USB Disk Storage Format Tool by Authorsoft Corporation is a free utility that allows you to easily format your USB flash drives. The release date of USB Disk Storage Format Tool for Mac is unknown and we cannot say for sure if it will be released at all. So you might want to use other applications to format your external storage devices. How to format a USB flash drive in Mac OS. The HP USB Format Tool allows you to format the USB flash drive in the Mac OS X. However, for this you need to follow the next steps: Install the Parallels Desktop emulator on your Mac OS; Install Windows on Parallels Desktop; Download HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool on Mac, install it on emulated Windows.
Many users are looking for tools like 'HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool for Mac', 'Sandisk USB Format Tool Mac', 'Kingston USB Format Tool Mac', 'Lexar usb format tool mac', 'sd card format tool mac' or 'usb disk storage format tool mac' hoping that there are this kind of tools that could be used on Mac for formatting their hard drive or usb flash drive on MAC OS X, or sometimes you are searching for a bootable format tool on mac just as what HP Format Tool could perform the trick.
Some users may also want to erase the privacy files on their device by getting it formatted, is formatting true erasing on MAC? Could formatted files be retrieved? We will explain all this in this content.
Note: before any formatting or erasing the disk/pen drive, we would recommend you backup your data on your media that you want to format onto another device to avoid unintentionally data loss. We would not expect this happen that you accidentally reformatted your disk/usb stick and then later found out you had just lost some important files.
Also read: 5 best free backup software, or how to repair damaged usb drive on MAC
Table of Content
- HOT FAQs
8 MAC Formatters for USB/SD/HDD
Here is a list of disk or usb formatting tools for mac or ways of formatting disk/usb flash on MAC to get it done.
Tool 1 - Disk Utility provided by Mac OS, the best free tool to format device
Disk Utility - the best free mac format and erase tool that is provided by Apple Inc. for users to manage digital devices not only the internal media but also external drives like hard disk, usb flash and more.
Note: Erasing and formatting with Disk Utility would delete files on devices, the deleted files could be no longer accessible without some professional data recovery tools, which usually cost around $60-100.
How to format/erase usb disk or memory card on MAC using Disk Utility
Here are the steps that you may follow to get your device formatted/erased.
- Get your device connected to MAC, and backup your data to somewhere else at first as the preparetion.
- Open Disk Utility, which can be found in Applications -> Utility
- View -> Show all devices
- Select the one you want to erase/format, and then click the Erase button. (The same function that is to perform the function of 'Format')
Open Disk Utility - Select a file system for it (if you want to format it fat32, select FAT. Exfat would be recommended since it is more powerful that fat32, later the difference would be explained)
Choose a file system to format - Confirm Erase
Confirm erase to get it formatted/erased
See the video guide here.
Pros: - More than just a format tool on MAC
- It is able to format a disk or usb flash to be hfs+, fat, EXFAT and more. (FAT VS FAT32 VS NTFS will be explained in the following parts)
- It provides repairing functions to repair your storage device if it became damaged - that stars itself among the rest tools.
- It is free of charge
Cons
- It does not provide NTFS file system while formatting.
- It is not truely data erasing since formatted/erased files could still be restored by other paid mac data recovery tools
File System Difference HFS+ VS FAT VS VS FAT32 VS EXFAT VS NTFS (Which one to use?)
Usb Format Tool Mac Os X
File System | Compatible with macOS? | Compatible with Windows? | Max. file size | Max. partition size |
---|---|---|---|---|
HFS+ | Yes | No | No limit | No limit |
FAT32 | Yes | Yes | 4GB | 8GB |
exFAT | Yes | Yes | No limit | No limit |
NTFS | Partially(Not provided by Disk Utility in Mac when formatting) | Yes | No limit |
Note: NTFS file system is not provided in Mac erasing/formatting inside of Disk Utility. If you want your device to be NTFS, you need to try other format tools or a Windows PC to get it formatted. Only by formatting could its file system be changed.
Which file system would you suggest for my device while formatting/erasing?->> EXFAT, which both works on MAC and Windows 10 compatible with no limit in file size and file storage size, volume size and you don't have to download other tools to get it formatted but just with the power of Disk Utility.
What if I want to use NTFS as my device file system, which tool shall I use to get it changed? Try some other mac format tools instead of Disk Utility. (We would tell you later in another article.)
How to tell which file system does my digital device apply?
Mac machines: right click your device in Mac -> Get Info -> General -> Format, and see what it shows, if it says 'MS-DOS FAT32', it means your drive is in fat32 file system, which is compatible with both Mac and Windows.
Windows PCs: You may get your device connected to Windows, and then right click it -> Property ->General, and you will see a photo that shows the information on file system.
File system is FAT32
Note: if your device is damaged and shows RAW FILESYSTEM, you may follow this guide to get it repaired: How to repair drive raw file system
Damaged media raw file system
You may also want to read: how to change raw file system to ntfs; how to convert raw file system to fat32
Tool 2 - WD Drive Utilities, formerly WD Quick Formatter by Western Digital Corporation (Freeware)
WD Quick Formatter is able to reformat any hard drive (not limited to WD Hard drives) to hfs+ or exfat file system and data on the drive would also be erased while changing its file system. No chance for a recovery unless with some special data recovery utility.
WD Drive Utilities formerly WD Quick Formatter
WD Drive Utilities software allows you to configure, manage, and diagnose your WD drive. With WD Drive Utilities, you can
- Run drive diagnostics
- Manage RAID configuration (For RAID supported models)
- Erase and format drive
- Set drive sleep timer (on supported drives)
- Register drive
(Information provided by WD)
You may download it here https://downloads.wdc.com/wdapp/WD_Utilities_Standalone_Installer_Mac_2_1_1_119.zip
If the above link expired, go to this page and get a download. https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?lang=en
Tool 3 - Freecome Hard Drive Formatter or also called FHD Formatter for MAC by Freecome Technologies (Freeware)
This freeware is able to format digital device to be hfs+, fat32 as options while choosing a file system to format/erase.
It is called Freecom Mobile Drive CLS FHD Formatter Utility 1.15 or FHDFormatter for Mac.
Download sites: we checked the websites and only found the download is available on softpedia and softinformer. See the download link here
Bottomline: we would recommend you stay with the first two freeware Disk Utility or WD Disk Utility.
Tool 4 - SD Memory Card Formatter for Mac - free
SD Memory Card Formatter for Mac is introduced by SDCard.org as a external device storage formatter that is able to format usb flash, memory card on MAC for free. See details and download url at this page
Download url: https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/eula_mac/index.html
Tool 5 - BitRaser, formerly named Stellar Disk Wipe by Stellar Information Technology(30 days free trial, Paid utility)
This one is useful that could erase confidential information on your devices. It has both Mac edition and Windows edition. And admin console, network erasure is still available as enterprise solution offered by Stellar. Highly recommended paid tool.
BitRaser
File eraser and Drive Eraser for different users need. Mobile eraser available too.
Tool 6 - AweEraser by Magoshare (Paid utility)
Tool 7 - Super Eraser by DoYourData (Paid utility)
Tool for erasing data on digital device on MAC. The erased/formatted files could not be restored. It needs a pay.
Free alternative of DOYOURDATA Super Eraser Mac - Mac Disk Utility
Tool 8 - MacClean360 by DoYourData (Paid utility)
It is a Mac cleaning tool that could clean files on Mac for digital devices. You may use the first Tool 1 Mac Disk Utility or WD Disk Utility as free alternative instead of this paid tool.
Verdict
Mac Disk Utility and WD Disk Utility is highly recommended for no matter formatting a device or erasing a device, or repairing device errors.
If you want to erase files or erase drive permanently without any chance of recovery, try the Tool 3 - BitRaser provided by Stellar Information on Mac, if you don't mind erasing the device on Windows, freeware IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free could erase files/drive permanently.
Also read: 4 free tools to delete files or erase drive permanently on Windows
How to format usb flash or disk fat32 on Mac
Since Mac Disk Utility provides the formatting file system fat, exfat, you may want to know what's the difference between fat and fat32, or exfat?
See this is a photo that shows what's available when formatting the media in Disk Utility.
Choose a file system to format
More mac fat32 format tools? See how to format sd/usb fat32 on mac
- Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
- Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted)
- Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)
- Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled, Encrypted)
- MS-DOS(FAT) ----This is fat32, what you need
- ExFat - recommended since it both works on Mac and Windows OS and it has no limit in file size and partition size.
Mac Disk Utility already provides an option when choosing a file system - MS-DOS(fat), WHICH IS FAT32 WHAT YOU WANT.
Note: Mac OS (FAT) is compatible with both Windows PC and Mac platforms, however, there's a limit to trasnferring files over 4GB.
The Answer - choose MS-DOS(FAT) ----This is fat32, what you need. However we would suggest you use EXFAT.
Formatting VS Erasing (Is formatting or erasing permanent data deleting?)
Formatting, is to make a media a new place for data storage that you may change its file system while you format it. Formatted drive data would be marked as available for new data to take its space.
There are three levels of formatting
- quick format (no disk error checking and repairing)
- full format (includes repairing bad blocks)
- low-level format (it could only be performed by professional low level format tool, which is usually shorten the life of device)
Erasing, is to remove information on your device, which is more simplier than formatting, however it is not true wiping out all the information since erased files could be restored with help of free data recovery software.
Well, the truth is data could also be destoryed if you continue using your device after the formatting or the erasing and saved a huge number of files. If no data was saved to formatted/erased media, data could still be restored with professional tools.
How to erase data permanently on mac with freeware
Since erased files or erased media could still be recovered in Mac Disk Utilities and WD Disk Utlities, you may want to query how to erase data permanently on Mac? Is there any freeware that could do the permanent deleting?
The answer: BitRaser is a 30 days free program for erasing files permanently on Mac, we failed to find other free tools for the permanent erasing at this time.
Option: Erase data permanently with freeware on Windows OS using freeware IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free that provides 'Wipe Partition' to get everything truely deleted and removed without a chance of recovery.
Also read: 4 free tools to delete files or erase drive permanently on Windows
HP USB DISK Storage Format Tool for Mac Download
Is there HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool Mac available? Can I use HP USB Format Tool on Mac?
So far as we know that the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, also called HP USB Format Uility by users is only for Windows OS for example Windows 10/8.1/7/Vista/XP and there was no news coming from the developer that a MAC edition would be released.
HP USB Disk Format Tool is provided by HP for disk formatting and making a bootable usb, however this program only provides Windows editions which is compatible with Windows 10, 8.1, 7, Vista, and XP.
The Answer: There is no mac edition of HP USB Format Tool, however here are some free solutions if you want to use it on MAC.
Formatting in HP USB Disk Format Tool, could be replaced by Disk Utility in Mac that you may save downloading HP USB Format Tool for Mac.
Creating bootable usb in HP USB Disk Format Tool, could be replaced by a bootable MacOS high sierra usb install drive, see the following video
Another option: see how to create a bootable installer for MacOS on https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372
Also read: HP USB Format Tool Review and Error Fixing
Last updated on June 17, 2020
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Do You Have Any USB Format Problems?
'When I tried to format my 4 GB SanDisk USB pen drive, I got the message saying the disk is write-protected. Is there any USB format tool that can remove the write protection?'
'I just bought an 8GB Kingston data traveler for backup. But I got the error message saying [cannot format USB drive] when I tried to reformat the USB drive. What can I do?'
'I encountered the disk not formatted error on my 64GB Toshiba flash drive. Windows was unable to complete the format. Is there any way that I can use to format my USB flash drive for reuse successfully?'
'My SanDisk USB drive used to be originally 8GB when I bought it. But now the capacity only shows 250MB. How do I fix my USB drive to restore its original 8GB size back?'
What's a USB Format Tool?
USB format tool, also known as USB formatter, lets you solve many USB format problems. Formatting a flash drive is the best way to prepare the USB drive for use by a computer, plus it ensures the quickest way to troubleshoot many general USB issues. Typically, there are six reasons why you would want to format your USB drive or a pen drive.
- 1. To write files bigger than 4 GB on your USB drive
- 2. To create partitions larger than 32 GB
- 3. To make your USB drive faster when writing mostly large files to it
- 4. To fix a RAW, not accessible, not formatted USB drive
- 5. To restore a USB drive to its full capacity
- 6. To erase data completely from the drive
EaseUS Partition Master - The Best USB Format Tool in 2020
USB cannot format, USB drive is write-protected, USB format error, USB becomes raw, and more are the common issues you might encounter when you use a USB flash drive. At this moment, you have to format your USB flash drive to fix the problem. And it's likely that you can not do it with the Windows built-in disk management tool. That's when you need to find a third-party USB formatting tool for help. Which one is the best?
In fact, there are many formatting tools for USB flash drive like HP USB Disk Storage Formatting Tool, MMC Formatting tool, Panasonic SD Formatting Tool, Urescue Formatting Tool, SD formatting software, etc. But here we would like to recommend you EaseUS partition software for its powerful formatting capacity and easy-to-use features. It allows to format a USB flash drive from Sandisk, Kingston, Panasonic, Lexar, Samsung, Sony, etc easily in all complex cases, for example, to format write-protected USB flash drive, format USB drive back to the original size, format USB drive to FAT32 or NTFS, and more.
What makes it the TOP ONE USB format tool is far from these mentioned highlights. It's the only bootable USB format tool compared with the others.
Pros:
- Format USB with high speed in Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista and Windows Servers
- Format USB drive even when Windows cannot complete the format
- Format USB drive to all possible file systems, including NTFS, FAT16/32, EXT2/3/4
Cons:
- You must download and install it on your PC to be able to use
- No macOS version is available
Now you can try the following guide to format your USB drive in simple steps. (Formatting will delete all data on the USB flash drive, back up all your files before starting the process.)
How to format your USB flash drive with EaseUS USB formatting tool
Step 1: Select the USB drive to format.
Connect the USB drive or pen drive to your computer. Download and launch EaseUS partition software. Right-click the USB drive you intend to format and choose 'Format'.
Step 2: Set the drive letter and file system.
Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click 'OK'.
Step 3: Check the warning box.
Click 'OK' if you see the Warning window. If you have important data on it, back up the data in advance.
Step 4: Apply the changes.
Click the 'Execute operation' button first, and then click 'Apply' to format the USB drive.
HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool - Best for Windows XP
The HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool was created to format USB drives and desktop computers that were produced prior to 2012 and computers that run Windows XP. The formatting tool will work with newer Windows operating systems but results may vary.
So, to achieve the best USB format result, Windows XP users can consider the USB Disk Storage Format Tool to format a USB drive, flash drive or pen drive.
Pros:
- It is best used on USB drives and it strips and re-formats your drives
- The GUI is very familiar because it looks just like the Windows XP formatting tool
Cons:
- It may cause crashes on modern computers with newer operating systems
- It is not very fast compared to modern formatting tools like EaseUS Partition Master
How to format a USB drive with HP Disk Storage Format Tool
Step 1. Connect the USB drive to your Windows XP computer, click Devices and select the USB drive you want to format.
Step 2. From the File System menu, select a file system and enter a name for the reformatted disk in the Volume Label input box.
Step 3. Click the Quick Format option to enable a quick format. If you leave this option unchecked, a slower, low-level format will be performed.
Step 4. Click Start to begin the USB formatting.
Three Built-in USB Format Tools in Windows 10/8/7
- 1. Windows File Explorer
- 2. Windows Disk Management
- 3. Windows Diskpart Command
Windows has default programs to let users format USB pen drive and a variety of hard drive storage devices as well. It's not designed to solve every USB corruption issues. However, it's good to have the first attempt when your USB drive starts malfunctioning.
1. Windows File Explorer: Format a USB drive to NTFS, FAT32 or exFAT
Windows File Explorer can't be more familiar to us Windows users since it provides the most accessible way to make changes to a local disk drive or a removable drive you connected to the computer, one of which is 'Format'.
Free Usb Format Tool For Mac
To be able to use File Explorer to format a connected USB flash drive, Windows must recognize the drive and assign it a drive letter.
To format a USB flash drive using File Explorer, use these steps:
1. Open File Explorer.
2. Choose 'This PC' from the left pane.
3. Under the 'Devices and drivers' section, right-click the connected USB flash drive and select the 'Format' option.
4. On the format window, select the NTFS option.
Usb Disk Storage Format Tool For Mac
5. Click 'Start'.
2. Windows Disk Management - Format a Not Showing USB Drive
Hp Usb Disk Storage Format Tool For Mac
Disk Management is the other native Windows program that is available in Windows 10/8/7. It enables users to undertake many more tasks to manage a disk as they want. It comes with the option of 'Format'. Chances are when you need to format a RAW USB drive that is not showing up in the File Explorer, you can dive into the Disk Management to do the format.
Step 1. Right-click on This PC and navigate to Manage > Disk Management.
Step 2. Right-click on the USB drive, and choose 'Format'.
Step 3. On the format window, check the box of 'Perform a quick format', and in the same way, you need to choose a file system and allocation unit size.
Step 4. Click 'OK' to start formatting the USB drive.
3. Windows Diskpart Command - Advanced USB Formatter for Professionals
Windows Command Prompt is a built-in tool in Windows that can troubleshoot all kinds of computer problems with various commands. You can use the Diskpart command as the USB formatter to format an external USB drive. This method is somewhat higher-leveled, but so far the most utilized way to tackle some tricky issues.
Step 1. Enter Windows Command Prompt. Press Windows + R keys and type cmd. Run as administrator.
Step 2. On the Command Prompt window, you need to enter the following command lines each by each:
diskpart
list disk
select disk + number (If the USB flash drive is disk 2, then enter disk 2)
clean
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs (If you need to format to other file systems, replace ntfs with the target file system like FAT32)
assign
Step 3. Type exit to close the window.
Usb Format For Mac
People Also Ask
1. How do I format a USB drive?
Usb Format Tool For Mac
- Connect the USB drive or pen drive to your computer.
- Download and launch EaseUS partition software. Right-click the USB drive you intend to format and choose 'Format'.
- Assign a new partition label, file system, and cluster size to the selected partition, then click 'OK'
2. What happens when you format a USB?
It will erase the data. Do not choose format unless you have back up your important files. But if you choose 'Quick Format' on Disk Management, you can recover data through the third-party software.
3. Do you need to format a USB flash drive?
Sandisk Usb Format Tool Mac
USB Flash drive formatting has its advantages. It helps you to compress files so that more space can be used on your custom USB flash drive. For instance, formatting is good to refresh your USB flash drive.