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DO I NEED TO FORMAT USB STICK FOR MAC MAC
DO I NEED TO FORMAT USB STICK FOR MAC WINDOWS

The Windows Command Prompt takes much longer but is the best way to format flash drive, and deal with any problems such as " Windows was unable to complete the format". But, to ensure you don't encounter any errors, the additional two methods below are recommended for larger flash drives. The process to format larger drives, that is, above 32 GB is more or less the same. You can now use it or unplug it safely from the PC. Once complete the drive has been formatted to exFAT. Step 5: Click OK and wait for the process to complete. Step 4: In the File System drop-down menu, select NTFS, FAT32， or exFAT, and tick the Perform a quick format option. Step 3: Type a name in the Volume Label field to help you quickly identify the drive in File Explorer. Step 2: Right-click the flash drive and select the Format option. Once detected, type Disk Management in the Windows Search bar and click " Create and format hard disk partitions" to launch the Disk Management Utility. Step 1: Plug in your USB drive and wait for it to be detected. It is packed with several features that allow you to format thumb drive, change drive letters and paths, add mirrors, extend, shrink and delete volumes, and much more.

Click " OK" and begin using the drive or eject it safely.ĭisk Management is a Windows utility tool that helps you manage all your drives from one area. If the format is successful, you will get prompt as shown below. To quit, click CANCEL." Click "OK" and wait for the progress bar to finalize. You will get a pop-up warning you that, " Formatting will erase ALL data on this disk. Step 4: Click Start to begin the process. Check the Quick Format checkbox if it isn't already ticked. Step 3: Click on File System and select exFAT from the dropdown. Step 2: Once it's recognized, open Windows File Explorer and navigate to the disk location. Step 1: Plug in the USB into the computer and wait for it to be detected. For small USB drives of under 32 GB, you can format flash drive to either FAT32 or exFAT. If your USB is small, for example, 4GB, it may not make sense to format it to exFAT because you will never be able to store files larger than 4GB, unless you have the need to transfer files between macOS and Windows devices. For example, you may want to create a different partition for media such as images and videos.Īs mentioned earlier, the exFAT system is ideal for large files and partitions.

The nature of your work requires you to have large partitions for different types of data.

ExFAT formatted USB drive solves this problem beautifully. In such a situation, your USB drives need to use a file system that is compatible with both operating systems.

You continuously use a flash drive between Windows and Mac.

In such a situation, you need to format the USB to exFAT to accommodate large file sizes. As already mentioned, the FAT32 file system has a file limit size of 4GB. exFAT formatted USB drive has no realistic partition size limits.įrom the above descriptions of the three of the main file systems, it becomes immediately apparent why you would need to format a flash drive to exFAT. The system has a file limit size of approximately 16 exabytes (over 1 billion gigabytes!) and is compatible with both Windows and Mac. It was created by Microsoft to replace FAT32 and address its limitations.

exFAT: exFAT is an acronym for the Extended File Allocation Table.

DO I NEED TO FORMAT USB STICK FOR MAC MAC

NTFS is compatible with Windows but files can only be opened in read-only mode in Mac and some Linux distributions. It originally debuted in Windows NT and later in Windows XP. NTFS has a huge file size and partition limits that are theoretically impossible to surpass.

NTFS: NTFS or NT file system is the default file system used by Windows.

FAT32 also limits partition sizes to 8TB. In today's world where video files can often be larger than that, FAT32 is often impractical. One of the biggest drawbacks is a maximum file limit size of 4GB. Unfortunately, FAT32 comes with limitations. This is the reason it is also one of the most ubiquitous file systems and comes pre-installed on almost all USB you buy at a store. It currently works on all Windows versions, Mac and Linux. FAT32 was introduced way back in Windows 95 and was the successor to the older FAT16 that was used on Dos and Windows 3. FAT is an acronym for File Allocation Table.

FAT32: FAT32 is the oldest file system.