How to Format a USB Drive on Mac

Formatting a USB drive is typically a straightforward operation, but there might be more than one way to approach this task. Furthermore, there are several options you will need to configure, and below we will explain what they do:

How to Format a USB Drive

Start by plugging in the USB drive you wish to work with, and then open a new Finder window to locate the USB Drive. Keep in mind that formatting the drive will wipe out any data stored on it, so you may need to save your files first. If there are no files to backup, then go to applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility.

Select your USB Drive and press Erase. Select a name for the formatted drive, and then choose the format you wish to use. You can also use the 'Security' tab to choose how many times the erase tool should run – selecting a higher security level will result in more passes, making it difficult to restore any of the recently deleted files.

What Format to Select?

By default, the Erase tool offers фоур options – APFS, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, and Mac OS Extended. APFS is more efficient, but it may not be recognized by older versions of macOS, in particular those below High Sierra. If you think you may be using the USB drive on older systems, then we recommend using the Mac OS Extended format.

The FAT32, NTFS, and exFAT formats are recommended if you plan on using the USB drive on Windows machines. The primary advantage of NTFS and exFAT is that they allow you to store files with a size of over 4GB. In the meantime, FAT32 prevents you from using files over 4GB in size.