How To Format USB And SD Card On Mac In Seconds – Setapp

The market share of Mac and Windows is huge, not what many people think is 55. Windows accounts for more than 85% of the global market, while macOS only has about 10%. This explains why most device manufacturers still prioritize Windows and why we need to find out how to format external hard drives on Mac.

Use Setapp to secure data on your Mac

A must-have toolkit that backs up data and recovers lost files in minutes.

Free trial security test

When shipped out of the factory, USB drives may not run reliably on Mac or even work. The reason is that Mac and Windows use different file systems.

Once a new storage device is unboxed, it is wise to learn how to format the hard drive (or SD card, USB drive, etc.) on your Mac to reduce the possibility of accidental corruption, data loss, or other performance issues. Please read the following to learn how to do it.

Format USB drive on Mac

With Disk Utility, the question of how to format a USB drive on a Mac is very simple. Similarly, you can use this tool to format your Micro SD card, hard drive, and more to get your new device to its best condition.

Note Formatting the drive means erasing it completely, so be sure to read our suggestions on how to back up and restore files.

1. Insert the device into your Mac
2. Go to Applications > Utilities and open Disk Tools
3. Select the relevant device or drive in the left sidebar and click Erashes
4. Name the device and select the desired format (see below for more information)
5. Click "Erase" to reformat the device

First, let's clarify the obvious point above: When you format a USB drive or any similar device on your Mac, you need to erase everything in it before formatting it. This is not a problem if the device is new, but if the device is not new, it means you need to take some precautions.

Second, the required format depends on the type of device you are using. Typically, macOS uses APFS, while Windows uses NTFS (read-only on Mac). However, there are some differences even in the macOS ecosystem:

• If you are looking for how to format an SD card on your Mac, you need to select ExFAT.
• If you are trying to format a USB drive on your Mac or find out how to format an external hard drive, you may need to select APFS.
• If your macOS version is earlier than High Sierra, stick to the Mac OS X extension format because APFS is not available on older systems.
• When you format your Mac hard drive to work with Time Machine, you also need to use the Mac OS X extension format because Time Machine cannot use APFS directly, and if you try to do so, it prompts you to reformat it.
• Want to know how to format hard drives for both Mac and Windows? FAT32 and ExFAT are the best choices in this case.

Tip : If you try to use an external volume formatted as NTFS on your Mac, it won't work unless you install iBoysoft NTFS for Mac, an application that unlocks NTFS read and write support on your Mac.

Be sure to back up before formatting

Frequent backups are a must. Applications like Get Backup Pro for Mac can help you save data quickly before formatting your Micro SD card or any other device, as it allows you to synchronize between different computers using mounted drives, plus simple copying, incremental, and bootable backups.

After loading Get Backup Pro, you will be prompted to create a new project. Simply name it, select the destination location for the backup, and set the time when the backup should be automatically triggered as needed.

While you can use Time Machine to back up files, Get Backup Pro is a better choice because it can reduce archive size by up to 60% and allows you to recover files on any machine (even if the application is not installed).

Admittedly, it is quite ironic to back up your data before you do anything (for example, formatting an external hard drive for your Mac), because it may be the device you typically use to back up. So, for security reasons, you need to have at least two drives or disks.

Don't forget that you shouldn't always back up everything – you can choose basic content. While Get Backup Pro allows you to pick the files and folders you want to back up, ChronoSync Express provides quick shortcuts to back up or sync certain folders. If you want to do this, check out the setup assistant for ChronoSync, which is very simple.

You can select a task—for example, Folder Backup—to select your folder and backup target (it can be an external volume), and ChronoSync Express will quickly create a bootable backup for you. We also really like the synchronization feature of this app, which is perfect for when you need to compare the contents of multiple folders or just move selected files to the backup folder.

Easily recover lost data

No matter how careful you are to back up files, data loss is always possible. In fact, you can do everything correctly, but you will still encounter disk errors or corrupted data. Maybe your data is lost simply because you forget to back up immediately before formatting the USB drive on your Mac!

Whatever the reason, applications like Disk Drill are invaluable for recovering lost data. Here is how to use Disk Drill to recover deleted files:

1. In Disk Drill, select Data Recovery > Storage Devices
2. Select your volume from the list and click Search for lost data
3. Once the scan is complete, you can view all the found items and restore only the items you need, or click Restore All

Disk Drill is a savior in the case of data recovery due to formatting errors, because it provides a double help, you can use it to:

1. Locate files you have deleted from your Mac because you think they have been safely backed up to a drive that is now inaccessible
2. Recover files that you have deleted from your SD card or storage stick to make more space for new photos.

Always avoid the harm of data loss

There is almost nothing worse than losing data, whether it is because your drive or SD card is damaged, or because you forget to back up before deciding to format your hard drive for your Mac. Fortunately, as we saw above, there are some ways to get data that initially seems impossible to recover!

Of course, it's even better if you haven't reached that point at all, and regular backups are the best way to do it. Macs offer built-in options to do this with Time Machine or iCloud, but the former is compatible with not all types of storage devices, while the latter is associated with monthly fees you may prefer to avoid. That's why many people end up looking for how to format an external hard drive on a Mac or use other devices like USB drives.

Using backup software with applications that can recover lost data from USB drives, SD cards, etc. can cover most of your foundations in avoiding catastrophic data loss.

You may also want to add cloud solutions like Google Drive or Dropbox (both have free plans) as an additional layer of protection in case of fire, flooding, theft, or unexpected errors when you format your USB drive on your Mac. There is no harm in being prepared.

You can try Get Backup Pro, ChronoSync Express, Disk Drill, and some great tools for cloud storage tasks with Setapp, a productivity service with over 200 tools and utilities to solve any problem. Now that we have made sure you understand the basics, it’s time to answer some of the most common questions on this topic.

FAQ

What format should a Mac's USB drive be used?

APFS is the original default file format used on macOS, so it is the best choice for formatting USB drives. However, you should note that APFS is not compatible with some older versions of macOS – for those versions, you may need to use the Mac OS X extension format or other formats.

How to change a read-only USB drive on your Mac without formatting?

Try using iBoysoft NTFS for Mac. Most of the time, read-only volumes are formatted to NTFS, which was originally in Windows format. The iBoysoft application unlocks write support for NTFS drives.

If your USB drive is not formatted as NTFS, but it is read-only, try changing the permissions (right-click on USB drive > Get Info > Share and Permissions > Change to Read and Write in Finder).

How to format USB drives for Mac and Windows?

FAT32 is generally considered the best file format to use on macOS and Windows. This is true, but please note that it can only handle files smaller than 4GB. If you need more, try using ExFAT.

How to format a USB drive to FAT32 on a Mac?

To format the USB drive to FAT32, open Disk Utility and select your USB drive, and click Erashes. Under Format, select MS-DOS (FAT). That's it!

The above is the detailed content of How To Format USB And SD Card On Mac In Seconds – Setapp. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!