Now that the flash drive not Recognized problem is solved on your Windows or Mac computer, make sure you had back-up all important documents in the flash drive. This is to ensure that you will be able to access the files stored in the flash drive should it happens again. How to format a USB flash drive (Windows and Mac)?¶ Note: Formatting your flash drive will remove all files or folders on the drive, so make sure you back up your files before formatting your drive. Windows: Connect the USB flash drive to your computer. Click “This PC”. Right-click the flash drive’s icon. To reformat the drive in Mac OS X El Capitan or macOS Sierra: Connect the External disk drive or Flash Drive and open Disk Utility.app from /Applications/Utilities/ folder. Select the External drive or Flash Drive on the left that shows the capacity and not the Volume which appears indented below the drive.

WARNING: Formatting will erase all data on the device. Back up all your data before proceeding.

Formatting Pen Drive For Mac And Pc

Instructions below are for 10.11.x (El Capitan) and 10.12.x (Sierra)

1. Double-click on Macintosh HD - or in the Finder menu clickFile > New Finder Window
2. Click the Applications folder - if using a Finder Window Applicationswill be in the left side menu.
3. Click the Utilities folder.
4. Double-click Disk Utility.
5. On the left side of the window are the drives connected to the computer. Select the capacity of the drive respective to the one containing the device you wish to format then click the Erase tab.
Example: If the drive is called 'NO NAME', directly above that, you should see the drive capacity of 'XXXX'. Select this capacity.
6. Verify Volume Format is set to MS-DOS file system or exFAT, Scheme is set to “Master Boot Record” (Do NOT select GUID Partition Map) then click Erase.

Instructions below are for 10.13.x (High Sierra)

1. Open Disk Utility. Please See Answer 20985: How to access Disk Utility macOS
2. In the top menu bar, go to View, and choose Show All Devices

3. Select the upper level of the drive you would like to format and click the Erase button

4. Choose how you would like to format the drive

Enter a Name for your drive
Choose exFAT or MS-DOS (FAT) for the format
Choose Master Boot Record for the Scheme
Click Erase

5. When finished, the drive will be formatted and repartitioned successfully. Click the Done button

NOTE: exFAT is used on SDXC card (64GB and higher).

NOTE: exFAT can be used on flash drives or memory cards to transfer files larger than 4GB.

NOTE: MacOS 10.6.2 or higher is required for exFAT file system. Some older operating systems must have a patch installed before they can use the exFAT file system.

NOTE: If the above steps do NOT resolve the problem or if the lock switch is missing or broken, please back up your data and request a replacement using our online web form.

Best Format For Flash Drive For Mac And Pc

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Formatting Flash Drive For Mac And Pc