- Whether you’re formatting an internal drive, external drive, or USB flash drive, Windows makes it possible to choose between NTFS and exFAT formats. In this guide, we’ll go over the simple steps to formatting a USB drive and which format is best for certain situations. ExFAT is a file system optimized specifically for flash drives.
- Step 1: Why There Is No FAT Option on Format Window. When you need to format your USB to FAT/FAT16 because your device (like DVD player or digital decoder etc) only support FAT file systems. But there is no option FAT on format window, so you cant change it to FAT.
WARNING: Formatting will erase all data on the device. Back up all your data before proceeding.
Instructions below are for 10.11.x (El Capitan) and 10.12.x (Sierra)
1. Double-click on Macintosh HD - or in the Finder menu clickFile > New Finder Window
2. Click the Applications folder - if using a Finder Window Applicationswill be in the left side menu.
3. Click the Utilities folder.
4. Double-click Disk Utility.
5. On the left side of the window are the drives connected to the computer. Select the capacity of the drive respective to the one containing the device you wish to format then click the Erase tab.
Example: If the drive is called 'NO NAME', directly above that, you should see the drive capacity of 'XXXX'. Select this capacity.
6. Verify Volume Format is set to MS-DOS file system or exFAT, Scheme is set to “Master Boot Record” (Do NOT select GUID Partition Map) then click Erase.
When finished, the drive will be formatted and repartitioned successfully. Click the Done button. NOTE: exFAT is used on SDXC card (64GB and higher). NOTE: exFAT can be used on flash drives or memory cards to transfer files larger than 4GB. NOTE: MacOS 10.6.2 or higher is required for exFAT file system.
Instructions below are for 10.13.x (High Sierra)
1. Open Disk Utility. Please See Answer 20985: How to access Disk Utility macOS
2. In the top menu bar, go to View, and choose Show All Devices
3. Select the upper level of the drive you would like to format and click the Erase button
4. Choose how you would like to format the drive
- Enter a Name for your drive
- Choose exFAT or MS-DOS (FAT) for the format
- Choose Master Boot Record for the Scheme
- Click Erase
5. When finished, the drive will be formatted and repartitioned successfully. Click the Done button
NOTE: exFAT is used on SDXC card (64GB and higher).
Format Usb Drive To Exfat
NOTE: exFAT can be used on flash drives or memory cards to transfer files larger than 4GB.
NOTE: MacOS 10.6.2 or higher is required for exFAT file system. Some older operating systems must have a patch installed before they can use the exFAT file system.
How To Format Exfat
NOTE: If the above steps do NOT resolve the problem or if the lock switch is missing or broken, please back up your data and request a replacement using our online web form.
Format Flash Drive Mac Fat32
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