Ntfs windows nt file system readwrite ntfs from native windows. How to create a bootable flash drive on windows for mac. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wifi menu in the menu bar. Regardless of whether your block device is a hard drive or flash drive, and regardless of its logical block size, formatudf will produce a udf drive that can be recognized automatically on windows, os x, and linux. Its a universal format that is compatible with mac os x macos, windows. Mac os extended journaled this format is considered as default file system format of the mac os x drives. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. Exfat is not compatible with computers older than windows vista or mac os x 10. On os x, linux, or any environment with bash, you can use the open source format udf as a onestop udf formatting tool. We went with os x installer, since thats basically what it will be, and next to format, pick mac os x extended journaled. For example, in the screenshot below, the macformatted drive is disk 2.
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. This means that if you connect a mac formatted drive to windows, youll simply get a blank drive letter and a. 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. How to install macos on your windows pc 2019 meltcomics. Oct 25, 2015 how to create mac os x bootable usb pen drive with windows 10 7. How to create mac os x bootable usb pen drive on windows 10. How to format a usb flash drive on mac wondershare.
If your flash drive is having issues, sometimes reformatting it can be the remedy. Both mac os x and windows also support the fat32 file system, but we dont recommend it for hard drives. How to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac. If you need to format external hard drive mac or windows, you may also consider the exfat files system. Feb 20, 2015 on os x, linux, or any environment with bash, you can use the open source formatudf as a onestop udf formatting tool. With exfat, you can write and read on both mac and windows pcs and is our recommended option for an ultraportable usb device.
To readwrite format ntfs from mac os x, here are some alternatives. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. While downloading an os x or macos version offers instant gratification, it means youre left without an installer. Mac os x users can format a flash disk by loading the disk utility program located in. Mar 15, 2018 once youve gotten all the data off the macformatted drive, youll probably want to format it with the exfat file system. Jan 15, 2020 macos recovery makes it easy to reinstall the mac operating system, even if you need to erase your startup disk first. 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. Compare with the other commonly used ntfs file system on a flash drive, fat32 has a compatibility advantage across many operating systems. Sep 06, 2019 there are several reasons you might need to install a new copy of macos or os x on the hard drive in your mac or macbook. How to create a mac os x usb boot drive on windows duration. Next, open a command prompt window as administrator. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x.
So, if you want to format a flash drive connected to a usb, firewire, or thunderbolt usb type c or not on a mac you need do the following procedure. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows 7 by jack scicluna photography, llc guest writer. Use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. 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. Create mac os sierra flashdrive from windows 10 youtube. Sep 23, 2019 creating a gpt partition to build a mac os x bootable drive on windows 10. How to create a bootable installer for macos apple support. If you want the storage device to only show up on mac systems, then format your storage device with apfs. How to create a bootable mac os x sierra usb flash drive. Many computer users who use a removable flash drive have the demand for formatting it to the fat32 file system. This is problematic if you need to reinstall os x or macos on a newly formatted hard drive. Best usb format tools pen drive stick formatters for. The quickest way is to search on spotlight and click the result under top hit.
Nov 01, 2011 choosing the best format to work between macs and pcs with a flash drive. Select your thumb drive in the disk utility window then click the erase tab. This format will allow you to use your flash drive on mac without any limitations. Sharing a hardflash drive across windows, os x, and linux. Have you ever ran into a problem where youre trying to use a flash drive on both windows and mac. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. I put it in my win 7 pro machine to format it for win7. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility mac os x.
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. Apples msdos fat is just a different name for microsofts fat32. Hi there, i have a usb flash drive which was formatted for a mac. Create a bootable usb flash drive for macos sierra. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. Its a universal format that is compatible with mac os x macos, windows, linux and dos systems. Open up your my computer or computer in vista from the start menu and look for the drive that has a removable disk icon. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. Apple file system format or the older mac os extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format. How to create a gpt partition on a usb flash drive. In the disk utility window, specify the drive that you want to delete and click on the erase option. If you only use a mac computer, you can format your thumb drive so it can work on windows systems.
Read mac formatted drives with windows the tech guy. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. Even so, its still easy to create a usb installation disk for os x lion if you want to install lion on a freshly formatted hard drive, if youre in an emergency booting situation, or if you need to repair your mac s hard drive. How to create mac os x bootable usb pen drive with windows 10 7. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. How to format a usb drive for mac and pc compatibility youtube. Under the external tab, highlight your flash drive. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows. How to quickly make a mac os x bootable usb on windows. Mac os x can only be installed on a hard drive formatted in mac os. With os x, i have demonstrated flashing an sd card with both the command line and a thirdparty application. Some flash drives have to be formatted first before you can store files on them. The latest trend with computers is not including a cddvd drive.
Format external hard drive or usb drive for mac easeus. One simple way to make the drive readable on both platforms is to format. Both windows and mac os x have full readwrite support for exfat drives. Creating a gpt partition to build a mac os x bootable drive on windows 10. An even more powerful spotlight for searching your mac. Format a drive for mac o s x and windows sign in to comment. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. Mac free usb flash drive recovery helps you easily recover all lost missing files and folders from your usb media due to wrong deletion, format, power failure. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Granted, os x cant write to a windows formatted disk, but at least it can read the contents of the drive and you can copy the data to your mac computer. This is usually assigned to the last drive letter and may show multiple drives if multiple devices are plugged in. Choosing the best format to work between macs and pcs with a flash drive.
Feb 21, 2020 many computer users who use a removable flash drive have the demand for formatting it to the fat32 file system. Select the mac os extended encrypted format under the format list. You can format an external drive in os x using disk utility and terminal. Rightclick on the device you wish to format and select format. 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. How to format flash drive on win7 when it was formatted on a mac. External data storage devices such as usb flash drives, external hard disk drives hdds, and solid state drives ssds provide one of the easiest ways to transfer files between separate computers without accessing the internet.
Create mac os sierra flashdrive from windows 10 kaboratech multimedia. How to create mac os x bootable usb pen drive on windows. Macs and pcs use different file systems, which can make it tricky to put data from your mac on. I understand that you are unable to format the usb flash drive and not getting recognized on windows. How to create an os x flash drive installer macworld. In our guide we walk your through how to format a usb drive on mac os x. How to format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility since the pc and mac are two different operating systems, they use different file systems. Volume format most manufacturers use the fat 32 or msdos fat volume format. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. Jun 14, 2019 unlike windows in file explorer, mac os x and macos do not include a format drive option in the finder. Format a flash drive to work with os x and windows video. We delete comments that violate our policy, which we encourage you to. 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. We delete comments that violate our policy, which we encourage you to read.
How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. With mac os extended journaled format, you can setup os x startup drive. Go to the applications folder on your mac s hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos. First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. In fact, there are four ways you can format an external or usb flash drive to achieve varying degrees of compatibility between macs and pcs. 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. Format a drive for mac os x and windows sign in to comment. Jan 02, 2016 formatting a drive on your mac is quite easy. When done, quit disk utility to return to the utilities window.
Use these steps to create a bootable media to install mac os x. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in. Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for windows compatibility. Format the usb flash drive under mac os x via emulated windows. How to view mac files on a windows pc online tech tips. Format a flash drive for both mac os x and windows cult of mac. How to make hackintosh bootable usb drive from windows. Readwrite fat32 from both native windows and native mac os x.
Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Because fat32 supports only up to 4 gb large files, it should be used only with flash drives. How to make a bootable flash installer of os x or macos. Then press the erase button and set a password for the encrypted partition. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. 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. Mar 30, 2020 starting with os x lion, apple did away with dvds and other media as a method of installing software and switched to a download model instead. 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. If you dont have a mac or for other reasons cant access mac make a catalina usb using windows. Not every flash drive out there can be used with a mac computer right out of the box.
How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. In the new popup window, choose the format to be exfat. Both windows and mac os x have full readwrite support for exfat drives without any additional thirdparty software. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. How to format internal andor external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers. Make a bootable macos catalina usb flash drive to install macos on apple computer or for hackintosh purpose. Create a bootable mojave usb installer flash drive in mac os x 10.
In this tutorial, i have shown you how to flash an sd card with raspian using either ubuntu linux, apple os x or microsoft windows. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. With the arrival of os x lion in 2011, apple changed its softwaredelivery method to a download model with the mac app store instead of using physical dvds and other media. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive. Format a flash drive for both mac os x and windows youtube. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some. Fortunately, there are also several ways to do it, ranging from internet recovery to installation discs.
Find the appropriate download link in the upgrade instructions for each macos version. How to quickly create a macos bootable usb on windows 10. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Here are the following most common reasons why would you like to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac under mac os extended journaled. By default, macs use hfs, while pcs use ntfs, which are not compatible with each other. Mac free usb flash drive recovery for mac free download and. Since mac os x and windows use totally different file systems, the way a drive is formatted can determine what type of computer it will work with. Go to the applications folder on your macs hard drive, then go to the utilities folder, and launch disk utility. Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Disk utility shows the recommended mac format by default. How to format flash drive on win7 when it was formatted on. The program is able to format and repair usb flash drives under windows 7, windows 10 and earlier versions of the os. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility.
Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Once the drive is formatted it will be compatible to be read and written to on both a mac and pc, and the resulting fat file system is compatible with all versions of mac os x, windows 95, 98, windows xp, vista, 7, windows 8, even windows 10, its one of the most widely recognized. Mar 16, 2020 when the os x utilities window appears on the screen, choose the disk utility option. Regardless of whether your block device is a hard drive or flash drive, and regardless of its logical block size, format udf will produce a udf drive that can be recognized automatically on windows, os x. Read only ntfs from native mac os x to readwrite format ntfs from mac os x. For users who work with both macs and pcs, having a flash drive that can work between both and seamlessly transport files can be critical.
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