The 3 Best Mac USB Formatting Tools to Try in 2024

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Linda 

Written by

Tracy King 

Last updated on April 22, 2024

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Are you looking for a reliable formatting tool that can format and change the file system of your USB flash drive or external USB drive so it can be detected on a Mac?

Follow the steps in this guide to format your USB flash drive with the correct file system and make it visible on your Mac.

This guide also applies to formatting external hard drives, SD cards, and other devices so they can be recognized by a Mac.

#1. Best USB Formatting Tool for Mac - Top 3 Picks

You might be thinking of which tool to use to format a USB flash drive or an external USB drive, right?

Here, we collect 3 recommended USB formatting tools that can help you fully format and reset the file system of the device so that it can be used on a Mac:

So, how to choose the right tool to format a USB flash drive or external hard drive on Mac? A quick guide is as follows:

• 1. Disk Utility is a better choice for formatting a USB drive on a Mac. Terminal commands are more complex and better suited to advanced users.
• 2. If you need to prepare a USB drive for use with a Mac on a Windows computer, try using third-party formatting software.

Once you've chosen the right USB formatting tool, you can move on to our guide on deciding what format to use for your USB flash drive or external hard drive.

#2. Set the Right File System for a USB or External Drive on Mac

Note that Windows uses the NTFS file system, but macOS can't write to volumes formatted as NTFS; it can only read from NTFS devices.

Here's a list of file systems supported by macOS:

• Apple File System (APFS): For macOS 10.13 or later.
• Mac OS Extended: For macOS 10.12 or earlier.
• FAT32 and ExFAT: Compatible with both Windows and macOS.

Usually, APFS and Mac OS Extended file systems are used for Mac hard drives, while FAT/FAT32 and exFAT are common formats for external storage devices.

So, how should you format your USB flash drive or external USB drive? Here are our recommendations:

• If your USB drive is less than 64 GB, format it as FAT32. If it's greater than 64 GB, use the exFAT file system. • If you plan to use it as a “Time Machine” backup disk, format it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

#3. Format the USB Drive for Mac on a Mac or Windows Computer

So, how do you format a USB flash drive on a Mac? Well, we're going to show you how to format a USB flash drive or an external hard drive for use with your Mac.

Important note:

If you want to format the USB on your Mac directly, follow Method 1 and Method 2. If you want to format the USB on a Windows computer so that it's compatible with your Mac, try Method 3.

Method 1: Format USB or External Hard Drive with Mac Disk Utility

Disk Utility provides users with similar disk management capabilities, such as creating, deleting, resizing, merging, and formatting partitions. You can format a USB or external drive on your Mac by following these steps using Disk Utility:

Step 1: Connect your USB flash drive or external hard drive to your Mac.

Step 2. Click on the Apple menu and select “Go” then “Applications.”

Step 3: Double-click on “Utilities.”

Step 4. Double-click Disk Utility to launch it.

Step 5: Select your USB drive or external hard drive, click “Erase,” and then choose a format for your USB from the “Format” drop-down.

For example, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or MS-DOS (FAT).

Step 6. Give the disk a new name, and then click “Erase” in the window that appears to confirm.

Wait for the process to complete, and your external hard drive or USB drive will have a new, Mac-compatible file system that your device can use on a Mac.

Method 2: Format the USB Drive for Mac Using Terminal Commands

The Terminal command line works similarly to disk utilities, but it can be more complex, especially for beginners. If you choose this method, be sure to follow the steps carefully.

Step 1: Connect your USB flash drive or external hard drive to your Mac.

Step 2. Press Command + Space to open Spotlight, search for Terminal, and press Enter.

Step 3: Type diskutil list, and then find which disk is your USB drive.

Step 4: Type sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat /dev/disk2 and press Return.

• sudo gives you user privileges.
• diskutil calls the Disk Utility program.
• The eraseDisk command formats the drive.
• FAT32 is the file system. (You can substitute another file system here, too.)
• MBRFormat tells Disk Utility to format with a Master Boot Record.
• /dev/disk2 is the location of your USB drive.

Step 5: Wait for the process to complete, then close the Terminal.

Your USB should now be readable and mountable on your Mac in a recognizable format.

Method 3: Format a USB or External Hard Drive for Mac on Windows

If you need to format a USB drive or external hard drive as FAT32 on a Windows computer so that it will work with your Mac, you can use a third-party formatting tool to help.

A partition software is a popular disk management tool used to address various partition management tasks, such as formatting disk partitions, extending system partitions, and resolving issues with insufficient disk space.

It only takes 4 simple steps to format a USB or external hard drive on your Windows PC:

- Right-click on the external drive or USB you want to format, and select "Format." - Set the Volume label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and Allocation unit size, then hit "OK." - Hit "Yes" to proceed. - Click "Perform 1 task" and hit "Apply" to format the hard drive partition.

After that, you can connect the formatted external hard drive or USB drive to your Mac and use it to save data.

You might also be interested in:

Convert FAT32 to NTFS without Formatting

Note that if you want to convert a USB flash drive from NTFS to FAT32 without formatting (because you have saved some important data on it), you can use the Partition Master tool to help you.

Select the right USB formatting tool to format your USB drive for Mac

On this page, we have lined up three reliable USB formatting tools that you can use to format a USB flash drive or external hard drive on your Mac or Windows computer so that the storage device can be used on a Mac.

For new Mac users, Disk Utility is a good choice. If you're a Windows user looking to format a USB drive for your Mac, you can rely on partition management software like Partition Master.

Frequently Asked Questions About Mac USB Formatting Tools

On this page, we recommend three top USB formatting tools for Mac and Windows users to apply and set a reliable file system format for USB drives to be used interchangeably between Mac and Windows users.

If you have other questions about USB formatting tool, please pay attention and find the answer here:

Plug the USB drive into your Mac. Click “Applications,” then select “Utilities.” Double-click “Disk Utility.” Select your USB drive from the sidebar on the left, then click “Erase” from the top menu bar. Set the format to MS-DOS (FAT), then click “Erase.”

2. What is the best format for a USB drive on a Mac?

• For use only on a Mac, either APFS or HFS+ is a good choice.
• If you need to use the USB drive on both a Mac and a Windows computer, for a USB drive 32 GB or smaller, FAT32 is your best bet; for one 64 GB or larger, go with exFAT.

3. Is Mac using exFAT or NTFS?

macOS supports devices formatted with the exFAT file system with full read and write permissions. However, the NTFS format is incompatible with macOS. In short, if you need to choose between exFAT or NTFS for a storage device that will be used with both Mac and Windows, opt for exFAT.