Formatting Flash Drive For Mac And Pc



How to Format a Flash Drive. This wikiHow teaches you how to change your flash drive's default file format. Formatting your flash drive will typically remove any files or folders on the drive, so make sure you back up your files before. To format a flash drive on a Mac, plug in the drive and open the 'Applications' folder, the 'Utilities' folder and then 'Disk Utility.' Your flash drive should be listed in the left.

Dec 16, 2020 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions

Will formatting a USB completely loses all of its data? Interesting question right? Many of your answers will be yes. But interestingly it won't. In this world of technology, nothing becomes impossible. Even after completely formatting all the files from an exFAT or FAT32 USB flash drive we can completely recover it or even we can repair the damaged data.

Here we explain it in such a way that each one of you can format USB drive without losing data.

Part 1: What Does Format Flash Drive Mean

When we buy a new USB drive, we all make sure that the complete space available in the flash drive is empty. So what happens when we start adding files to the same? We know space starts to get occupied by the files.

But what happens if it is filled and we want to use it again in a fresh manner. There we use the technique called formatting which means we completely erase all the data and files inside the flash drive. So let us see how this works:

When we add data to a USB flash drive it creates a filing system that organizes the data while allowing you to store the most files possible. This virtual filing cupboard organizes your files in a way that makes your USB flash drive perform at its best.

Part 2: Will Formatting Flash Drive Erase Data

The answer to this question is a simple yes. Let us have a quick look at how it happens. Here we talked about organizing files. Files are allocated by certain systems that determine how and where your files are digitally stored. There are mainly 4 types of file systems for storage devices: FAT, FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS.

NTFS uses less fragmentation and therefore manages space more effectively. It also excels at transferring files larger than 4GB. However, this system is not always optimal for USB flash drives unless you need to transfer extra-large files.

FAT and FAT32 are supported by nearly every operating system, use less memory, and work faster. The file system exFAT combines the best of both NTFS and FAT for flash drives by reading and writing larger files at a faster speed.

Formatting is not complex either. If you have your flash drive and computer system, you already have all the tools you need.

Step 1: Right-click on your flash drive under My Computer and select Format.

Formatting A Flash Drive For Mac And Pc

Step 2: Choose from the drop-down menu for the File System to change it to its desired format. The default is generally FAT 32.

Step 3: Uncheck Quick Format if needed.

Step 4: Then, click Start and click OK to bypass the deletion warning.

Part 3: Is It Possible To Format USB Flash Drive Without Losing Data?

Yes, it is possible to format the removable disk without losing data. Let us see how this can be done.

Step 1: Backup data first before formatting

Step 2: Format USB flash drive

These steps don't need many explanations. Before doing the process of formatting you should create a backup of all the files and data of your drive. This can be done by any backup methods of your choice. Simply you can connect it to a computer and copy all the files to it and then do formatting drive.

Part 4: How to Recover Lost Data After Formatting

If you didn't make a backup before formatting or you find some files lost after formatting, are you worried about losing your data? No more worries because Recoverit Data Recovery is going to help you.

Recoverit Data Recovery - The Best File Recovery Software

  • Ability to recover all files like photos, videos, documents, etc.
  • Can retrieve data from all data loss scenarios.
  • Ability to restore data from all storage devices (internal and external) and crashed windows system.
  • Video repair tool that can repair corrupted videos under different scenarios.

How to Recover Lost Data From Your Storage Device Using Recoverit

To recover files, first, you have to launch Recoverit on your computer. To make Recoverit Data Recovery run on a Windows computer, you have to double click the 'Wondershare Recoverit' icon on the Desktop. If it is not available on the Desktop, you can enter 'Recoverit' in the search box on your Windows computer. And then click on the App or Choose to 'Open' it.

Step 1: Connect the external device

Before getting Recoverit started, you need to connect the external device to your computer. Make sure that it can be recognized or detected.

Step 2: Select the external device

To recover lost or deleted files from the removable storage media, please select the device as the target location. And then hit on the 'Start' button. Even though the partition on the device has got lost, you can still use Recoverit to bring the lost data back.

Format Flash Drive For Mac And Pc 2017

Step 3: Scan the external device

An all-around scan will be launched on the external storage media. Wait a few minutes to finish the scanning. During the process, you can locate the targeted files, as well as pause or stop it.

Step 4: Preview and recover files

Once the scanning ends, you can preview the files from the scanning result. To get the files back, click 'Recover' and save them into another safe location.

Conclusion

Formatting Flash Drive For Mac And Pc

When you have lost files, the primary thing you would like to see is whether or not you've got a backup on your computer or other storage media. Just attend the backup and restore all of your files. Regularly creating a backup is extremely important and useful, it can assist you to save longer to recover files from USB drive when data got lost, and otherwise you should get the Recoverit USB Data Recovery software to recover your data back.

USB Topic

Recover USB Drive
Format USB Drive
Fix/Repair USB Drive
Know USB Drive

Note: Formatting your flash drive will remove all files or folders onthe drive, so make sure you back up your files before formatting yourdrive.

Windows:

Format Hard Drive For Mac And Pc

  1. Connect the USB flash drive to your computer.

  1. Click “This PC”.

  1. Right-click the flash drive’s icon. It’s beneath the “Devices and drives” heading in the middle of the page.

Drive

  1. Click Format. This option is near the middle of the drop-down menu. Doing so opens the Format window.

  1. Click the “File System” box. It’s below the “File System” heading near the top of the page. A drop-down menu will appear with the following options:

NTFS - The default Windows operating system format. If you’re using your drive as a secondary Windows drive, you’ll need to choose this option.

FAT32 - The most widely compatible format. Works with most computers and gaming consoles.

Note: exFAT format USB flash drives do not work with ClonerAlliance products.

  1. Click a format option (FAT32 or NTFS). If you’ve formatted your drive before and you’re positive that it isn’t broken, you can also check the Quick Format box.

  1. Click Start, and then click OK. Doing this will cause Windows to begin formatting your flash drive for you.

  1. Click “OK” when prompted. Your flash drive has successfully been formatted.

Mac:

  1. Connect the USB flash drive to your Mac.

Note: Some Macs don’t have USB ports, so you’ll need to purchase an adapter.

  1. Click “Go”. It’s a menu item in the top-left side of the menu bar.

If you don’t see Go, first click the Finder icon, which resembles a blue face in your Mac’s dock.

  1. Click “Utilities”. This option is in the Go drop-down menu.

  1. Double-click “Disk Utility”. You’ll likely find this option in the middle of the Utilities page.

  1. Click your flash drive’s name. It’s on the far-left side of the Disk Utility window.

  1. Click the “Erase” tab. This option is at the top of the Disk Utility window.

Format Flash Drive For Mac And Pc Large Files

  1. Click a format option.

Note: exFAT format USB flash drives do not work with ClonerAlliance products.

  1. Click Erase, then click Erase when prompted. This will begin the formatting process. Once the formatting is complete, you’ll see an icon for your flash drive appear on your Mac’s desktop.