The first step in partitioning a drive on a mac is to open disk utility. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmaclinux. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos. Under the external tab, highlight your flash drive.
The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at the same time and type in disk utility. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. One is using disk utility and the other is using boot camp. Rightclick the drive you want to format and select format partition from the left action panel. Securely remove mbr partition on usb via aomei partition assistant. Mine displays as 2 gb smi usb disk media, then underneath it you will see usb disk. This also allows you to restore time machine backups on windows. Creating two partitions on a usb disk using mac rajivkanaujia. This partition is necessary, and you shouldnt try to remove it. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. How to remove partition from a usb flash drive on windows. At this moment, you can turn to the diskpart utility to help you out. Best way to recover files from flash drive after partition or format.
It is relatively straightforward to create a bootable usb flash drive to boot to the windows 10 installer, and then open up a dos prompt for troubleshooting. For example, you might want to reformat a new or used removable storage device to make sure it. Be sure to back up any files on the usb flash drive that you want to keep. Previously, when connecting a usb stick with several partitions that were created on linux or using thirdparty tools to a computer running windows, the os. Format external hard drive or usb drive for mac easeus. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac.
How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. The first way to do the disk partition on mac is to use disk utility, which can repair and partition disk drive spaces from your mac. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. Dec 30, 2019 partition software to partition a flash drive good partitioning software should be used to make sure that the partitioning done in the best manner. If you want to partition your flash drive on your mac, then you will be glad to know that it is possible. Format usb drive on windows operating system step 1. Learn how to remove mbr partition from flash drive in next part. A stepbystep guide on how to partition a hard drive on. Follow these instructions to partition flash drive on mac. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. Install windows 10 on your mac with boot camp assistant. How to create a partition on your mac to install macos. Change the size of the partition you wish to use by dragging the resize controls. Alternatively, you can install an application like paragon paid or the opensource tuxera free on your mac to enable ntfs.
Nov, 2018 create a windows 10 bootable usb flash drive on a mac. You want to do this before creating the bootable media because there is a good chance that the drive was formatted using a windows device. How to format a flash drive for mac and pc compatibility in macos high sierra. Or two partitions of 250gb each one to store a bootable operating system and the other to serve as a backup destination. If you only use a mac computer, you can format your thumb drive so it can work on windows systems. Mar 15, 2018 to use hfsexplorer, connect your macformatted drive to your windows pc and launch hfsexplorer. In disk utility select your mac s internal drive, making sure to click on the drive and not the volume beneath it. Jun 14, 2019 here is how to check the current drives file system. Aug 16, 2019 on windows 10, the ability to format a usb flash drive can come in handy in a number of scenarios. Look under partition style to see if the drive is gpt or.
How to delete a hidden partition on a flash drive using mac. Heres how to format a new flash drive thumb drive usb stick on a mac for both pc and mac. How to formatrename a flash drive for mac and pc youtube. Rightclick your hard drive, or one of the partitions of the drive and select properties. Full guide to create multiple partition on usb drive in windows. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Dec 29, 2015 your exfatformatted drive or partition can now be used for both windows and mac. Mar 14, 2018 one of the things holding back a potential hackintosher from trying to hackintosh or install macos on their pc is that they have only one hard drive and that hard drive already has windows installed on it with no secondary backup or second drive to spare.
A 64bit version of windows 10 home or windows 10 pro on a disk image iso or other installation media. It is relatively straightforward to create a bootable usb flash drive to boot to the windows 10 installer, and. If you buy a new external hard drive, you may notice that working between mac and pc is an often difficult but it doesnt need to be. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows. You can see drives file system displayed next to format, in the general section exfat, msdosfat, os x extended. If this is the case, chances are that its using a mbr partition, and the usb drive needs a gpt partition to.
While on disk utility, select the drive you want to partition. Learn how to format your usb flash drive or usb external drive so you can use it on both mac os x and windows computers. To use hfsexplorer,connect your macformatted drive to your windows pc and launch hfsexplorer. This partition manager allows you to wipe hard drive as well as delete mbr partition by converting it to gpt in windows xpvista7810.
So if your flash drive has a capacity of 500gb, you can divided it into 2 partitions of 250gb each, one of which can be used with mac and the other to boot windows. The windows built in format utility cannot create a partition table on removable disks. If somehow the mac doesnt boot from the flash drive, just restart it, hold down the option key after the apple startup sound for available boot options, use the leftright keys to pick the. Mar 03, 2020 as you can see, exfat is the only file system that works with all versions of windows and macos and does not have any max filesize or partitionsize limits. Mar 17, 2020 use any free usb port on your mac to connect a usb flash drive. Run minitool partition wizard free and get its main interface. Click the file menu and select load file system from device.
First of all, dont try to do this on your macs internal system drive. Windows cant normally read mac formatted drives, and will offer to erase them instead. The user should make sure that the support of the program as well as the features that have been embedded are the best. When you click on usb disk you will see a few tabs. Create a windows 10 bootable usb flash drive on a mac. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Mar 31, 2020 enter a volume label drive name too we used windows 10, though you can label this partition with anything. How to set up multiple partitions on a usb flash drive on. How to copy a recovery partition to a usb drive on pc or mac. There is actually a way to install macos on a drive that already has windows installed on it without having to delete windows, but this will. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
Ive previously erased and formatted to mac os x journaled, so theres nothing on it, but still the partition option isnt available see screenshot. An external usb flash drive with a storage capacity of 16gb or more, unless youre using a mac that doesnt need a flash drive to install windows. Select the partition on the flash drive you want to set active and choose set active. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. Itwill automatically locate the connected drive, and you can loadit. Well show you everything you need to know about the. Make sure the usb drive is at least 8 gb of storage space. There are two methods that can create a partition on mac.
Once the usb drive is inserted, it should appear on the desktop on your mac. Sep 03, 2019 to access the partition encrypted with bitlocker, connect the flash drive to a windows device, and use these steps. Then you can follow the steps as below to format usb drive for mac and windows on a windows pc. You should go ahead and format your storage drive with exfat. To format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example. How to remove an efi system partition or gpt protective. Jan 31, 2019 thus, another gui partition manager is of much help here. Nov 26, 2019 sometimes, the delete volume option in windows 10 disk management greys out, which prevents users from deleting partitions. To share a usb drive between a mac and a windows pc, there are two. I use the exfat format so you can go between the two of them.
Windows search and select create and format hard disk partitions. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. Apr 23, 2020 to make an active partition on a ubs flash drive, using minitool partition wizard free to help. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. How to format a usb drive for mac and pc compatibility youtube.
In the new window that opens, go to the volumes tab and click the populate button. Cant partition option greyed out e apple community. You will be prompted to either add an apfs volume or a partition. Delete a partition on a usb drive in windows 10 easeus. How to partition a mac hard drive, ssd or create an apfs. Nov 26, 2019 now, a windows 10 user can get access to all partitions on a usb flash drive or sd card, as well as create multiple logical partitions on such a media using the builtin os tools. Thats how you partition a hard drive for use on both windows and mac. Nov 23, 2017 open disk management via windows search or the power user menu.
First, you need to connect the usb drive to your windows pc. Once the disk utility is opened, select your flash drive from the sidebar and click the erase button. To troubleshoot an issue with windows 10 especially bootrelated issues, it can be handy to boot to windows 10 that is not installed on a boot camp partition. Download minitool partition wizard free edition by clicking the following button. Mar 26, 20 you can list all of the partitions on a disk using diskutil in the terminal. This process will erase all data from the usb drive. Therefore, its perfect for a usb flash drive or external disk, especially when you need to save files more than 4gb in size. Dec 18, 2010 one way to partition a usb flash drive from windows xp and mark it active bootable. You can format a hard drive or usb flash disk specifically so that it will be. Yes, if you use boot camp on your mac and boot into windows, youll see an efi system partition at the start of your macs internal drive. Mar 30, 2020 on the left, rightclick the usb flash drive, select the format disk for mac option. This video will show you how to partition a flash drive on a mac or any external drive or disc. Creating multiple partitions on a usb drive in windows 10. Jan 18, 2018 how to recover unallocated space in usb.
Fat32 and exfat can be compatible with mac and windows and you can choose one after realizing their respective merits and defects based on your demands. Note that using a drive frequently between windows and mac could increase the chances of file corruption, so make. How to quickly create a macos bootable usb on windows 10. And the other partition can be used to transferring files using both mac and windows operating system.
It will automatically locate the connected drive, and you can load it. Apr 23, 2020 an external usb flash drive with a storage capacity of 16gb or more, unless youre using a mac that doesnt need a flash drive to install windows. How to remove mbr partition table from usb flash drive in. You can also partition a disk using the master boot record partition layout, which is compatible with windows. Once if you have installed an os in your flash drive, and if you need to remove and regain the space in your drive back by merging the small partition and. The quickest way is to search on spotlight and click the result under top hit. Later, there should be a single partition on the usb flash drive. The instructions below are for windows 10, but other versions of windows from windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exfat for use with mac as well. Windows and macos and does not have any max filesize or partitionsize limits. Windows detects many flash drives as removable disks and flash drives are often shipped formatted as a super floppy usbfdd without a partition table. Im attempting to partition a 500gb external hdd to run bootcamp, but whenever i go into disk utility, the option to partition the drive is greyed out. May 22, 2020 first, you need to connect the usb drive to your windows pc. May 29, 2018 to format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example. One such error crops up when you wish to partition mac flash drive on os.