USB drive.

Step Four: Type 'Sudo Diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat/'(put the name of the location of your USB flash on your Mac PC).

Please note the following:

  • 'Sudo' offers you the user right
  • 'Diskutil' locates the disk utility program
  • 'eraseDisk' gives the command to format the drive
  • 'FAT32' identifies the file system
  • 'MBRFormat' commands the disk utility to commence formatting with Master Boot Record

Format Flash Drive On Mac To Fat32

When this process is completed, type in 'diskutil list' in the command again to review the status of the USB drive and to see if it has been successfully formatted. You can start using your USB with the FAT32 file system to save data.

Method #3: How to Recover Lost Data after Formatting USB

It’s possible to forget to backup your data before your format your USB. When this happens, you lose all data saved on the USB prior to formatting. Well, you don’t have to fret if you experience this as you can recover your lost data from formatted USB on Mac. To do this, you need a trusted data recovery tool. We strongly recommend iBeesoft Data Recovery software as the best software available to recover formatted data from your USB drive.

iBeesoft offers an effective and powerful USB recovery Mac tool to help you resolve any data loss issues fast and completely. It is 100% safe and you can depend on it to completely recover lost files from Mac format USB FAT32 bootable.

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  • It’s fully compatible with APFS drive/volume under macOS High Sierra and the latest macOS.
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  • The unformat USB program fully supports data recovery for all types of USB and it also supports various file formats, including exFAT, NTFS, FAT, and HFS, among others.

Step-by-Step Guide on How to Recover Data from Formatted USB on Mac

Mac Format External Disk Fat32

The first thing is to download and install iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac on your system. It is fully compatible with the latest macOS and it is virus-free. Follow the step-by-step guide below to recover files lost after format USB to FAT32 on Mac.

Step One: Select the file type(s) that you want to recover format USB files on Mac. By default, all file types are checked. So, you have to uncheck files you don’t want.

Step Two: Connect the USB drive and choose the directory to scan. In the open window, you’ll see external hard drives. Select an appropriate location where you have lost files and click the 'Scan' button to launch the scanning for lost USB files.

Step Three: Recover data lost after format a USB drive to FAT32 on Mac. All files will be displayed in the result window at the completion of the scan. Click the directory on the left side of your Mac screen to preview the files. Select the files you want to recover and click 'Recover' to save the files on your Mac PC. If you can’t find the lost files you are looking for, try the 'Deep Scan' for further search.

If you’ve been wondering about how to format USB to FAT32 on Mac and how to recover lost files, the comprehensive guide highlighted above will help you format your drive and recover any lost files at the end of the formatting process.