How To Format Flash Drive For Mac And Windows

Dec 03, 2020 • Filed to: Windows Computer Solutions • Proven solutions

Format Usb Flash Drive Windows
Mac And Windows Compatible Format

USB Flash Drives are the new file briefcase in this world of technology. It allows you to store as many files you want within a little device. It makes files very compact, easily transportable, and organized. However, just like with a filing system used in paperwork, USB drives also make use of file systems. The most common file systems used are NTFS, exFAT, and FAT32. If you’ve been using flash drives and other external storage devices for a long time, you may be already familiar with this. Each file system has its pros and cons. Many PC users are opting to format or change their file systems to NTFS. If you’re unfamiliar with the file system and have no idea why this needs to be done, keep on reading. In this article, we will provide you with three easy ways you can format your USB drive to NTFS.

Why Do You Need To Format a USB Drive to NTFS?

The default format used by most USB flash drives and other external storage media is FAT32. Some people are fine with keeping this format. But for most users, they always find the need to convert or format their USB drive to NTFS. This is for many reasons. With a USB drive that uses the FAT32 file type, you can only copy or add files less than 4GB. This may be a hassle for some users who want to transport large files like movies, program installers, etc. Meanwhile, NTFS doesn’t have this limitation. You can copy or add files of any size and the partition sizes usually have a large capacity.

What is NTFS?

To create a bootable media using an existing Windows 10 ISO file, connect a USB flash drive of at least 8GB of space, and use these steps: Open Rufus download page.
Insert the flash drive or hard drive you want to format for Windows compatibility. Go to the Applications folder on your Mac’s hard drive, then go to the Utilities folder, and launch Disk Utility. Select the drive you want to format. Warning: the following steps will delete any info you currently have on the drive.

A new external hard drive or a USB flash drive that you just bought can be used with both Mac and PC, but not always straight out of the box because most of them (external hard drives or USB flash drive) are sold in NTFS format, which is fully compatible only with Windows. Attach the drive to your Mac. Launch Disk Utility (from Applications Utilities Disk Utility). Select the drive in the left-hand sidebar. From the Format menu, select ExFAT.

NTFS is a type of file system. It stands for the NT File system and is also called the New Technology File System. It’s a way of organizing files within a flash drive. It’s a new improvement from previous file types like File Allocation Table (FAT) or Extended File Allocation Table (exFAT) previously used by Microsoft Windows. Because it’s a relatively new file type, it has increased security from its new features like file permissions and encryptions. NTFS also has a Change Journal where the driver keeps track of the changes made within the drive. This means that if ever your PC unexpectedly shuts down or you experience a system crash, you can recover files that were lost during the event.

Here are three proven methods on how to format USB flash drive to NTFS.

Method 1. Format USB Flash drive to NTFS using Disk Management

1. Find My Computer in the Start menu or by typing it in the search bar. Right-click on it and click on Manage.

2. In Device Manager, look for your USB drive in the Disk Drives tab.

3. Right-click on your drive and choose Properties.

4. Under the Policies tab, click on Optimize for performance. Select OK.

5. Go to My Computer and look for your drive. Right-click and choose Format in the drop-down menu.

Format flash drive for mac and pc large files

6.In the format options that will pop-up, select NTFS to convert your drive to NTFS.

7. Select Start and wait for the process to finish.

Method 2. Format USB flash drive to NTFS using Command Prompt

Using Command Prompt, make sure to type in the exact commands to avoid unexpected errors.

1. Launch Command Prompt by typing in cmd in the Run tool or typing Command Prompt in the search bar. Select Run as administrator.

2.Type in the command:

convert G: /fs:NTFS

NOTE: In this command, we’re formatting drive G. Change this to whatever drive letter you’re trying to work with.

Method 3. Formatting your USB drive using Windows tools

You can easily format your USB drive with just the built-in features of your Windows computer. Follow the steps below to perform this:

1. Plug the USB drive into the USB port of your computer or laptop.

2. Go to My Computer and right-click on your USB drive. A drop-down menu will appear. Choose Format…

3. The format window will open. Here you will see the device’s capacity, File System, and Allocation unit size. You can also rename the volume label. The Restore device defaults button will revert your drive’s settings to default. You can change the file system in NTFS or FAT and also assign the unit size.

4. Select the Start button at the bottom of the window and click OK to begin the format and erase all the data contained in the drive.

Formatting your USB drive may seem intimidating at first. Formatting changes the file type of your drive and along with this, also wipes out all the data saved within. So it’s important to back up all the files to your computer or another drive before performing any format. With any of the methods previously mentioned above, you will be able to perform a format of your USB flash drive easily and quickly.

Video Tutorial on How to Recover Lost/Deleted Partition Data?

Format Usb Flash Drive Windows

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Ready to install Windows 10 on a PC using UEFI? Use these steps to create a compatible USB bootable media to perform this task.

When it comes the time to install a clean copy of Windows 10, you typically use a USB bootable media to start the computer and proceed with the 'Windows Setup' wizard. However, if you have a device that has a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), instead of the legacy Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), it's important to use the correct media that includes support for the motherboard firmware type.

You can use several methods to create a media to install Windows 10 from USB if you have a newer firmware type. For instance, you can use the Media Creation Tool to download the installation files onto a removable drive with support for both UEFI and legacy BIOS. Or, you can use third-party tools like Rufus that makes it easy to create an installation media with support for UEFI.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to create a USB flash drive that includes UEFI support using the Microsoft Media Creation Tool and Rufus.

How to create a Windows 10 UEFI boot media using Media Creation Tool
How to create a Windows 10 UEFI boot media using Rufus tool

How to create a Windows 10 UEFI boot media using Media Creation Tool

If you have a machine using UEFI, you can use the Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB media to perform a clean installation or in-place upgrade of the Microsoft OS.

To create a bootable media, connect a USB flash drive of at least 8GB of space, and use these steps:

Open Windows 10 download page.
Under the 'Create Windows 10 installation media' section, click the Download tool now button to save the file.
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Double-click the MediaCreationToolxxxx.exe file to open the tool.
Click the Accept button to agree to the Microsoft terms.
Select the Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC option.
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Click the Next button.
(Optional) Clear the Use the recommended options for this PC option.
Select the correct language, architecture, and edition of Windows 10.
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Quick tip: If you'll be installing Windows 10 on multiple computers running 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, then use the 'Architecture' drop-down menu and select the Both option.
Click the Next button.
Click the Next button
Select the removable drive from the list. (If you don't see the drive, click the Refresh drive list option.)
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Click the Next button.
Click the Finish button.

Once you complete the steps, the tool will download the required files and create a bootable USB flash drive with the Windows 10 installation files with support for UEFI and BIOS.

How to create a Windows 10 UEFI boot media using Rufus tool

Alternatively, you can also use Rufus to create an installation media with UEFI support using an existing ISO file. Or you can also use the tool to download the Windows 10 files from the Microsoft servers and then create the bootable flash media.

Creating boot media with Windows 10 ISO

To create a bootable media using an existing Windows 10 ISO file, connect a USB flash drive of at least 8GB of space, and use these steps:

Open Rufus download page.
Double-click the Rufus-x.x.exe file to launch the tool.
Under the 'Device' section, select the USB flash drive with at least 8GB of space.
Under the 'Boot selection' section, click the Select button on the right side.
Select the Windows 10 ISO file from its folder location.
Click the Open button.
Use the 'Image option' drop-down menu to select the Standard Windows installation option.
Use the 'Partition scheme' drop-down menu to select the GPT option.
Under the 'Volume label' field, enter a descriptive name for the drive — for example, 'win10_2004_usb.'
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Under the 'File system' and 'Cluster size' section, leave the default settings.
Click the Show advanced format options button.
Select the 'Quick format' and 'Create extended label and icon files' options.
Click the Start button.
Click the OK button to confirm.
Click the Close button.

After you complete the steps, the tool will create a bootable USB flash drive to install Windows 10 on a UEFI device with the image that you provided.

Creating boot media downloading Windows 10 ISO

If a Windows 10 ISO file isn't available, you can use Rufus to download the ISO from the Microsoft servers and create the bootable USB flash media.

Mac And Windows Compatible Format

To create an installation media, connect a USB flash drive of at least 8GB of space, and use these steps:

Open Rufus download page.
Under the 'Download' section, click the latest release of the tool to save the file on the computer.
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Double-click the Rufus-x.x.exe file to launch the tool.
Under the 'Device' section, select the USB flash drive with at least 8GB of space.
Under the 'Boot selection' section, click the arrow button next to the 'Select' option, and choose the Download option.
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Click the now available Download button.
Use the 'Version' drop-down menu and select Windows 10.
Click the Continue button.
Select the 20H1 (Build 19041.264 - 2020.05) option to download the Windows 10 May 2020 Update.
Click the Continue button.
Use the 'Edition' drop-down menu and select the Windows 10 Home/Pro option.
Click the Continue button.
Use the 'Language' drop-down menu and select your installation language.
Quick note: If you're in the United States, you should select 'English' instead of 'English International.'
Click the Continue button.
Use the 'Architecture' drop-down menu and select the 32-bit or 64-bit (recommended).
Quick tip: You can find out the architecture of your device on Settings >System >About, under Device specifications.
Select a folder location to temporarily download the ISO file from the Microsoft servers.
Click the Save button.
Use the 'Image option' drop-down menu to select the Standard Windows installation option.
Use the 'Partition scheme' drop-down menu to select the GPT option.
Under the 'Show Advanced drive properties' section, leave the default settings.
Under the 'Volume label' field, enter a descriptive name for the drive — for example, 'win10_2004_usb.'
Under the 'File system' and 'Cluster size' section, leave the default settings.
Click the Show advanced format options button.
Select the 'Quick format' and 'Create extended label and icon files' options.
Click the Start button.
Click the OK button to confirm.
Click the Close button.

Once you complete the steps, Rufus will run the script to download the Windows 10 ISO file from the Microsoft servers. Then, it'll use that ISO to create a bootable media, which you can then use to install Windows 10 on computers using UEFI.

When you have the USB bootable media with support for UEFI systems, you can use to start your device to perform an in-place upgrade or clean installation of Windows 10.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources: