How to Format a USB Flash Drive on a Mac

Thumb drives must be formatted properly to be used as a storage device.

USB thumb drives allow you to conveniently transport files and programs stored on your Mac computer to other computers. Unlike an external hard drive, USB thumb drives will fit into a pocket or, in some cases, attach to a key chain. Apple computers contain a program called "Disk Utility," which allows you to format drives and storage devices for use on a Mac computer. Properly formatting your USB drive will enable you to store and read data on the drive.

Instructions

1. Insert the USB drive and select the "Finder" menu.

2. Select "Applications" from the right side of the menu. This will show the contents of the Applications folder. Select the "Utilities" folder, which is nested in the Applications folder, to show the folder's contents. Double-click "Disk Utility."

3. Select the drive that you wish to manage in "Disk Utility." The available drives will be listed in the left column. Click on the drive labeled "USB Flash."

4. Click on the "Erase" tab at the top of the utility to show the formatting and naming options for your drive. Give your USB drive a name by typing it into the field provided. Select "Mac X Extended (Journaled)" or "MS-DOS (FAT)" as the volume format. MS-DOS (FAT) is a format that can be read on both Macs and PCs. Mac X Extended (Journaled) was created to increase transfer rates.

5. Click the "Erase" button on the lower-right side of the screen to begin the formatting process.

Tips & Warnings

• Always remove all other USB drives except the one you wish to format. This will prevent accidental data loss.

References

• YouTube: How to Format a Drive for Mac OS X
• Macworld: Formatting a flash driv

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish