Dec 21, 2020 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions
USB drives are something of daily use for a modern-day person. From listening to music to transferring important files from pc to pc, we use flash drives for a variety of reasons. These flash drives are plugged into several different devices and hence are at risk of corruption or malfunctioning and might require to be formatted at times. The USB flash drive can be formatted in a variety of ways like depending upon the operating system and other features.
To do FAT32 format on a Mac, please follow these simple steps: 1) Once the SD card is detected on your Mac, go to Applications Utilities double click and open Disk Utility. 2) Select your SD card on the sidebar, choose Erase. 3) Rename the SD card, choose the format as MS-DOS (FAT) for Format, Master Boot Record for Scheme. To Format SD card to FAT32 in Mac OS, follow below instructions: 1. Connect the SD card to the Mac OS X computer. Search for Disk Utility in Launchpad and open it. Select the Drive and click Erase. Enter the new name (OPTIONAL). Select MS-DOS(FAT) for Format. Select Master Boot Record for Scheme. How to reformat a disk to FAT32 on a Mac.Technical notes: Formatting a disk using Windows maxes out the partition at 32GB, but not if the formatting is done. AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard is great partition formatting freeware, which offers you more file systems to choose during formatting. It allows you to format partition to exFAT, FAT32, NTFS, Ext2 and Ext3 and Ext4 on an external hard drive, internal hard drive, USB flash drive and SD card. It can work with Windows 10/8/8.1/7, XP, and Vista.
Sometimes, certain devices may only read specific USB file systems. So learning how to format your USB to a new file system is something that will come in handy.
Part 1: What is FAT32 Format?
FAT32 is an improved version of the FAT system which was introduced in 1996 by Microsoft with its Window95 OSR2 system. The purpose of its development was to be a better version of the FAT16 in terms of speed, performance, robustness, flexibility, and to support larger volumes.
Part 2: What Should You Do before Formatting a USB Drive?
A USB drive may contain songs, videos, documents, important files, etc. depending on the person who uses it. So most people don't prefer formatting unless they want to get rid of those files. Formatting can also be done on faulty USB drives in which case, the user should move all the data in it before deletion.
If a device is not being detected or faulty, formatting is the last step. The user should try all the options to make it visible whether it is a Windows or Mac. Even then if it doesn't work trying to repair and recover the files is the next option.
Part 3: How to Format USB to FAT32 on Windows 10?
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. In such cases, we can resort to alternative as well as simple methods to achieve the goal.
Let us have a look at how a USB flash drive can be formatted to FAT32 via file explorer as well as via disk management.
Method 1: Format USB to FAT32 via File Explorer
A common and easy way to format a USB drive to FAT32 is to make use of the File Explorer.
Step 1: Connect the USB drive or the desired external hard drive to the Windows 10 computer
Step 2: Launch the File Explorer and from it find the USB drive. Right-click on the drive and select Format
Step 3: Select the FAT32 type as the target file system and select the box beside Quick Format. Tap on Start to start the formatting process.
When you are notified about the completion of the process tap OK. Your USB is now is FAT32.
Method 2: Format USB to FAT32 via Disk Management
Disk management is a built-in utility of Windows which is made to help users with the disk partition related problems or works. It is also one of the most preferred choices when it comes to formatting USB to FAT32.
Step 1: Right-click on My Computer and select the Manage option
Step 2: Under Storage tap the Disk Management option
Step 3: from the volume list select the thumb drive
Step 4: Right-click on it and then tap Format
Step 5: Select FAT32 format from the file system: list box
Step 6: tap OK
Part 4: Format USB to FAT32 on Mac - macOS 10.15 Catalina
Formatting a USB flash drive to FAT32 on Mac is easy as windows. To do so you can either use the disk utility or the terminal command line.
Method 1: Use Disk Utility
Follow the steps to format FAT32 with Disk Utility:
Step 1: Plug the USB drive that needs to be formatted to the Mac computer.
Step 2: Navigate to Applications and then to Utilities. Tap it twice to open.
Step 3: Choose the drive that needs to be formatted and tap on Erase.
Step 4: You can rename the USB drive if needed. Choose the MS-DOS(FAT) to format.
Step 5: Select the Master Boot Record for the scheme and then tap Erase.
Step 6: When the process is complete the USB drive is converted to the FAT32 file system.
Method 2: Use Terminal Command Line
The command line also works in the same way as the disk utility to format the USB drive.
Fat32 Format Portable
Follow the steps to format FAT32 with the Terminal command line:
Step 1: Plug the USB flash drive that needs to be formatted to a Mac computer.
Step 2: To run Spotlight press cmd + space and type: terminal and press Enter
Step 3: Type diskutil list and then find the drive that is acting as your USB
Step 4: Type sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat /dev/disk2
- Sudo - grants you the user right.
- Diskutil – calls the disk utility program.
- erase disk – to command to format the drive
- FAT32 - selects the file system
- MBRFormat – pass information to disk utility commanding to format with a Master Boot Record
- /dev/disk2 - it is the USB drive location
The process may take some time to complete. Wait patiently. On completion type diskutil list in command box if you want to check whether the formatting had been successful
/format-command-5a1032fb13f1290037fb213f.PNG "Apple")
Part 5: How to Recover Lost Data after Formatting a USB Drive to FAT32?
The formatting USB drive is an easy task. But before formatting, some might be worried about the files or data in the USB drive. There may be irrelevant as well as very important files that can't be replaced in a USB drive. But what to do if the drive is a corrupt one or malfunctioning in some ways?
You need not worry as there are varieties of applications available in the market for recovering such files. An application like Recoverit helps you to recover almost all data, ranging from documents to big size videos from a USB drive even after formatting to FAT32.
Recoverit Data Recovery is one of the best and preferred applications in the market and the steps for data recovery are pretty simple and the same whether it be a Windows or a Mac. the recovery of data from an external drive can be done in these three simple steps
- Select a location
- Scan the location
- Preview and recover data
Recoverit Data Recovery - The Best File Recovery Software
Recoverit allows the user to recover any lost data regardless of the model and type of the external device. There is a high success rate in the recovery of files using Recoverit whether it be memory cards, external hard disks, cameras, USB flash drives, music players, etc.
Step 1: Select the external device/drive
To recover deleted or lost files from an external device, it needs to be selected as the target location for data searching and scanning
Step 2: Scan the removable media
A complete scanning will be initiated once you select Start. The scanning usually takes some time depending on the size of the USB drive In between the process, the desired files can be located and filtered.
Step 3: Preview of files and recovery
After the whole scanning process, Recoverit allows the user to preview the located files. All the files including photos, videos, documents, videos, audios, etc. can be previewed.
Then, select the files that you need to recover and tap the Recover bar.
All the files will be recovered and saved for your use.
Conclusion
The loss of files from a USB drive or the drive itself malfunctioning is a common issue in today's world. The loss of important files and data can have a huge impact on our domestic life as well as work. But, applications like Recoverit helps us to tackle these issues and move forward.
USB Topic
- Recover USB Drive
- Format USB Drive
- Fix/Repair USB Drive
- Know USB Drive
Here in this article we would share top free mac fat32 formatters for formatting usb drives or memory card to fat32 on MAC.
You may wonder why there is no MS-DOS(FAT32) option when there is MS-DOS(FAT) inside of Mac Disk Utility, are they the same file system? What's the difference? Where could we get the disk/flash drive formatted to fat32?
Don't worry, we would explain it to you and guide you the formatter to get it done on Macbook or other MAC X.
Guide - Top Free MAC FAT32 Formatters
- 1, Format usb/sd fat32 on MAC with Mac Disk Utility
- 2, Format usb/sd fat32 using Mac Terminal
- 3, Format fat32 with Freecome Hard Drive Formatter or also called FHD Formatter
1, Best Free MAC FAT32 Formatter - Mac Disk Utility
Mac Disk Utility is probably the best fat32 formatter for you on MAC since you don't have to install any other programs and the simple user interface and easy user manul would draw you from the rest tools.
The problem you may have on your mind: Isn't Mac Disk Utility providing FAT32 as a format/erase file system option?
The Answer: MS-DOS(FAT) is fat32 that shows in MAC Disk Utility, they are the exact same file system here.
Guide to Format SD/USB FLASH FAT32 in MAC Disk Utility
Simple Steps
How to open Disk Utility: -> Back to the desktop, search 'Disk Utility' in seach.
Load your usb flash/disk/sd card, get it clicked on the left, -> click 'Erase' option
Set file system 'MS-DOS(FAT)', and confirm the erasing. (Erasing is formatting on MAC Disk Utility)
Format usb flash fat32 with Mac Disk Utility
2, Format USB Stick/SD Card FAT32 with Mac Terminal
- Open Terminal, type: diskutil list
- Type: diskutil eraseDisk 'MS-DOS FAT32' FAT disk5 (here you need to replace disk5 with your own drive)
Here is another terminal fat32 format guide on MAC that you may follow.
Preparations: Connect Flash drive to Mac ->Tap CMD and space bar to open Spotlight. Type 'terminal' and press Enter
Open MAC Terminal to format media fat32
- Type in: diskutill land locate your USB drivr
- Type in sudo.diskutilerasediskFAT32MBRFormat/Dev/disk2
- Sudo will give you the user right
- Diskutill will call in utility program
- Erasedisk commands will format
- FAT32 will set the file system
- MBRFormat will tell disk to format with Master Boot
- /Dev/disk2 will be the USB drive location
3, Format Drive FAT32 with FreeCome Hard Drive Formatter - less popular
This program was called FHDFormatter and it is able to format the HDD as NTFS or FAT32.
Format disk fat32 with Freecom Hard Drive Formatter
Fat32 Format Apple Download
You may download it here
Note: Formatting/erasing would get your files lost, so it's better to move your data somewhere else before this.
Also read: best mac format tools
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