How to Format a USB flash drive on Mac

• Why to format a USB drive on Mac?
• How to format a USB drive on Mac?
• How to recover formatted files from USB drives?

USB flash drives are very useful devices that help in storing data and adding mobility to them. You can load your files on your USB drive or use it to store backups for restoring. You can even load songs and movies on it and share it with your friends or family. But at times we find it necessary to erase or format USB Mac.

If you own a Mac and are thinking to delete your USB drive so that it works perfectly, you would want to do it the easy way. For instance, if your USB device has got corrupted, it might not be as easy to get your USB drive formatted.

1Why do we need to USB format on Mac?

So, how can USB format on Mac help? How would it help you to get more data when you need and help you keep your USB as good as ever? Here are some of the ways how a USB format can help you format your USB drive.

• Flash drives are formatted for Windows by default. It is required to format the USB drive to Mac OS file system to make it fully compatible with the platform.
• USB drives have limited space and it becomes essential to format it for getting free space.
• USB drives can get corrupted or infected by virus. The only way to remove those issues is by formatting the flash drive.

Let us now see how to format USB on Mac.

2 How to format a USB drive on Mac?

You can easily format Mac USB drive by following the steps mentioned below. You just need your Mac computer or laptop and the USB drive. Then you can learn how to format USB on Mac.

Step 1: Connect the USB drive

Switch on your Mac and connect the USB drive using one of the USB ports. Ensure that the USB is properly connected.

Step 2: Choose Utilities

Now launch the application program and click on the Utilities option on the right side window.

Step 3: Launch Disk Utility

From the many tabs, select the Disk Utility. This will open the Disk Utility interface.

Step 4: Choose your USB drive

On the left side, you will find a menu with your USB drive displayed in the list. Click on your USB drive name and select it.

Step 5: Initiate Erase

Now choose the Erase tab on top of the right side Disk Utility window.

Step 6: Set Format option

Now click on the drop down menu beside Format to choose the formatting options. You can select any format you wish to. But to make your USB drive fully compatible with Mac, you need to format it in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) option.

Step 7: Select a Name for USB drive

You can set a name for your USB drive before the format begins. Click on the field beside Name and input any name you want.

Step 8: Begin formatting

After everything is set, now is the time to begin the formatting. To activate it just click on the Erase tab at the lower right part of the interface.

Step 9: Reconfirm and format

The program will display another confirmation message before the format starts. Select the Erase option one more time to begin formatting the USB drive. After this your flash drive can be used with Mac or other computers.

3How to recover formatted files from USB drives?

USB format on Mac can sometimes go wrong or you may accidentally delete some data. Many times we do not mean to erase something but do it mistakenly. Then we wreck our brains looking for ways to get back the lost data due to USB format on Mac. Fortunately help is on the way as there are some programs that enable you to recover deleted data from USB drives.

We will give you a list of 5 most useful tools to retrieve data lost for many reasons including due to format USB Mac. The list begins with the best software available in the market that is Wondershare Data Recovery for Mac. Then we go on to discuss about the others which are also helpful to get back deleted data.

1. Wondershare Data Recovery for Mac

Wondershare Mac Data Recovery program for Mac can be used to recover data lost due to deletion, partition errors, formatting, virus attacks, system failures and a variety of other reasons. It can trace multiple types of files from different locations including the Mac platform and even external sources. The software comes with thoughtful essential functions which retrieves data efficiently in different scenarios.

Unique features
Wondershare Data Recovery is packed with amazing features that make the data recovery process more convenient and efficient. Let’s discover the great features of Wondershare Mac Data Recovery now.

Multiple devices supported
You can easily get back data from your Mac, internal hard disks, USB drives, SD cards, removable devices, and cameras and camcorders. Now you do not have to worry where your data is lost as Wondershare can even retrieve data from iPods and iPhones.

Recovery of over 550+ file types
A host of file types namely documents, photos, audio and video files, emails, archives, etc can be conveniently recovered with Wondershare. Among these file types, multiple formats of that specific file type can be scanned and retrieved too.

Useful preview
Wondershare Data Recovery saves your time and effort by giving a quick way to preview your scanned files. This way you get to choose the exact files that you want to recover while avoiding duplicity and recovery of unnecessary files.

User Friendly
The interface is simple and intuitive and is very easy to operate. The scan and recovery processes can be initiated in 3 steps in very less time.

2. Disk Drill by CleverFiles

Disk Drill is another good software to get back deleted files like business documents, videos, photos and music from a Mac. It can also be used for other sources like flash drives and portable hard disks. It also has options to deal with corrupted data sources.

Scan function
The program can scan for lost files on cameras, iPods, USB drives, SD cards and more. It can also access the files when the device itself is not readable or has a deleted partition. The software tracks data effectively with its comprehensive scan from many sources.

Recovery option
The scan feature can be started with just a click of a button. You get to see all the deleted and lost files and choose them for recovery. You can also catch a preview of the scanned files before you proceed to retrieve the data.

Protection
You get three unique ways to protect your data from future data loss cases. It keeps track of the location and filename of every data deleted. Files removed from trash are also obtainable. The hard drive monitoring function warns you in case of issues arising in the disk drive.

Restoring files
Sometimes devices do not show any content when connected to Mac. It can be caused by a lost or corrupted partition. You can even restore data in such cases by using the partition tools and services.

3. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac

For easy recovery of files of different types from Mac desktops, notebooks and external hard drives. You can even get back data lost due to format USB Mac. It supports the latest version of iOS.

3 steps to data recovery
Data lost due to various causes like format, deletion, drive corruption can be accessed and recovered. It supports raw recovery and can get back data from lost or deleted Mac partitions or volumes.

Comprehensive scanning feature
There are 2 modes of recovery that can be performed. All files can be retrieved using the scan feature. Irrecoverable files then can be traced by initiating the deep scan.

Various supported file types
Many types of data like images, business documents, videos, emails, music, folders, etc can be scanned and recovered. The program is very safe and simple to work around.

Preview feature
After the scan is complete, the results can be previewed separately to judge their quality and requirement. You end up recovering the files you want and save energy and time.

4. MiniTool Mac Data Recovery

MiniTool Data Recovery can access many file types and is a handy and versatile software to recover data. The process of recovery may seem a bit technical to some people specially beginners, but anyone willing to spend some time can get past the ways soon enough. It can scan and restore data from Mac platforms, deleted folders and files, formatted or deleted volumes, corrupted hard drives, etc. Data can also be sourced from format USB Mac drive.

4 ways recovery
The program performs 4 ways of recovery for deleted and lost files. You can use Damaged Partition Recovery, Undelete Recovery, Lost Partition recovery and Digital Media Recovery. The last one is perfect for recovery of data after format Mac USB drive.

Tips and help
To make the process easier, the program displays useful tips all along the way to choose the correct tool. A technical support page is provided including access to FAQ pages, manual, and contact information for technical support.

5. iSkysoft Data Recovery for Mac

Looking to do more with your Mac than just recovering data from formatted USB and ensuring that your Mac runs as great as ever? You can recover everything you’ve lost, even if it does not exist in the trash can anymore. How does that happen?

You can try iSkysoft Data Recovery program for easily and conveniently get back data after you have accidentally deleted or removed them. It is a safe and fast way to recover data from external hard drive and Mac internal hard drives, USB sticks and many more. It also works for formatted Mac USB drive.

Multiple recovery modes
Useful modes of recovery include Lost Data Recovery, Raw Data Recovery, partition Recovery and Resume Recovery. The different modes can be used to retrieve data from trash cans, lost, resized, deleted and even corrupted partitions.

Compatible with different formats
Without destroying data, iSkysoft supports recovery of various types of data like archive files, audio and video files, documents, and email messages.

Flexible options
The program offers extended flexibility in form of saved scan results which can be resumed, selective search, filters for effective searching, distinction between valid and invalid files, etc. The programs does a deep scan of the device and successfully identifies data missed by other programs.

You can format your Mac and USB drive pretty easily. This isn’t a difficult job and you would love just how these software could help you recover the data you have lost. It is pretty easy and with software like Wondershare that are the leaders in the market, you would be able to recover any data you have lost in just a few clicks. What more could you possibly want?