In some cases, the USB flash drives need to be formatted to FAT32 as it is one of the most preferred and compatible file systems for both mac and windows. But, while trying to format a flash drive in the usual manner, problems may arise or the FAT32 option might not be available. Part 1: Format FAT32 Drive on Mac First, let us look on how to format FAT32 drive on Mac (macOS Sierra). You could be wondering what FAT32 is. It is a file system in Windows 95, 98, and windows Millennium Edition. One major advantage about this file system is that nearly all the operating systems can read and write from it.
How to format USB to FAT32? If the USB flash drive is within 32GB, the native Windows File Explorer and Windows Disk Management are good FAT32 formatter. However, if you want to format 64GB or 128GB USB to FAT32, you can only depend on CMD (Usually diskpart and powershell) and a third-party FAT32 format tool.
*EaseUS Partition Master Free is an all-around FAT32 format utility that breaks the limit of the 32GB capacity on a USB flash drive, pen drive or memory card. You can apply the software to format any drive from 2GB to 256GB or even bigger to FAT32 without limitation. Read on and get to know the FAT32 file system and how to choose the right tool to format USB to FAT32.
Why Do We Format USB to FAT32?
Related topic:Should you format USB to FAT32 or NTFS?
What's FAT32? FAT32 is regarded as the default file system for external drives, especially the removable USB flash drives and SD memory cards. It's the most compatible file system that can be used on major devices and operating systems like Windows and macOS. So, the advantage of using FAT32 is portability.
However, FAT32 has some disadvantages, or let's say limitations as well. First and foremost, if you use a single file over 4GB in size, you'll need to convert FAT32 to NTFS or exFAT; What's more, due to the manufacturers' specifications, FAT32 can only be used to format drives between 2GB and 32GB, and that's why native tools on Windows have that limit, too. When you try to format a USB drive over 32GB in Windows Explorer, there is no 'FAT32' option at all.
- Warning
- Formatting the USB flash drive will delete all the content on the device. Please make sure that you have backed up everything on the drive you want to save before the operations.
How to Format USB to FAT32: Windows Tools or Third-party Formatter?
According to the previous FAT32 analysis, 32GB is the watershed when it comes to deciding how to format your USB flash drive to the FAT32 file system. In a word, when the USB drive is within 32GB, you can choose any tool mentioned on this page to make it. Otherwise, once the USB drive capacity exceeds the 32GB limit, you'll need to turn to more advanced solutions, including:
- 1. EaseUS FAT32 formatting software
- 2. Diskpart & PowerShell command
Next, we'll cover all free solutions to let you format 2GB, 8GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB USB flash drive to FAT32 with success.
#1. Format USB (Under 32GB) to FAT32 via Windows 7/8/10 File Explorer
Connect your USB drive to a Windows PC or laptop and let Windows recognize your drive and assign it a drive letter. Check it in Windows Explorer and follow the steps to format the drive to FAT32 as you want.
Step 1. Press Windows + E keys and open File Explorer.
Step 2. Right-click on your USB drive and choose Format.
Step 3. Choose FAT32 as the target file system, tick Quick Format and click Start.
#2. Format USB (Under 32GB) to FAT32 via Windows 7/8/10 Disk Management
Disk management is a free Windows built-in utility that is designed to help users deal with common disk partition related jobs. It is ready to help whenever you want to format a small USB drive to FAT32.
Step 1. Right-click This PC in Windows 10/My Computer in Windows 7, and choose Manage.
Step 2. Choose Disk Management under Storage.
Step 3. Right-click on your USB drive and select Format.
Step 4. From the File system drop-down list, choose FAT32 and click OK.
#3. Format USB (32GB, 64GB, 128GB) to FAT32 with EaseUS FAT32 Formatter
Since the FAT32 option is not available in the regular Windows formatting tools when the USB size is over 32GB, you need other capable USB format tools to get around that. Here we recommend you try EaseUS Partition Master Free, a free partition manager that can help you format your hard drive and USB devices without size limitations. In addition, it also lets you easily resize, create, delete, merge, split, copy partitions, convert MBR to GPT drive and vice versa, and many other things you cannot realize in the default Windows programs.
Now you can download the program and follow the simple steps to format the USB flash drive in any size to FAT32.
Step 1: Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition you intend to format and choose 'Format'.
Step 2: In the new window, enter the Partition label, choose the FAT32 file system, and set the cluster size according to your needs, then click 'OK'.
Step 3: Then you will see a warning window, click 'OK' in it to continue.
Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting the partition to FAT32.
Smaller cluster size makes less waste of disk space. The smaller cluster size is, the bigger the file allocation table (FAT) will be. The bigger the FAT is, the slower the operating system works with the disk.
#4. Format USB to FAT32 Using CMD
Though Windows Command Prompt is the other attainable way that enables users to format a storage device to whatever file system, it's kind of higher-leveled and risker for average persons.
If you are with solid computer skills and familiar with the command lines, you can try the diskpart and powershell command to format your USB drive to FAT32 like the third-party EaseUS format tool does.
Diskpart Command Line:
list disk
select disk *
list volume
select volume *
format fs=ntfs quick
PowerShell Command Line:
format /FS:FAT32 X:
Are You Able to Format USB to FAT32 Now?
Regarding the topic 'how to format USB to FAT32', we analyzed the FAT32's advantage and disadvantage, and clearly know that the regular Windows File Explorer and Windows Disk Management can only deal with the USB drive under 32GB. If you're trying to format a large USB drive that is 64GB or 128GB, you'll need to download the third-party formatting software - EaseUS Partition Master Free, or challenge yourself to learn the Diskpart or PowerShell commands.
All in all, no matter how large your USB flash drive is, EaseUS FAT32 format software is the optimal choice to format your USB drive to FAT32. It doesn't require the USB storage size, and most of all, it's user-friendly that everyone can benefit from it.
Summary :
When you get a new USB drive and want to format it, you may wonder: what is the best format for USB drive? Well, the best format for USB drive is different for different operating systems and devices. This article will show you how to choose the best format for USB flash drive.
Quick Navigation :
Nowadays, USB flash drive is widely used on various electronic devices due to its portability. Before you use a new USB drive, you need to first format it. Well, what is the best format for USB drive? How to choose the best format for USB drive?
Before you try to choose the best format for your USB drive, you need to know what file system it is in.
What Is File System?
What is file system?
In computing, a file system or filesystem controls how data is stored and retrieved. With a file system, the information placed in a storage medium will be separated into pieces and each piece will have a name, so the information is easily isolated and identified this way. Each group of data is called a file.
File system is the structure and logic rules used to manage groups of information.
File systems can be used on a numerous variety of storage devices and media types. There are many different types of file systems; each of them has different storage devices that they are the most suitable for.
What is the best format for USB drive? Well, it depends on how you plan to use your USB drive.
How to Choose the Best Format for USB drive
Basically, to choose the best format for USB flash drive. The two most important things you need to consider are the operating systems you plan to use it with and the sizes of the files that you are most likely to transfer and store.
The following contents list some commonly used file systems. To better understand which one is the best file system for USB drive according to your needs, you can view the compatibility, pros and cons of these file systems one by one.
When you get a new USB drive, you can follow this guide to choose the best thumb drive file system for your portable drive.
NTFS vs HFS+ vs FAT32 vs exFAT vs Ext 2,3,4
1. NTFS: The New Technology File System (NTFS), a proprietary journaling file system developed by Microsoft, is the default file system of the Windows NT family.
- Compatibility: Windows XP/7/8/10, Linux (read-only for some distributions), MacOS(read-only), Xbox One
- Pros: journaling, no realistic file size limitations; support for file compression, high security
- Cons: can be read-only for Mac OS, or be written by Mac with the help of third-party software
2. HFS+: The Hierarchical File System (HFS+) is the file system modern MacOS versions use by default. If you want to use your USB drive on Mac devices, you can format USB to HFS+.
- Compatibility: MacOS, Linux(readonly), Xbox 360/One
- Pros: journaling, encrypt or compress files or folders
- Cons: cannot be read by the Window unless using third-party software
3. FAT32: The File Allocation Table 32 (FAT32) was the standard Windows file system before NTFS. And it is widely recognized by almost all operating systems. Most portable devices also support FAT32.
- Compatibility: Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS, Android, Chrome OS, Android, Xbox 360/One, PS3, PS4, printers, projectors…
- Pros: compatible with almost all versions of Windows, Mac, Linux and practically any device with a USB port
- Cons: cannot store a single file which is larger than 4GB; cannot create a FAT32 partition that is larger than 8 TB (Windows only recognizes 2TB)
4. exFAT: The extended File Allocation Table (exFAT) is similar to FAT32, but does not have the limits of FAT32 file system. It can be used where NTFS is not a feasible solution, but a greater file-size limit than the standard FAT32 file system is required.
- Compatibility: Windows, Mac OSX 10.6.5 and above, PlayStation 4 (with MBR, not GUID), Xbox One, Android
- Pros: good for larger file sizes and drives, compatible with both Windows and Mac OS
- Cons: Microsoft restricts its usage by license obligations.
5. Ext 2/3/4: The extended file system (Ext) was the first file system created specifically for Linux. If you plan to use the USB drive on Linux computers, you can format it to this file system.
- Compatibility: Linux, Xbox 360/One
- Pros: support for large file sizes and large drives
- Cons: cannot be read and written by Windows unless with third-party software, Ext 2 lacks journaling.
After the comparison, have you picked your best format for USB drive?
All in all, FAT32 is actually compatible for the most types of systems. It’s practically compatible with any device with a USB port, while NTFS and exFAT are not so much. HFS+ is specially used on MacOS, and Ext 2, 3, 4 file systems are created by Linux.
FAT32 - The Best Format for USB Drive
As you can see from above, FAT32 is supported on almost all devices, which makes it the choice of file system format selected by the most people for USB drive.
As long as you don't use it to transfer a single file larger than 4 GB, FAT32 is perfect and can be the best portable file system for USB drive due to its compatibility.
So we draw the conclusion that although FAT32 has its limits, it’s the best file system to use for most portable drives like USB drive, SD card, etc. Besides, most USB drives have small capacity because they are hardly ever used as the main data storage. Therefore, they will not be used to store large files. The limit will not affect you too much.
How to Format USB Drive in Windows or Mac
After choosing the best format for USB drive according to your needs, you might start to wonder: how do I format USB drive to NTFS/FAT32/exFAT/EXT 2,3,4/HFS+ in Windows operating system or Mac? Well, don't worry. if you need to format USB drive to NTFS/FAT32/exFAT/EXT 2,3,4/HFS+ file system, please follow the steps as below.
Well then, how to format USB drive to FAT32/NTFS/exFAT/EXT 2,3,4/HFS+ if you have the need. Don't worry, the following part will show you the solution for Windows and Mac OS users.
The process for formatting a drive is different depending on the system you’re using. Let’s see how to format USB drive on a Windows PC first.
Format USB drive on Windows Operating System
To format USB drive in Windows operating system, it is recommended to use the free USB formatter MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition.
MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition is a free partition manager & USB formatter. It can help you resize partition, extend partition, format partition, convert FAT32 to NTFS, check file system, copy partition, migrate OS to HD/SSD and so on. As a free partition manager, it is equipped with many advanced features that cannot be found in Disk Management.
With its user-friendly interface, this free partition manager is worth trying.
First, you need to connect the USB drive to your Windows PC. Then you can follow the steps as below to format USB drive for Mac and Windows on a Windows PC.
Step 1. Download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition by clicking the following button. Install and launch it to get its main interface.
Step 2. Right-click the drive you want to format and select Format Partition from the left action panel.
Step 3. At this page, specify the partition label, file system as well as cluster size. The cluster size is set by default.
Step 4. After resetting these parameters, you can click OK.
Step 5. Click Apply button on the upper left corner to allow the pending operations.
If you need to format USB drive to FAT32/NTFS/exFAT/Ext2/Ext3/Ext4, MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition can be your best USB formatter. You can also change your USB format with this tool at ease. Try it now!
Format Usb Fat32 On Mac
Format USB Drive in Mac
If you want to use the USB drive on your Mac computer only, formatting it to be entirely Mac compatible file system is highly recommended, such as HFS+ file system. If you want to use the drive between a Windows and Mac machine, you can format it to FAT32.
You can follow the steps as below to format USB drive to HFS+ or FAT32 in Mac. Here I will format the drive to FAT32 for demonstration.
Step 1. Connect the USB flash drive to your Mac computer.
Step 2. Go to Applications and then click Utilities.
Format Flash Drive Mac Fat32
Step 3, Double click Disk Utility to open it.
Step 4. Select your USB flash drive on the sidebar, choose Erase.
Step 5. Name the USB drive, choose the MS-DOS (FAT) for Format, Master Boot Record for Scheme. Then click Erase.
Step 6. When it is finished, your USB drive will be formatted to FAT32 as the file system.
Fat32 Formatter Mac
Wrapping Things Up
If you don't know how to choose the best format for USB drive, this article could be a big help. If you don't know how to format USB drive to the best file system, this article can also resolve this issue for you.
If you have a different opinion about the best format for USB drive, please don't hesitate to share it with us. If you need any help formatting USB drive in Windows, you may leave it in the following comment zone. And we will reply you as soon as possible. You may also contact us via [email protected] if you need help.