If you need to format a USB flash drive, HDD, SDD, or some other form of storage to FAT32, you've come to the right place.
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- How To Format A Jump Drive On A Mac
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New Drive: If you're formatting a new drive, a great way to tell that it's the right one is to look at the File System column in the top part of Disk Management. Your existing drives will show file systems of NTFS or FAT32 but a new, unformatted drive will show RAW instead. So, you need to follow each step below properly and get your USB Flash Drive Formatted. How to Format USB Flash Drive from Command Prompt 2020. Before going to format the USB Flash Drive, make sure to take the data from the USB once you apply the commands then your USB will be completely clean and all data will be removed.
In this article we'll go over what a file system is, the FAT32 standard, and several ways to format a storage device to FAT32 on Windows 10.
What's a file system?
A file system is a standardized way of organizing data on a computer storage device like a flash drive or HDD.
A file system divides a storage device into virtual compartments, almost like a wall of post office boxes, and keeps track of all the information that gets stored in each box.
Some of the most common file system formats for portable storage devices are FAT32, NTFS, and ExFAT.
FAT32 compared to other formats
Of those three common formats, FAT32 is the oldest and most widely supported. Every major operating system will allow you to read and write from a USB flash drive that's formatted to FAT32.
Meanwhile, macOS can only read NTFS drives, and you would need to install third-party software to write back to the drive.
However, though FAT32 is well supported, its maximum drive and file size is severely limited when compared to newer formats like NTFS and ExFAT:
Max drive size | Max file size | Windows | macOS | Linux | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
FAT32 | 32 GB (Windows), up to 16TB (Other OSs) | 4 GB | Read/Write | Read/Write | Read/Write |
NTFS | 8 PB* | 16 EB** | Read/Write | Read | Read/Write |
ExFAT | 128 PB* | 16 EB** | Read/Write | Read/Write | Read/Write |
* 1 petabyte is about 1 thousand terabytes
** 1 exabyte is about 1 million terabytes
** 1 exabyte is about 1 million terabytes
https://for-playing-wingsfree-bet-strategies-pvlnr-roulette.peatix.com. Note that the maximum drive and file size of NTFS and ExFAT is so large that there's basically no limit. (But it would be nice to have a 128 PB USB drive, wouldn't it?)
On the other hand, FAT32's max file size of 4 GB is almost nothing now that phones can record 4K videos. Also, it's a little more difficult to format a drive larger than 32 GB to FAT32 on Windows 10.
These days, the only reason why you'd choose to format a drive to FAT32 is for compatibility. How to backup using time machine. For example, if you need to boot up an old computer, maybe with a different operating system, and backup some of its files. But you'd need to be sure that none of those files are greater than 4 GB.
If you're sure you want to go with FAT32, here's how to format a storage drive on Windows 10.
Important note: Before you format a drive, make sure that you backup all of your important files. In fact, make two backups, and keep one on a remote service like Google Drive or Dropbox.
Formatting a drive will delete all of the data that's currently on it.
How to use Windows File Explorer to format a USB drive to FAT32
A quick note about this method: it only works on USB flash drives that are less that 32 GB. If your USB drive is larger than 32 GB, check out one of the later methods.
With that out of the way, plug your USB drive into your computer and open Windows File Explorer.
Fnaf 2 mac. Next, right-click on the drive on the left hand side of the File Explorer window and click 'Format':
In the window that pops up, ensure that 'FAT32' is selected. Also, feel free to rename the USB drive whatever you'd like:
You can leave the rest of the options alone. Just click start to format your drive.
Once it's done, your USB drive should be formatted to use the FAT32 file system.
To double check this, open File Explorer, right click on your USB drive, and click 'Properties'.
A window will pop up and you should see that the file system is now FAT32: https://jv-sister-rich-brian-goldenpoker.peatix.com.
How to use Rufus to format a USB drive to FAT32
If your USB drive is larger than 32 GB, you'll need to use a third-party program like Rufus to format it.
There are lots of other programs that can format USB drives, but Rufus is really small and portable. This means you can stick Rufus right on a USB drive, plug it into any Windows computer, and format other drives on the go.
After you download Rufus, double click on the
.exe
file to start the application.How to start ms excel 2010. Make sure your USB drive is selected. Then, click the 'Boot selection' dropdown and select 'Non bootable':
Next, click the 'File system' dropdown and select 'FAT32'.
Also, feel free to change the name of your USB drive under 'Volume label':
Then, click the 'Start' button to format your drive. After a few seconds it'll be formatted to FAT32.
How to use PowerShell to format a USB drive to FAT32
While this method works with drives larger than 32 GB, it's really slow – even formatting a 32 GB drive can take up to an hour depending on your computer.
But, if you aren't able to use the previous two methods for some reason, this will work in a pinch.
First, click on the Windows Search Bar and type in 'powershell'. Then, click 'Run as administrator' to launch PowerShell with elevated privileges:
In the PowerShell terminal, enter the following command:
format /FS:FAT32 DRIVE_LETTER:
Use the File Explorer to double check your drive letter. My drive letter was D, so I entered
format /FS:FAT32 D:
.Press Enter, make sure your USB drive is plugged in, and press the Enter key again to start the process:
Then go run some errands or something – it will take awhile.
Once the
format
command is finished, your drive should be formatted to FAT32.In closing
Now you should be able to format a USB drive of any size to FAT32 on Windows 10. And with just a little modification, any of these methods can be used to format your drive to another file system like NTFS or ExFAT.
Now get out there and format all your USB drives. (But only after you backup everything important!)
Was this helpful? Is there a better method that you know of? Tweet at me and let me know how you format things on Windows 10.
To format a computer hard drive, SSD (solid-state drive), or USB flash drive and erase all its information and prepare it to hold data follow the steps below.
TipYou can use the instructions on this page to format a memory card in a memory card reader.
NoteIf you want to format a hard drive and reinstall Windows, see: How to erase my hard drive and start over.
NoteIf you want to format a write-protected USB flash drive, you must first disable the write protection, then proceed with formatting the flash drive. See: How to enable or disable write-protection on a USB flash drive.
Basic format using My Computer in Windows
- Press the Windows key, type My Computer, and press Enter.
- Find the appropriate drive icon and right-click it.
- In the drop-down menu that appears, select the Format option.
- In the Format window, most options should be set by default, and you can most likely leave those default settings as is.
Quick Format is optional. The Quick Format feature formats the drive faster but makes it easier to recover data using specialized software.
- Click Start to begin the format process.
Basic format using the Windows command line
- At the prompt, type format and the appropriate drive letter, and press Enter. For example, if the hard drive you are formatting is drive E:, type format E:
- When asked if you want to erase all contents on the hard drive, type Y to proceed.
You may see a prompt to Enter current volume label for drive E: or something similar, depending on what drive letter you are formatting. You need to know the volume for the hard drive before starting the format process. Before executing the format command, type vol e: (replace e: with the drive letter of the hard drive being formatted) and press Enter. The volume name displayed, for example, with Volume in drive E is MyData, 'MyData' is the volume name.
- See our format command page for further information and other options available with this command.
Zero-fill format using the Windows command line
NoteThe zero-fill format option is only available in Windows Vista and later.
For a more thorough erasing of data on a hard drive, you can zero fill it, which overwrites all data on the hard drive with zeroes. Zero filling makes it impossible for someone to recover data from the hard drive that was overwritten.
How To Format A Jump Drive
To zero fill a hard drive, use the following command at the Windows command prompt.
The above command tells Windows to format the hard drive (in this case, the E: drive) by writing zeroes to every sector. Replace the count text with the number of times you want the hard drive to be formatted. After the first round of zero-fill formatting, the format process fills every sector with a random number between zero and nine. The more times you format the drive with the count option, the more securely the hard drive is erased.
- See our format command page for further information and other options available with this command.
How To Format A Jump Drive On A Mac
Basic format using the DOS command line
If you have a Windows recovery disc or a Windows installation disc, you can access the DOS command prompt and erase a hard drive. Using the following format method allows you to erase the primary hard drive on the computer (e.g., the C: drive).
- Insert the Windows recovery disc or Windows installation disc in the CD or DVD drive.
- Restart the computer. As the computer is booting up, a message like Press any key to boot from CD should be seen. Press any key on the keyboard to make the computer boot to the Windows recovery or installation disc.
If you do not see the message Press any key, the computer's boot sequence is likely not set to boot from the CD or DVD drive first. In your BIOS setup, configure your boot sequence so the CD or DVD drive is listed first.
Usb Drive Won't Format To Full Size
- Once the computer has finished booting to the disc, a Recovery Options box should appear. Click Next to proceed through the recovery process.
- After a few moments, a System Recovery Options screen should appear. Select the Use recovery tools that can help fix problems starting Windows option.
- Select that operating system you want to repair and click Next.
- On the next screen, select the Command Prompt option.
- The recovery process should exit and return you to the command prompt. At the command prompt, type the following command: format e: (change the e: drive letter to that of the hard drive you are formatting).
- Once asked if you want to erase all contents on the hard drive, type Y to proceed.
You need to know the correct volume for the hard drive you want to format. For example, you may see a prompt to Enter current volume label for drive E: or similar, depending on what hard drive letter you are formatting. Before executing the format command, you can type vol e: (replace e: with the drive letter of the hard drive being formatted) and press Enter. The volume name displayed, for example, with Volume is drive E is MyData, 'MyData' is the volume name.
How To Format A Jump Drive On Mac
- See our format command page for further information and other options available with this command.