Format Flash Drive Mac Scheme

Just like most storage mediums, partitioning a flash drive is also possible. There may be a number of reasons why you would want to partition a flash drive. If you have never partitioned a flash drive before, then don't worry; this article will help you. Read on to find how to partition a flash drive..

Formatting a drive will erase all data and partitions on the disk: Connect the hard drive or USB key to the Mac Launch Disk Utility, located in Applications Utilities Locate the drive name from the left hand side of Disk Utility and click on it. However, regarding your inability to format the 'drive' rather than the 'partition', try selecting the partition button along the top of Disk Utility. That should allow you to create a partition on the drive and set the partition scheme. Then select the partition on the left hand side and format. Click “Disk Utility” to open it, and click on the name of the flash drive in the sidebar. Click on the “Erase” tab at the top of the window. Select the format for your flash drive. In the drop-down list next to “Format”, select the format that you want to use for the flash drive. You can also set a name for your drive. Insert the USB drive. Open the Disk Utility app. Select the USB drive and click the Erase button. Choose the Name as Untitled, Format as OS X Extended (Journaled) and select Scheme as GUID Partition Map. This option is used for all Intel-based Mac computers.

- Partition with Diskpart
- Partition with an USB Flash Drive Partition Tool
Bonus Tip 1. Best Way to Recover Files from Flash Drive after Partition or Format

1How to Partition Flash Drive on Windows10/8.1/8/7?

Although it is possible to create multiple partitions on a flash drive via third-party tools, Windows will only read and show the first/primary partition. If you want the Windows to read a certain partition of the flash drive, then you will need a third-party tool to set that partition as primary.

Backup Your Data

Partitioning a flash drive will erase all data stored on it. That's why it is highly recommended that you back up all the important data before proceeding. The backup process is quite easy as all you need to do is connect the flash drive to your computer and copy the desired data to a location of your choice. Follow these instructions:

1. Connect your flash drive to your computer. Then open This PC on your Windows and find your flash drive.
2. Double-click on it to see its contents. Select the files that you want to back up and right-click on them and click Copy.
3. After that, navigate to the folder on your computer's hard drive where you want to store those files, right-click and select the Paste option. The transfer process will begin and your selected files will be copied to that folder.

Now that you have backed up your data, you can proceed to partition your flash drive. Following are some methods to do this:

1Partition a Flash Drive Using Diskpart

You can easily partition a flash drive via the Diskpart utility of Windows. The utility is run through Command Prompt. Follow these instructions:

Step 1. Press Windows and R key on your keyboard at the same time and type 'diskpart' in the Run pop-up window and then press Enter to launch it. A command prompt window will open.

Step 2. On that window, input 'list disk' to see which number your connected flash drive has.

Step 3. Next, input 'select disk X (X here is the number for your flash drive). It will be selected.

Step 4. Now input 'clean' and press enter to clean the device.

Step 5. Now enter 'list part' and then input 'create partition primary'. After that, input 'list part' and then input 'select partition 1'. Set this partition as active by inputting 'active'.

Step 6. Next, input 'format fs=fat32' to format the partition. After that, your newly created flash drive partition will be ready to use.

2Partition a Flash Drive with an USB Flash Drive Partition Tool

If the method to partition a flash drive via diskpart seems complicated, then there is another easier way to partition a flash drive. You can partition the USB flash drive via a flash drive partition tool called Bootit. Follow these instructions to partition a flash drive via Bootit:

Fist, you should install and launch Bootit software on your computer.

Step 1. Connect your flash drive to your computer and make sure it is detected by the operating system.

Step 2. Now open Disk Management on your computer. You can launch it from the Start Menu.

Step 3. Now select the current partition shown on the flash drive and delete it via the software.

Step 4. After that, right-click on the unallocated space of flash drive and click on New Simple Volume to create a partition. You can specify the size, label, etc. for the new partition according to your preferences.

Step 5. You can create multiple partitions on your flash drive by repeating the above step.

2How to Partition a Flash Drive on Mac?

If you want to partition your flash drive on your Mac, then you will be glad to know that it is possible. On Mac, you can do this via Disk Utility.

Steps to Partition Flash Drive on Mac

Follow these instructions to partition flash drive on Mac:

Step 1. On your Mac, open Disk Utility. And connect your flash drive to your Mac.

Step 2. Once the Disk Utility is opened, select your flash drive from the sidebar and click the Erase button.

Step 3. On the newly opened window, select OS X Extended (Journaled) from the Format menu.

Step 4. Make sure to click on Scheme > GUID Partition Map. Next, format the drive via the Erase option.

Step 5. After formatting, click the Partition button and then use the '+' button to create and add additional partitions. Add as many partitions as you like.

Step 6. After setting the sizes, labels, etc. to partitions, click Apply to confirm your action. Partitions will be created.

Bonus Tip 1. Best Way to Recover Files from Flash Drive after Partition or Format

It's wise to backup the data on your flash drive before partitioning or formatting it. So, what to do if you forgot this or some important files were left when made a backup? Don't worry, a powerful data recovery tool can help you find them back!

iMyFone AnyRecover is one of such popular data recovery tools. It can help you find all your lost files no matter how you lost them. Files recovery at a formatted or partitioned USB flash drive is easy as 1-2-3 with AnyRecover.

Key Features

Recover lost files from different data loss scenarios, including formatted data recovery, deleted files recovery, formatted device recovery, etc.
Recover over 1000 type of files, including photos, videos, audios, emails, documents, archives and more.
Recover files from various storage mediums, such as USB flash drive, hard drive, SD card, digital camera, computer, etc.
Differing from other recovery tools, AnyRecover is 100% safe to use, it won't do any damage to your existing data.
One of the most reliable data recovery software with high data recovery rate - Up to 98%.

Steps to Recover Files from Flash Drive after Partition or Format

Step 1. Open AnyRecover on your computer, then connect your Flash Drive to your computer, select it.

Step 2. After selecting the location, hit “Start” button to start the process.

Step 3. After scanning, preview and select the files, then click on Recover button to get the lost files back.

Bonus Tip 2. Best USB Flash Drive for Windows & Mac

Among many quality flash drives, SanDisk Extreme PRO 128 GB Drive is considered the most popular USB flash drive for Windows and Mac. Following are the top features of this USB flash drive:

Blistering speeds: 380 MB/s write, 420 MB/s read.
Durable, sleek, and eye-catching aluminum casing design.
AES, 128-bit file encryption for excellent security for sensitive files.
USB 3.0 as well as backward compatibility with USB 2.0.
Lifetime warranty.

This simple guide will teach you How to Format a Flash Drive on Mac. Not only this, we will help you pick the best file system for your usb flash drive that you are planning to use on a Mac.

Majority of 49.4% of desktop and laptop computer users in the world use Windows operating system. In contrast, only 27.4% of users use MacOS, obviously for their apple computer. That’s the reason why most of the flash drives in the market are available in Fat32 or NTFS formats which are the most preferred format for windows.

Although the first one, Fat32 is completely compatible with both MacOS as well as Windows, it has some limitations. Fat32 can store files only up to 4 GB of size. The latter one, NTFS is mostly used on the Windows operating system and not an optimal option for MacOS. Extra work is needed to use NTFS on MacOS. If you want to use your flash drive solely for MacOS, it is highly recommended to format your flash drive.

Here, pop-ups the question: How to format a flash drive on a mac?

Contents

1 Before you format a flash drive
- 1.1 Check flash Drive’s File System
2 How to format a flash drive on Mac?

Before you format a flash drive

MacOS supports HFS plus file system. HFS stands for Hierarchical File System.

Apple introduced this file system in 1985 to replace the existing Macintosh File System or MFS. HFS filesystem is modified into HFS plus (Modernly called as MacOS Extended). Before you format a flash drive it is suggested to know what file system your flash drive is in.

Check flash Drive’s File System

You don’t need to do anything special to know your flash drive’s file system. There are 2 ways you can do this.

Method 1: Using Finder

Plug in your flash drive. Now open the Finder and look for your USB device. Then right-click on the drive’s name. Select “Get Info” from the list of options opened.

A new window will open. Just to the right of “Format” is your drive’s file system.

Method 2: Using Disk utility app

Open the Disk Utility app from the utility folder available in the application. Your drive will be on the left column of the window. Click on the partition. Here you can check the current format of your flash drive.

If your flash drive’s file system is MS-DOS or ExFAT you can use it as it is without further formatting. But if it is NTFS, format your flash drive to make it completely compatible with MacOS.

How to format a flash drive on Mac?

Disk Utility application in MacOS is the best option to format a flash drive on MacOS. You can launch this app in two ways.

Step 1: Press Space while holding your command button. A search box will open. Type Disk Utility in the search box and press enter. Alternatively, Open the Finder window and select applications on the left sidebar. Navigate to Utilities and then Disk Utilities.

Step 2: Search for your flash drive on the sidebar of the Disk Utility app and select it by clicking on its name.

Step 3: Now Click the “Erase” button which is located just below the title bar of the window which says “Disk Utility”. This will erase your whole drive and make it a single partition.

Here you can change the name of your USB drive if you wish. This name will be visible on other devices as well if you plug your flash drive into them. Just below the Name section, you can see a section called “Format”.

You will need to choose a format option to change your flash drive’s file system. But which format to choose is the big question now! No need to worry. Read the description of each format given below and choose the format of your choice.

Types of filesystems

Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

This format is considered as default file system format of the Mac OS X drives. It also supports OS X Lion, like Versions. This format will allow you to use your flash drive on Mac without any limitations.

With Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format, you can setup OS X startup drive. Make sure you have right files and know how to do it. If you have any issues with a built-in drive you can boot from the external disk. This file system format is highly recommended for MacOS. But you cannot write this flash drive from windows PC once you have formatted it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). You can read files though.

OS X Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)

Go for this type of filesystem if you really need it for some reason. For OS X Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled), the word “File” is different than “file”. It means it’s case sensitive as the name suggests.

OS X Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled, Encrypted)

Flash Drive Will Not Format

Same as filesystem just mentioned above but of course with encryption.

OS X Extended (Journaled, Encrypted)

To use a flash drive with this filesystem you will have to set up a password & enter it whenever you plug in your drive into any device.

MS-DOS (FAT)

This is just a name for the FAT32 filesystem in Disk Utility application. FAT32 supports to almost all of the operating systems in the world. This allows you to transfer files from one operating system to other. The best thing about this filesystem is its support to video game systems which include Xbox 360 and PlayStation. This filesystem can be called a universal system. The limitation about FAT32 filesystem is it doesn’t allow files which are bigger than 4 GB in size and also you cannot create a startup drive unlike Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

ExFAT

This is a new type of filesystem and it supports MacOS X 10.6.5 and later. It is same as FAT32 but it supports files larger than 4 GB. As this filesystem is relatively new, it does not on relatively older versions of Mac OS X. If you don’t use any older version of the operating system, you can use this type of filesystem.

Use ExFAT for this tutorial if you wish to use your flash drive on windows as well on MacOS.

Step 4: For this tutorial, you can ignore the Scheme option which we use if you wish to boot from your flash drive. Click on erase button to format your flash drive.

Format Flash Drive Windows 10

Voila! You have formatted your flash drive now. You can eject drive by right-clicking on its name in the left sidebar and click on “Eject”.

Format Usb Flash Drive Windows

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