How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmaclinux. The truth is that fat32 has a theoretical volume size limit of 16 tb, with a current practical limit of about 8 tbplenty for most usb drives. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. How to format usb drives larger than 32gb with fat32 on windows. Formatting sandisk usb flash drives in fat32 format using. How to format sandisk cruzer 64gb usb to fat32 successfully. Connect the usb drive or the desired external hard drive to the windows 10 computer. Because of fats near universal compatibility, it is the ideal format for file sharing between devices. What you need is to format the usb drive using fat32 file system. Detects and displays the connected usb devices and give the desired file format. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows central. Fat32 format format larger than 32gb pen drive apps. This means that macs, pcs, linux machines and even phones can read fat files. It will have a parameter that will decide the file system on the drive.
If you want to format a usb flash drive, select fat32 format and click on it. Oct 06, 20 hp usb disk storage format tool utility will format any usb flash drive, with your choice of fat, fat32, or ntfs partition types. Jul 06, 20 this can be handy if you are going to give the exfat formatted drive to a user who runs windows os as they are not going to be able to read anything on your linux native btrfs formatted drive. Select the quick format option, and then click the start button. Fat16, fat32, ntfs, ntfsslow, ext3 and ext4 language support. Managing storage devices whether they are internal hard drives, ssds, pcie ssds, or external usb devices is always a tricky task. How to format usb drives and sd cards on linux linuxize. Install and use mkusb mkusbdus, which can format alias restore a usb drive to a standard storage device with an msdos partition table and a partition with the fat32 file system. With a single line command, you can format large drives in fat32 format. The method is recommended for users with a good experience working with linux commands. Hp usb disk storage format tool alternatives and similar. Mar 29, 2019 as you can see, its very easy to solve the problem cannot format usb drive write protected. How to format a drive in fat32 in windows 10 make tech easier. A window pops up to warn you that all data on the drive will be lost.
How to correctly format the usb stick in linux mint. Jan 16, 2020 how to format a hard drive to ntfs in linux by odysseas kourafalos jan 16, 2020 linux if you are a dual user, bouncing from linux to windows and back, or are cooperating with windows users and need access to the same files, it is best to have a common partition in ntfs format, since it is accessible by both oses. Dateisystem im zweifel fat32, startet uber formatieren. Built in way to format drive with fat32 in windows tesla. In our tests, the program easily formatted our usb. Just went through this windows no longer offers fat32 as an options, but windows powershell does just search for windows power shell then open it up, then type in format fs.
This is the simplest and most convenient way of how to format a usb flash drive in fat32. We recommend using fat32 format tool from ridgecrop consultants ltd. In such condition, aomei partition assistant standard is highly recommended. Formatting with the fat32 format tool will provide full storage support for use in. This utility easily works around this limitation and enables you to format a device up to 2tb in size. Oct 07, 2019 now, use one of the following commands as per the file system you want. Even when the volume is larger than the 32gb limit imposed by windows. How to format a drive in fat32 in windows 10 make tech. We will show you how to format your usb drive or sd card to fat32 or ext4.
There are various free thirdparty windows applications that can be used to format sandisk usb flash drives in the fat32 file system for use in devices that do not support the exfat file system. Wenn ihr usbsticks oder sonstige usbdatentrager unter linux. When i format a drive to ntfs under windows and plug it into the ubuntu machine it is perfectly usable, but when i format it under ubuntu using disks delete all partitions and create one single partition with ntfs it does not show up when plugged into windows machine. Aug 16, 2019 to clean and format a usb thumb drive with command prompt, use these steps. These flavors of slackware and debian can boot off cd, dvd, usb, and hard drive with persistence, toram, and can be on any fat32ntfs or ext234 formatted filesystems. Jan 20, 2020 ill format by usb device partition to fat32.
How to format a usb or sd card in ubuntu linux its foss. As you can see, its very easy to solve the problem cannot format usb drive write protected. A file system is a method and structure of data used by an operating system, called windows, linux or mac os, for reading media files such as disks, removable drives, etc. Since we are using the command prompt, you need to know its drive letter before formatting the drive. This is where all ubuntu software is accessible from. To format your drive to exfat, the drive must not be formatted to any other filesystem format.
By default, windows xp wont let you format a volume bigger than 32gb with fat32. Win 10 has removed the option to format external drives to fat32 for whatever reason maybe they want the users to move to mac os or linux. How to format a usb flash drive in fat32 in various ways. Were going to show you two ways to format larger usb drives with fat32.
We will show you how you can format your drive using both these methods. Search for command prompt, rightclick the top result, and select the run as administrator option. How to format a usb drive with fat32 file system on linux. Hp usb disk storage format tool free download and software. But it has one significant drawback it is the complete destruction of information on the drive. You can also make the disk bootable by specifying a. Usb disk storage format tool download bleepingcomputer. Then create a fat32 partition tables on the entire disk. Upgrade software to pro version to get more features, like creating bootable usb disk, formatting usb disk not recognized by windows, doing a lowlevel format or adjusting cluster size for usb disk for faster speed, etc.
Jun 18, 2016 now, let us see how to format an usb drive in msdos file system. The package you need to install in your linux pc to be able to format disk using fat32 file system is. Run the below commands to format the usb to fat32 filesystem from. Now, you can just format the usb drive in linux by entering the mkfs command. The most common file systems are exfat and ntfs on windows, ext4 on linux and fat32 which can be used on all operating systems. If you have ever tried to format a usb thumb drive or memory stick, you may have noticed that the only file system options you have are fat and fat32. The maximum size of the file you can store in the hard drive with fat32 is 4 gb along with 8tb maximum partition size. Format usb or flash drive software free version download. Dec 14, 2016 win 10 has removed the option to format external drives to fat32 for whatever reason maybe they want the users to move to mac os or linux. A single partition is sufficient for most use cases. This can be handy if you are going to give the exfat formatted drive to a user who runs windows os as they are not going to be able to read anything on your linux native btrfs formatted drive.
Fat32 is readwrite compatible with a majority of recent and recently obsolete operating systems, including dos, most flavors of windows up to and including 8, mac os x, and many flavors of unix. The best fat32 formatter to format sd cardusb drive. It supports fat, fat32, exfat and ntfs file system types only. The extended file system ext was the first file system created specifically for the linux kernel. How to format 128gb usb flash drive to fat32 easeus. Check the wikipedia article the uefi specification explicitly requires support for fat32 for efi system partitions esps, and fat16 or fat12 for removable media. This is great since some of us are using linux, unix and other operating environments along with windows and wish to access our data via these platforms.
In linux, usb drives and sd cards can be thankfully formatted both through the cli terminal and through the disks software which is very simple to navigate. How to format usb drives larger than 32gb with fat32 on. From the window, select fat32 from the drop down bar under file system. To clean and format a usb thumb drive with command prompt, use these steps. This command formats the drive with the fat32 format file system.
Once its formatted, youll see that it has reappeared in the file manager with the new name you provided to it. Use ext4 if you intend to use the drive only on linux systems, otherwise format it with fat32. Step 1 insert your usb drive and launch the terminal. In this article, i will talk about some of the basics of storage devices on linux. Click on start and ok to commence the formatting process. Format 128gb usb flash drive to fat32 successfully easeus partition master is a partition software with flexible and advanced partition formatting feature. Now, use one of the following commands as per the file system you want. However, with some slight tweaking of settings, you can actually format your removable storage devices in ntfs format, including external hard drives, etc. The software lies within system utilities, more precisely hdd management. Hp usb disk storage format tool utility will format any usb flash drive, with your choice of fat, fat32, or ntfs partition types. After you have installed the program, it is time to start it. With a tiny mistake, you may lose data or wrongly format your drive in a way that can lead to data corruption. The file allocation table 32 fat32 was the standard windows file system before ntfs. In linux you can use a graphical tool like gparted or commandline tools such.
How to format usb drive in linux 2 working solutions. The extended file system ext was the first file system created specifically for linux. This is how one formats external drive on ubuntu linux. The extended file allocation table exfat builds on fat32 and offers a lightweight system without all the overhead of ntfs. First, we will see how to format the usb drive in fat. If you want to convert fat32 to ntfs without losing data, you can also upgrade to aomei partition assistant professional to complete this operation. First we will find out the usb drive name this is what we say drive letter in. It can perfectly bypass the format limitation of windows disk management tool and help you format yoiur 128gb usb flash drive to fat32 easily without any obstacles. Mostly, ntfs or fat32 is recommended due to its compatibility with windows. Sep 25, 2019 the most common file systems are exfat and ntfs on windows, ext4 on linux and fat32 which can be used on all operating systems.
Now that you have the right tools installed, it is time to use it, so to format a usb drive using fat32 first insert your usb drive in the usb slot of your computer, and check with. Rightclick the usb drive you intend to format and choose format. It is a free fat32 usb formatter, which breaks the limitation of 32gb, enabling you to format 64gb, 128gb or larger usb drive with fat32 file system. Fat32 format is a portable gui tool that allows you to format a drive as fat32. Jul 24, 2017 in the fat32 format window, select the drive to format and type a volume label if you want to. If your 64gb sandisk cruzer usb is originally formatted with ntfs file system. If you plan to use the usb drive on linux computers, you can format it to this file system. Once your flash drive unmount, again right click on the line and now in the context menu to format and select fat32 format. How to format usb drive in linux command line tecadmin. Run the below commands to format the usb to fat32 filesystem from terminal, sudo su fdisk l this helps to discover your pendrive devsdxx umount devsdxx then format your device to fat32. Its available for download in the ubuntu software center, just search for. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows.
Aomei partition assistant can be the best usb format tool. To format a usb drive, most of the users prefer vfat and ntfs file systems because they can be easily used on the windows operating system. Format usb or flash drive software was developed to work on windows xp, windows vista, windows 7, windows 8 or windows 10 and can function on 32bit systems. Now right click on the string with the usb stick, and on the shortcut menu, select unmount. Connect the usb drive or pen drive to your computer. Format sd card, usb drive, flash drive on linux with.
These flavors of slackware and debian can boot off cd, dvd, usb, and hard drive with persistence, toram, and can be on any fat32 ntfs or ext234 formatted filesystems. Explore 11 apps like hp usb disk storage format tool, all suggested and ranked by the alternativeto user community. It has been the standard format for hard drives and floppy disks so to maximize the compatibility across modern systems including mac, linux, and windows. Swissknife is a stand alone solution that will allow you to format your external usb devices as fat32 so that the information you put on the device can be read across multiple operating platforms. Format a usb drive using the commandline terminal other than the use of graphical tools, ubuntu enables users to format drives using one of its most potent utilities terminal. Now, let us see how to format an usb drive in msdos file system. Your usb disk will be formatted in a few seconds or a couple of minutes at the most. The usb disk storage format tool is a freeware program that allows you to format a usb drive using fat, fat32, ntfs, and exfat file systems. This software is an intellectual property of sobolsoft. This is because we need the drive letter to target the drive. How to format a hard drive to ntfs in linux make tech easier. The commands are same for almost all linux distributions.
If you want to use the drive between a windows and mac machine, you can format it to fat32. Right click on your usb drive and click on format option. Large external usb hard drive fat32 format utility pen. First we will find out the usb drive name this is what we say drive letter in windows os. Popular alternatives to hp usb disk storage format tool for windows, android, android tablet, mac, and more. Format sd card, usb drive, flash drive on linux with parted. Yes, you can format a disk using the fat32 filesystem in linux. You should be able to use any of the 2 systems, but if your system is a uefi based system, then it will only accept the fat32 format. Sep 11, 2019 in such condition, aomei partition assistant standard is highly recommended. In the fat32 format window, select the drive to format and type a volume label if you want to. To access the terminal, you must first open the ubuntu dash. How to format a usb stick to fat32 on windows 10 youtube. How to format external usb portable drives on ubuntu 18. First use fdisk if the drive needs to be partitioned.
Connect your usb drive to the device and click on open folder to view files option. Thats the standard way of formatting a usb drive in. Just hit the format button in the top right corner. This tool can format usb drives to vfat, exfat, ntfs, ext2, ext3, ext4 or f2fs. These instructions are also relevant for other drives memory cards, hard disk drives, hdd, solid state drives, ssd. For all linux users, work with usb drives, is really easy, and share data with windows users through it, is also. Dec 23, 2019 now, you can just format the usb drive in linux by entering the mkfs command. Jul 16, 20 fat32 is readwrite compatible with a majority of recent and recently obsolete operating systems, including dos, most flavors of windows up to and including 8, mac os x, and many flavors of unix. Therefore, before performing this operation, all data must be transferred to the hard disk, and upon termination of the procedure, to return them back. One method uses powershell or the command prompt, the other a free, thirdparty tool. Mar 09, 2017 managing storage devices whether they are internal hard drives, ssds, pcie ssds, or external usb devices is always a tricky task. Launch the file explorer and from it find the usb drive. It is for this reason that most usb drives and sd cards are formatted in fat32 straight from the manufacturer. How to format a usb drive or sd card on ubuntu foss linux.