How to Format a USB Drive on a Mac

We use USB Drives for various things – backups, documents, saving images, etc.  But in order to use it, you must first prep it to be used with an operating system.  Prepping the drive is fast and easy when you know how to do it properly.

How to Format a USB Drive on Mac:

1. Connect the USB drive to an available USB Port on the Mac.
2. Open Disk Utility (Finder > Accessories > Utilities > Disk Utility).
3. On the left side, select the USB drive you want to Format.
4. Select Erase (upper-right of the window).
5. Give the drive a name (such as Backup or Data).
6. As the file system type, choose “MacOS Extended (Journaled)”.
7. Click the Erase button.
8. Let Disk Utility do its thing.  It may be quick or take time depending on its size.
9. When finished, remove the USB drive OR go ahead and write to the drive.
10. That’s it. 

Bonus Tip:

When removing a USB drive, always drag its desktop icon to the trash before removing it from the computer. This ensures the data will be on the drive when you put it in again. 

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Dan Uff

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