How To Format Usb On Macbook Air

How To Format Usb On Macbook Air

How To Format Usb Drive On Macbook Air
How To Format Usb On Macbook Air
Nowadays, when you buy a USB drive, you can use it right out of the box with your Mac. However, unless it's been designed for use with a Mac, it won't be formatted using macOS' preferred file system (either Mac OS Extended or APFS, depending on which version of macOS you're running).
Or your MacBook Air or iMac. Do you have a 2017 MacBook Pro or iMac? MacBook Air 2018? Then you'll have a Mac with USB C ports on it. Many of the Seagate external hard drives are USB 3.0 drives. But you'll need to get yourself an USB micro B to USB C adaptor cable when you buy your Seagate drive. Jul 04, 2011 Format the MacBook Air USB Restore Key. I got it working I had all those same errors too. First of all extract all the files on to your desktop and that's solves some of the first problems. By Jack Scicluna Photography, LLC - guest writer. The latest trend with computers is not including a CD/DVD drive. This helps the computers to be small and lighter. Apple has started doing this when the Macbook Air arrived on the scene. They have also included this with their latest laptops and their iMac's. Recently photographers have switched from using CD/DVD's to USB flash drives to. Connect the flash drive that you want to format. Go to Applications and Utilities and launch Disk Utility. The application will appear on the screen, and you will see the main window, with a list of available storage devices on the left and various disk management options on the right. Jan 09, 2020 Connect the flash drive that you want to format. Go to Applications and Utilities and launch Disk Utility. The application will appear on the screen, and you will see the main window, with a list of available storage devices on the left and various disk management options on the right.
That's because most of the computers in the world run Windows, and Windows uses a different file system, usually one known as Fat32. Drives formatted as Fat32 can be read from and written to by macOS, but it's not optimal and you're more likely to run into problems than if you use macOS' native format. So, if you've bought a USB drive that's formatted as Fat32, or any other format other than Mac OS Extended (also known as HFS+) or APFS, here's how to format a USB drive on Mac. It's exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a Mac.
How to format a USB drive on a Mac1. Plug the drive into a USB socket (if you have a recent MacBook or MacBook Pro that only has USB-C connectors, you'll need a USB-C to USB-A adaptor).
2. Open a new Finder window and click on the drive. Make sure it has no files on it that you need. The process of reformatting it will wipe all the data from it.
3. Once you've copied any files you need from the USB drive to your Mac, go to Applications>Utilities and double-click on Disk Utility.
4. Click on the USB drive in the sidebar and then choose Erase from the toolbar at the top of the window.
5. In the window that drops down type a name for the formatted drive in the box next to Name.
6. Choose a format from the dropdown menu.
7. If you have previously stored sensitive data on the drive, click the Security tab.
8. Choose a security level using the slider. The further to the right you move the slider, the more ‘passes' the erase tool will make and the more securely files will be deleted. However, it also increases the time it takes to format the drive quite considerably.
9. Click Ok then click Erase.
Tip: You don't need to erase a whole drive to delete files securely. If you have confidential files or sensitive data you need to remove from your Mac completely, you should use CleanMyMac's File Shredder. It's specifically designed to securely delete sensitive data and will render it unrecoverable. You can download CleanMyMac X for free here.
Which format to choose?If your Mac is running macOS High Sierra or later, you have two options for file formats: APFS and Mac OS Extended. Which should you choose? The key point is that disks formatted as APFS won't be recognized by Macs running versions of macOS older than High Sierra. So if you think you might need to plug the USB drive into a Mac running an older version of macOS, format it as Mac OS Extended. 
APFS is optimized for SSD (solid state drive) such as flash drives, so if you reformat a flash drive on a Mac, you should definitely choose APFS (unless you plan to use it with a pre-High Sierra Mac, of course). Even on hard drives, however, APFS is faster and more reliable than Mac OS Extended.
Finally, if you plan to use the USB drive as a destination for Time Machine backups, choose Mac OS Extended. Time Machine can't currently back up to an APFS disk and if you select one for use with Time Machine, it will offer to reformat it as Mac OS Extended. You can, however, backup an APFS formatted disk to a Mac OS Extended Time Machine drive.
How to format a USB drive to FAT32 on a MacThe main reason for formatting a USB drive as Fat32 on a Mac is that you want to be able to use the drive on a Windows PC, as well as a Mac — perhaps to transfer files between the two machines. You may also be preparing the drive for use as, say, a storage device for a media player or to record TV programmes on a TV with a USB port.
The fact that Fat32 can be read from and written to on both Mac and Windows makes it very versatile. However, there is a significant limitation — individual files have a maximum size of 4GB. So, if you're using the USB drive to store large video files, you may run into trouble. There is a solution, however, exFAT. Unlike FAT32, exFAT doesn't have a maximum file limit. Better still, it can be read from and written to on any Mac running Mac OS X Snow Leopard or later and on Windows.
To format a USB drive in FAT32 or exFAT:
1. Plug the USB drive into your Mac.
2. Go to Applications>Utilities and launch Disk Utility.
3. Click on the USB drive in the sidebar in Disk Utility.
4. Click Erase in the Disk Utility toolbar.
5. Type in a name for the formatted disk.
6. Click on the Format menu and choose either MS-DOS (FAT32) or ExFAT.
7. Click Erase.

Your USB drive will now be erased and re-formatted as either FAT32 or ExFAT, depending on the format you chose in step 6.
How to manage your drives easilyIf you look for a quick and easy way to manage your drives, try using CleanMyDrive 2. With its help, you can drag-and-drop files directly to any drive, clean hidden junk from external drives, and check disk stats. It works for all drives, including USB drives, SSD, SD cards, external hard drives. All the drives will be at hand in the menu bar, so you can get to see types of drives you have and manage them easily. CleanMyDrive is absolutely free to use, so download it on the Mac App Store and enjoy! 
It's very easy to format a USB drive on a Mac using Disk Utility. There are a couple of things you should keep in mind, however. The first is that when you format and disk, you will erase all the data currently on it. So if you need that data, make sure you copy it onto another disk before you start. Secondly, there are several formats to choose from, each with advantages and disadvantage. Use the guide above to help you decide which is right for you.
These might also interest you: These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and people who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install it on multiple computers without having to download the installer each time.

Your USB drive will now be erased and re-formatted as either FAT32 or ExFAT, depending on the format you chose in step 6.
How to manage your drives easilyIf you look for a quick and easy way to manage your drives, try using CleanMyDrive 2. With its help, you can drag-and-drop files directly to any drive, clean hidden junk from external drives, and check disk stats. It works for all drives, including USB drives, SSD, SD cards, external hard drives. All the drives will be at hand in the menu bar, so you can get to see types of drives you have and manage them easily. CleanMyDrive is absolutely free to use, so download it on the Mac App Store and enjoy! 
It's very easy to format a USB drive on a Mac using Disk Utility. There are a couple of things you should keep in mind, however. The first is that when you format and disk, you will erase all the data currently on it. So if you need that data, make sure you copy it onto another disk before you start. Secondly, there are several formats to choose from, each with advantages and disadvantage. Use the guide above to help you decide which is right for you.
These might also interest you: These advanced steps are primarily for system administrators and people who are familiar with the command line. You don't need a bootable installer to upgrade macOS or reinstall macOS, but it can be useful when you want to install it on multiple computers without having to download the installer each time.
What you need to create a bootable installerA USB flash drive or other secondary volume, formatted as Mac OS Extended, with at least 12 GB of available storage
A downloaded installer for macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra or El Capitan
Download macOSDownload: macOS Big Sur, macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave or macOS High Sierra
These will be downloaded to your Applications folder as an app called Install macOS [version name]. If the installer opens after download, quit it without continuing the installation. To get the correct installer, download from a Mac that is using macOS Sierra 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. For enterprise administrators, please download from Apple, not a locally hosted software update server. 
Download: OS X El Capitan
This will be downloaded as a disk image called InstallMacOSX.dmg. On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, which has the name InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or .pkg installer.
Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in TerminalConnect the USB flash drive or other volume that you're using for the bootable installer. 
Open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
Type or paste one of the following commands in Terminal. These assume that the installer is in your Applications folder and MyVolume is the name of the USB flash drive or other volume you're using. If it has a different name, replace MyVolume in these commands with the name of your volume.
Big Sur:*
Catalina:*
How To Format Usb Drive On Macbook AirExternal drive for macbook. Mojave:*
High Sierra:*
El Capitan:
* If your Mac is using macOS Sierra or earlier, include the --applicationpath argument and installer path, similar to the way this was done in the command for El Capitan.

After typing the command:
Press Return to enter the command.
When prompted, type your administrator password and press Return again. Terminal doesn't show any characters as you type your password.
When prompted, type Y to confirm that you want to erase the volume, then press Return. Terminal displays the progress as the volume is being erased.
After the volume has been erased, you may see an alert stating that Terminal would like to access files on a removable volume. Click OK to allow the copy to proceed. 
When Terminal says it's finished, the volume will have the same name as the installer you downloaded, such as Install macOS Big Sur. You can now quit Terminal and eject the volume.
Use the bootable installerDetermine whether you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, then follow the appropriate steps:
Apple siliconPlug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the Internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
Turn on your Mac and continue to hold the power button until you see the startup options window, which shows your bootable volumes and a gear icon labelled Options.
Select the volume containing the bootable installer, then click Continue.
When the macOS installer opens, follow the onscreen instructions.
Intel processorPlug the bootable installer into a Mac that is connected to the Internet and compatible with the version of macOS you're installing.
Press and hold the Option (Alt) ⌥ key immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac.
Release the Option key when you see a dark screen displaying your bootable volumes.
Select the volume containing the bootable installer. Then click the up arrow or press Return. 
If you can't start up from the bootable installer, make sure the External Boot setting in Startup Security Utility has been set to allow booting from external media.
Choose your language, if prompted.
Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.
Learn moreFor more information about the createinstallmedia command and the arguments that you can use with it, make sure the macOS installer is in your Applications folder, then enter the appropriate path in Terminal:
Big Sur: /Applications/Install macOS Big  Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
Catalina: /Applications/Install macOS Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
Mojave: /Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
High Sierra: /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
El Capitan: /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia
How To Format Usb On Macbook AirA bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the Internet, but it does require an Internet connection to get firmware and other information specific to the Mac model.