Formatting your drive is also an efficient way to clear every piece of data inside of it. On top of that, you get to choose additional settings to configure your drive’s partition scheme, file system, and also its name. And all this can be accomplished directly from the Disk Utility tool. So, here in this article, we’ll talk about how you can safely format your Pendrive on a Mac computer.
File Systems and Partition Schemes for Mac
macOS supports a variety of file systems and partition schemes. With a few different options, it might feel overwhelming to determine which one might be the most suitable for you to use. For starters, if you want the highest compatibility between a Mac and a Windows PC, MS-DOS (FAT) or ExFAT is the one for you. The only difference between the two of these formats is that MS-DOS (FAT) is generally preferable if your Windows volume is 32GBs or less in size. On the contrary, ExFAT is favorable for volumes 32GBs or more. The APFS and macOS Extended file formats are not compatible with non-Apple devices. However, if you operate only within the Apple ecosystem, APFS and macOS Extended provide safer and faster file optimization and speed. So, use APS if you have macOS version 10.13 or above and use macOS Extended if you have macOS version 10.12 or lower. Similarly, select a GUID Partition Map partition scheme if you have Intel or Apple Silicon-based Mac. For most compatibility with Windows, select the Master Boot Record scheme. And if you have an old generation Mac computer, choose the Apple Partition Map scheme.
How to Format Pendrive in Mac?
The exact steps to format a Pendrive in Mac are pretty straightforward. Everything you have to do can be done through Disk Utility. But before we start going through the steps to do so, let’s first see how you can back up your Pendrive.
Step1: Backup first
Since formatting your Pendrive will delete everything inside of it, we recommend you back up your important files and folders first. You can either copy and store these files on a different computer or on some form of cloud storage. This will allow you to easily retrieve those files whenever you need them. If your Pendrive is readable (working properly) on your Mac computer, you can copy the files and paste them to the desired location on the macOS. For this, you simply have to right-click on the related file and hit Copy. Then, move to the desired location, right-click on an empty space and Paste Item. And if you want to select multiple files at once, hit Command and highlight the required files one by one. Additionally, there are many third-party backup software available for the macOS. This software work well to back up your files and also to create an image of your entire system. So, if needed, backup first and format it later.
Step 2: Format using Disk Utility
Disk Utility is Apple’s official disk management tool, that can be used to perform disk and drive-related actions. From formatting your drive to repairing broken disk permissions, everything is done through this tool. It comes preinstalled on your Mac and can be accessed easily by Spotlight. So, here’s how you format your Pendrive using Disk Utility:
How Can I Change My Pendrive from Read-Only to Read-And-Write?
If your Pendrive has read-only permission, you can only view and copy files from your Pendrive to your computer. However, you are not able to copy and write files on your Pendrive. But you can easily change its permission settings to read-and-write to enable the ‘write’ feature. Here’s how you do it:
title: “How To Format Pendrive On A Macos” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-01” author: “Patricia Pedigo”
Formatting your drive is also an efficient way to clear every piece of data inside of it. On top of that, you get to choose additional settings to configure your drive’s partition scheme, file system, and also its name. And all this can be accomplished directly from the Disk Utility tool. So, here in this article, we’ll talk about how you can safely format your Pendrive on a Mac computer.
File Systems and Partition Schemes for Mac
macOS supports a variety of file systems and partition schemes. With a few different options, it might feel overwhelming to determine which one might be the most suitable for you to use. For starters, if you want the highest compatibility between a Mac and a Windows PC, MS-DOS (FAT) or ExFAT is the one for you. The only difference between the two of these formats is that MS-DOS (FAT) is generally preferable if your Windows volume is 32GBs or less in size. On the contrary, ExFAT is favorable for volumes 32GBs or more. The APFS and macOS Extended file formats are not compatible with non-Apple devices. However, if you operate only within the Apple ecosystem, APFS and macOS Extended provide safer and faster file optimization and speed. So, use APS if you have macOS version 10.13 or above and use macOS Extended if you have macOS version 10.12 or lower. Similarly, select a GUID Partition Map partition scheme if you have Intel or Apple Silicon-based Mac. For most compatibility with Windows, select the Master Boot Record scheme. And if you have an old generation Mac computer, choose the Apple Partition Map scheme.
How to Format Pendrive in Mac?
The exact steps to format a Pendrive in Mac are pretty straightforward. Everything you have to do can be done through Disk Utility. But before we start going through the steps to do so, let’s first see how you can back up your Pendrive.
Step1: Backup first
Since formatting your Pendrive will delete everything inside of it, we recommend you back up your important files and folders first. You can either copy and store these files on a different computer or on some form of cloud storage. This will allow you to easily retrieve those files whenever you need them. If your Pendrive is readable (working properly) on your Mac computer, you can copy the files and paste them to the desired location on the macOS. For this, you simply have to right-click on the related file and hit Copy. Then, move to the desired location, right-click on an empty space and Paste Item. And if you want to select multiple files at once, hit Command and highlight the required files one by one. Additionally, there are many third-party backup software available for the macOS. This software work well to back up your files and also to create an image of your entire system. So, if needed, backup first and format it later.
Step 2: Format using Disk Utility
Disk Utility is Apple’s official disk management tool, that can be used to perform disk and drive-related actions. From formatting your drive to repairing broken disk permissions, everything is done through this tool. It comes preinstalled on your Mac and can be accessed easily by Spotlight. So, here’s how you format your Pendrive using Disk Utility:
How Can I Change My Pendrive from Read-Only to Read-And-Write?
If your Pendrive has read-only permission, you can only view and copy files from your Pendrive to your computer. However, you are not able to copy and write files on your Pendrive. But you can easily change its permission settings to read-and-write to enable the ‘write’ feature. Here’s how you do it:
