The best thing to do is download it once and create a bootable install usb drive from the file for all of your macs. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. Starting with os x lion, apple did away with dvds and other media as a method of installing software and switched to a download model instead. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. Dmg download in step 1 to mount its virtual hard drive into system launch disk utility, select the right usb in the left side click pn restore drag and drop os x installer. Fortunately, while formatting your flash drive on a mac is different than other operating systems it still remains. Here is a list of alternatives to format usb or flash drive software for. How to format usb flash drive in macos mojave youtube. The quickest way is to search on spotlight and click. Once your bootable usb installation media is ready, remove it and insert it into your mac, power it on, holding down the option key, and select the usb you just created to reinstall mac os x.
Both windows and mac os x have full readwrite support for exfat drives without any additional thirdparty software. Even though format usb or flash drive software for mac is not available for download, there are plenty of alternative apps to format a flash drive on mac. Once youve copied any files you need from the usb drive to your mac. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x.
Go to applicationsutilities and launch disk utility. Whether you are trying to backup mac to an external hard drive, wipe out any personal information and sell the computer, or even use a new operating system, you need to format the hard drive on your mac or pc. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. Os x can default read ntfs disks, but not write to them. Some flash drives have to be formatted first before you can store files on them. How to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac. Aug 16, 2019 in this guide, we show you virtually every method to format a usb flash drive and quickly erase its contents or fix data corruption and other issues using windows 10s builtin tools. Feb 21, 2020 how to format a usb flash drive with mac to fat32.
Select mac os extended journaled, or your preferred format type. We all make mistakes, and you wouldnt be the first person in the world to accidentally format a usb flash drive. Or you can choose a thirdparty tool to accomplish the task. Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Apple and its softwaredevices have always been somewhat notorious for being complex or unnecessarily particular in the name of uniqueness or vision. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc.
External data storage devices such as usb flash drives, external hard disk drives hdds, and solid state drives ssds provide one of the easiest ways to transfer files between separate computers without accessing the. How to create a bootable usb to install os x techrepublic. Reformatting the drive will erase all data on the drive, so you should copy any data you want off the drive prior to formatting. Go to mac apple store use your apple id and login find and download os x yosemite. Most external hard drives and usb drives are compatible for use on mac computers as long as you format the devices for use with mac os x. But, if you plan on using an external drive with both macs and pcs. How to install macos or os x on a new hard drive for your mac. While downloading an os x or macos version offers instant gratification, it means youre left without an installer.
I am looking for a simple gui based way to format drives to ntfs windows on mac os x snow leopard. Disk drill, a premium data recovery solution for mac os x with support for all popular file formats and common storage devices, is here to help you recover deleted files from usb flash drive. This is problematic if you need to reinstall os x or macos on a newly formatted hard drive, if youre in an emergency booting situation, or if you need to repair your mac s hard drive. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume. The videos below demonstrate the complete process of. In the disk utility window, specify the drive that you want to delete and click on the erase option. Choose the name as untitled, format as os x extended journaled and select scheme as guid partition map. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x.
For instructions on how to format a drive in mac os 10. Download installer of os x yosemite, mavericks, mountain lion, and lion we are still able to download yosemite from apple store. How to create a bootable install usb drive of mac os x 10. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility posted by ant on march 11th, 2012 43 comments if you have an external hard drive or usb flash drive that youd like to use on both macs and windows pcs, choosing the right file system to format the drive can be confusing. If you selected the drive name instead of its description you wont see the scheme. One high quality usb flash drive with 16gb of storage. You can also open a finder window, select applications in the sidebar, and head to utilities. For example, you can use the mac system builtin disk utility to format a usb flash drive. Sep 06, 2019 2 format your new hard drive for macos or os x.
Here are the following most common reasons why would you like to format an external disk or a flash drive for mac under mac os extended journaled. By default, they format disks with the mac only os x extended file system. This tutorial will help you create a bootable usb flash drive for your mac on a windows computer. This article will help you create a mac os x or macos recovery usb drive to use in case of disaster or no boot from internal hard drive. Jan 19, 2018 to install macos or os x from usb, you need to create a bootable install usb drive for mac operating system.
How to create a mac recovery usb and recover lost data this guide will tell you how you can create an os x recovery usb drive with recovery disk assistant in case of emergency and how to recover information on mac for free with recoverit. Mar 30, 2020 starting with os x lion, apple did away with dvds and other media as a method of installing software and switched to a download model instead. Sep 23, 2019 creating a gpt partition to build a mac os x bootable drive on windows 10. Connect the hard drive or usb key to the mac launch disk utility, located in applications utilities locate the drive name from the left hand side of disk utility and click on it. Mar 12, 2020 find the appropriate download link in the upgrade instructions for each macos version. After you complete the steps, the usb flash drive from mbr to gpt format, you can use the steps below to create a bootable usb installation media to install mac os x. Enter a name for the disk or volume, such as macintosh hd. How to create a bootable installer for macos apple support. If a wireless network is available, you can choose it from the wifi menu in the menu bar.
If you want to format a usb flash drive on mac, there are many methods for users to choose. Format a flash drive for both mac os x and windows cult of mac. This option is used for all intelbased mac computers. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. Click on the name of your usb drive in the left window pane in disk utility. Click on the usb drive in the sidebar in disk utility. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Jul 05, 2017 macs support a variety of file systems. Oct 25, 2015 how to create mac os x bootable usb pen drive with windows 10 7. How to format internal andor external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers. How to reformat mac os x without a recovery disc or drive.
Fortunately, its easy to create a bootable usb flash drive with os x or macos. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Set the format to mac os extended journaled and the scheme to guid partition map. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x admfactory. Pour ce qui est des cles usb, il faut utiliser une. Mar 16, 2020 when the os x utilities window appears on the screen, choose the disk utility option. In this guide, we show you virtually every method to format a usb flash drive and quickly erase its contents or fix data corruption and other issues using windows 10s builtin tools. Tried 4 times, each time it came back mac os extended journaled.
Dec 16, 2015 for the love of physics walter lewin may 16, 2011 duration. How to format a usb flash drive on a mac techwalla. How to create mac os x bootable usb pen drive with windows 10 7. Click on the erase tab displayed at the top of the disk utility window. If youre having issues trying to create a bootable media, you can get a usb flash drive that comes with mac osx ready to install. How to reinstall macos from macos recovery apple support. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. Disk drill, a premium data recovery solution for mac os x with support for all popular file formats and.
Jan 15, 2020 macos recovery makes it easy to reinstall the mac operating system, even if you need to erase your startup disk first. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. And if you lost your important data because of formatting, you can use data recovery tool to recover data from a formatted usb drive on mac. Find the appropriate download link in the upgrade instructions for each macos version. If you only use a mac computer, you can format your thumb drive so it can work on windows systems. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. Plug the drive into a usb socket if you have a recent macbook or macbook pro. For most reasons to erase, you should erase the disk, which also erases all volumes on that disk.
Mar 15, 2018 once youve gotten all the data off the macformatted drive, youll probably want to format it with the exfat file system. By default, macs use hfs, while pcs use ntfs, which are not compatible with each other. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. Then press the erase button and set a password for the encrypted partition. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. Even so, its still easy to create a usb installation disk for os x lion if you want to install lion on a freshly formatted hard drive, if youre in an emergency booting situation, or if you need to repair your mac s hard drive. These steps can be used for both internal and external drives. Find out how to format an external drive or usb disk making the drive work with both windows pc and mac can read and write. How to create a bootable macos catalina installer drive put the macos catalina installer on an external usb thumb drive or hard drive and use it to install the operating system on a mac. Many computer users who use a removable flash drive have the demand for formatting it to the fat32 file system. How to format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility since the pc and mac are two different operating systems, they use different file systems. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer.
Jul 24, 2015 a macbook to run disk utility in os x. Its exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a mac. You can also open a finder window, select applications in the sidebar, and head to utilities disk utility. For apple mac users, there are two ways to format usb flash drive to fat32, including disk utility and terminal command line.
In this article, we are taking a closer look at the disk utility, which comes with all recent versions of the mac os x operating system and how you can use it to format usb drive on mac. Ive ordered a usb to sata cable to format the drive from another mac, but can i format the drive, as os x. In order for this to work you should have a usb flash drive. Mac os x can only be installed on a hard drive formatted in mac os extended journaled, filesystem. By default, they format disks with the maconly os x extended file system. Formatting a drive will erase all data and partitions on the disk. How to create mac os x bootable usb pen drive on windows. First, lets see how to format an external hard drive or usb drive in macos which works with both mac and pc platforms, first plugin your drive in macos machine. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos.
Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. How to make a bootable flash installer of os x or macos. Instructions for how to format your external drive so that it will be fully usable in macos. The disk utility window will open and display onscreen. If you move a hard drive between the two operating systems, heres what you need to know. Jesus vigo goes over the steps to create a bootable usb to install os x 10. Mac os extended journaled this is the default file system format for mac os x drives. Usb drives can be formatted on your mac using the disk utility application.
Download and create usb installer for mac os x yosemite. Format usb or flash drive software by sobolsoft is a piece of software that allows you to format your usb flash drive. Select the mac os extended encrypted format under the format list. When the driver is installed, you format your ntfs disks with disk utility where you select windows nt filesystem as the format. Every mac running os x lion and later has a small 650mb hidden recovery partition called recovery hd located on your mac s internal hard drive which is. How to quickly make a mac os x bootable usb on windows. How to make an os x recovery usb drive wondershare. But, if you plan on using an external drive with both macs and pcs, you should format the disk with the exfat file system instead. You can format an external drive in os x using disk utility and terminal. This app lets you create a bootable usb drive in a matter of minutes. Dmg into source drag and drop usb into destination click on restore button. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. Now that you have all the necessary ingredients, youre ready to make a mac os x bootable usb using the dmg file of the operating system with the steps below.
Dec 01, 2016 this tutorial will help you create a bootable usb flash drive for your mac on a windows computer. Mac os x installation basics sata drive seagate support us. Jan 02, 2016 formatting a drive on your mac is quite easy. How to create a bootable usb drive for macos sierra. Ive just got a new hard drive but my mac wont accept it as boot drive unless its formatted in a macos readable format its simply not readable by the volatile system which is whats run if no os is found. Power on the computer while holding down the option key. Click the erase button or tab, then complete these fields. How to create mac os x bootable usb pen drive on windows 10. The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. How to create a bootable macos catalina installer drive. Jul 15, 2009 format a drive for mac os x and windows. Compare with the other commonly used ntfs file system on a flash drive, fat32 has a compatibility advantage across many operating systems.