Step 6. Reset the drive name and click "Erase" to confirm the operation on the next pop-up window. Step 5. Select your USB or external drive, click "Erase", then click the Format column and select a format for your USB.įor example, Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or MS-DOS (FAT). Step 4. Double-click to open Disk Utility in the Utilities window to open it. Step 3. Double-click "Utilities" in the Applications window. On the Apple menu, click "Go" and select "Applications".
Connect the USB or external hard drive to your Mac computer.
#Imac format external drive for mac
You can try the following steps to format USB or external hard drive for Mac with Disk Utility on Mac: Format USB or External Hard Drive for Mac Using Mac Disk Utilityĭisk Utility offers users similar features in the disk management tool, such as to create, delete, resize, merge and format partitions.
#Imac format external drive how to
So how do I format a USB stick on a Mac computer? Here, we'll show you how to format your USB flash drive or external hard drive for Mac usage. Format USB Drive for Mac on Mac/Windows Computers If you tend to use it as a Time Machine backup disk, format it as Mac OS Extended Journaled.If it's larger than 64GB, set its file system as exFAT.
Note that Windows uses NTFS but Mac can't write files to volumes with NTFS format. Set a Suitable File System for USB or External USB Drive on Mac To prepare a USB flash drive ready for Mac on a Windows computer, you can try the third-party format software.Īfter picking the right USB format tool, you can now move to the next guide and decide which format that you should set for the USB flash drive or external hard drive. The terminal is far more complex for beginners. To format a USB flash drive on Mac, Disk Utility is better a better choice. So how to select a suitable tool to format your USB flash drive or external hard drive for Mac? For a quick guide, read the tips here: