Aug 16, 2020 If your flash drive is empty, select Create encrypted volume and format it. On the next page, you will be able to select hashing and encryption algorithms. If you are not sure what to choose, we recommend AES and SHA-512. On the Volume Size window, click Next as you can’t change the size of your flash drive. Enter a strong password. Not a problem since most USB Thumb/Flash drives come formatted as FAT32, allows use on Windows, Linux and MAC OS X latest known as macOS. It's a lot like the old bootable floppy disks, the DOS format command with the /s switch creates the bootable part along with the formatting. Oct 30, 2020 Need to format an external hard drive for Mac and Windows. Windows PC and Mac use different filesystems. Windows uses NTFS and Mac uses HFS. They are incompatible with each other. So, if you want to use an external hard drive on both Windows and Mac, you need to format it to a filesystem that is compatible with Windows PC and Mac. 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.
Just like most storage mediums, partitioning a flash drive is also possible. There may be a number of reasons why you would want to partition a flash drive. If you have never partitioned a flash drive before, then don't worry; this article will help you. Read on to find how to partition a flash drive..
Partition with Diskpart
Partition with an USB Flash Drive Partition Tool
Bonus Tip 1. Best Way to Recover Files from Flash Drive after Partition or Format
1How to Partition Flash Drive on Windows10/8.1/8/7?
Although it is possible to create multiple partitions on a flash drive via third-party tools, Windows will only read and show the first/primary partition. If you want the Windows to read a certain partition of the flash drive, then you will need a third-party tool to set that partition as primary.
Backup Your Data
Partitioning a flash drive will erase all data stored on it. That's why it is highly recommended that you back up all the important data before proceeding. The backup process is quite easy as all you need to do is connect the flash drive to your computer and copy the desired data to a location of your choice. Follow these instructions:
1. Connect your flash drive to your computer. Then open This PC on your Windows and find your flash drive.
2. Double-click on it to see its contents. Select the files that you want to back up and right-click on them and click Copy.
3. After that, navigate to the folder on your computer's hard drive where you want to store those files, right-click and select the Paste option. The transfer process will begin and your selected files will be copied to that folder.
Now that you have backed up your data, you can proceed to partition your flash drive. Following are some methods to do this:
1Partition a Flash Drive Using Diskpart
You can easily partition a flash drive via the Diskpart utility of Windows. The utility is run through Command Prompt. Follow these instructions:
Step 1. Press Windows and R key on your keyboard at the same time and type 'diskpart' in the Run pop-up window and then press Enter to launch it. A command prompt window will open.
Step 2. On that window, input 'list disk' to see which number your connected flash drive has.
Step 3. Next, input 'select disk X (X here is the number for your flash drive). It will be selected.
Step 4. Now input 'clean' and press enter to clean the device.
Step 5. Now enter 'list part' and then input 'create partition primary'. After that, input 'list part' and then input 'select partition 1'. Set this partition as active by inputting 'active'.
Step 6. Next, input 'format fs=fat32' to format the partition. After that, your newly created flash drive partition will be ready to use.
2Partition a Flash Drive with an USB Flash Drive Partition Tool
If the method to partition a flash drive via diskpart seems complicated, then there is another easier way to partition a flash drive. You can partition the USB flash drive via a flash drive partition tool called Bootit. Follow these instructions to partition a flash drive via Bootit:
Fist, you should install and launch Bootit software on your computer.
Step 1. Connect your flash drive to your computer and make sure it is detected by the operating system.
Step 2. Now open Disk Management on your computer. You can launch it from the Start Menu.
Step 3. Now select the current partition shown on the flash drive and delete it via the software.
Step 4. After that, right-click on the unallocated space of flash drive and click on New Simple Volume to create a partition. You can specify the size, label, etc. for the new partition according to your preferences.
Step 5. You can create multiple partitions on your flash drive by repeating the above step.
2How to Partition a Flash Drive on Mac?
If you want to partition your flash drive on your Mac, then you will be glad to know that it is possible. On Mac, you can do this via Disk Utility.
Steps to Partition Flash Drive on Mac
Follow these instructions to partition flash drive on Mac:
Step 1. On your Mac, open Disk Utility. And connect your flash drive to your Mac.
Step 2. Once the Disk Utility is opened, select your flash drive from the sidebar and click the Erase button.
Step 3. On the newly opened window, select OS X Extended (Journaled) from the Format menu.
Step 4. Make sure to click on Scheme > GUID Partition Map. Next, format the drive via the Erase option.
Step 5. After formatting, click the Partition button and then use the '+' button to create and add additional partitions. Add as many partitions as you like.
Step 6. After setting the sizes, labels, etc. to partitions, click Apply to confirm your action. Partitions will be created.
Bonus Tip 1. Best Way to Recover Files from Flash Drive after Partition or Format
It's wise to backup the data on your flash drive before partitioning or formatting it. So, what to do if you forgot this or some important files were left when made a backup? Don't worry, a powerful data recovery tool can help you find them back!
iMyFone AnyRecover is one of such popular data recovery tools. It can help you find all your lost files no matter how you lost them. Files recovery at a formatted or partitioned USB flash drive is easy as 1-2-3 with AnyRecover.
Key FeaturesRecover lost files from different data loss scenarios, including formatted data recovery, deleted files recovery, formatted device recovery, etc.
Recover over 1000 type of files, including photos, videos, audios, emails, documents, archives and more.
Recover files from various storage mediums, such as USB flash drive, hard drive, SD card, digital camera, computer, etc.
Differing from other recovery tools, AnyRecover is 100% safe to use, it won't do any damage to your existing data.
One of the most reliable data recovery software with high data recovery rate - Up to 98%.
Steps to Recover Files from Flash Drive after Partition or Format
Step 1. Open AnyRecover on your computer, then connect your Flash Drive to your computer, select it.
Step 2. After selecting the location, hit “Start” button to start the process.
Step 3. After scanning, preview and select the files, then click on Recover button to get the lost files back.
Bonus Tip 2. Best USB Flash Drive for Windows & Mac
Among many quality flash drives, SanDisk Extreme PRO 128 GB Drive is considered the most popular USB flash drive for Windows and Mac. Following are the top features of this USB flash drive:
Blistering speeds: 380 MB/s write, 420 MB/s read.
Durable, sleek, and eye-catching aluminum casing design.
AES, 128-bit file encryption for excellent security for sensitive files.
USB 3.0 as well as backward compatibility with USB 2.0.
Lifetime warranty.
Sometimes unexpectedly USB driver corrupts. When we connect them to retrieve the data they won’t even show the disk. A corrupted disk erases all the data present on the disk and doesn’t allow it to format the disk. When you trying format the drive it displays a message like this: Windows was unable to complete the format. Luckily, you can fix cannot format USB Flash drive in Windows 10 using few tricks.
How to Fix cannot format USB Flash drive in Windows 10
How To Format USB Drive With cmd?
Using command prompt you can format USB flash drive in Windows 10.
1. In the first step, open run command box by searching in Windows search box.
2. In the cmd box, type “diskpart” and hit enter.
3. Once Disport is open, follow the given steps one by one.
list disk
4.Now, it will show the available disks connected to your PC. You can confirm the disk name by the corresponding size.
Select disk 1
clean
create partition primary
active
select partition 1
format fs=fat32
Now, it will show the available disks connected to your PC. You can confirm the disk name by the corresponding size.
Now it will take some time to format the corrupted disk. Do not close the window before its completed.
This is one of the methods to format the corrupted pen drive. If this procedure not suitable for you, then you can follow the second method below.
Method 2 to Format the Corrupted Pendrive
1. In the first step, open run command box by searching in Windows search box.
Format Flash Drive Windows 7
2. Now, type compmgmt.msc in it and Press OK.
Or you can directly launch Disk Management by right clicking on This PC icon and select Device Manager.
3. Now, this command opens the Disk Management. Here on the left side menu click on Storage -> Disk Management.
4. Now, right Click on your Removable Disk in the right side panel.
5. Here, click on New Simple Volume, it opens a new Simple Volume Wizard window.
6. Here choose either NTFS or Fat32 based on your choice and complete the steps.
Usb Flash Drive For Mac
7. It will take some time to format the problematic disk at the end.
Flash Drive For Mac And Pc
That’s all for now. Please do share your views in the comment box below.