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How to Format a USB Flash Drive

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Sep 2021
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Formatting a USB flash drive is something most computer users don’t think about, since most drives are formatted out of the box, and ready for most use cases. However, there may come a time when you need to completely erase all the data on your drive, or you need to make the drive compatible with a different type of computer than it has already been formatted for. If you’ve ever experienced a flash drive working on a PC but not on a Mac or vice-versa, it’s the drive’s formatting that’s usually the culprit. This article will explain how to format your drive in Windows and Mac OS 10+.

What Is Formatting?

Formatting is the process of prepping a storage device, like a hard drive, solid-state drive, flash drive etc, to store information. It creates a filing system that organizes your data and allows you to maximize the space for your files. It’s typical to format a drive when a new operating system is going to be used or additional space is required.

There are two types of formatting on a USB drive:

  • Quick format: Deletes the file system table and the root folder. This option is frequently used for USB flash drives to efficiently free up the available space to transfer or store other files. It’s not the most secure way to delete your files because the data may still be recoverable with data recovery tools.
  • Full format: Will scan for bad sectors and write zeros in all sectors, which deletes all data permanently. This action can take a long time, depending on the capacity of the drive.

Note: Previously, there was a specialized Kingston Format Utility designed exclusively for a specific drive model from 2015. This utility is not required for formatting any other Kingston USB flash drives, SSDs, or cards. Current operating systems come with built-in formatting tools. However, there is a separate tool available for formatting SD and microSD cards.

Additionally, Kingston SSD Manager can be used to perform a secure erase on SSDs. For formatting an SSD after a secure erase, use Windows Disk Management.

Please do not download the Kingston Format Utility from any third-party websites.

File System Options

When formatting your drive, it’s important to understand the different formatting options available for your ideal use. The file systems most commonly used in USB flash drives are:

  • FAT32 is a common option you’ll hear because it’s recognised by both Mac and Windows operating systems, but it offers no security and caps files at 4GB in size. Most USB flash drives will have a FAT32 file system out of the box. It is the most compatible file system for older/modern computers (PC and Mac), plus gaming consoles and other devices with a USB port
  • exFAT is the ideal file system for USB flash drives. It doesn’t have the 4GB file size limit and it’s compatible with most Windows and Mac operating systems. Older operating systems might require an update to properly read and write to a USB drive with an exFAT file system.
  • NTFS format is the file system Windows likes to use by default for internal drives running the operating system or used as a secondary storage drive. It has a much larger max file size but is read-only on Mac OS X (unless you install a third party NTFS read/write utility).
  • Mac OS Extended is the native solution for Mac users and has the max file size of any of them. Only use this option if the drive will only be used in Mac OS. Windows will not detect this file system without a third-party utility.
  • APFS is a file system developed by Apple for macOS that was introduced with macOS 10.13 in 2017. APFS includes features like cloning and file-level encryption. APFS cannot be read or written by a Windows PC without third-party software, so use ExFAT or FAT32 if you need compatibility across OSes.

There are tools available to use NTFS on a Mac (Fuse), HFS on PC (HFSExplorer) or APFS on PC (APFS for Windows by Paragon Software). Another option, for those who use both Windows and macOS regularly, is to partition your hard drive and have a portion of the drive formatted for each OS. However, this will not let you share files across multiple operating systems, so it is best to use ExFAT or FAT32 when that is necessary.

Learn more about File Systems

Formatting Drives in Windows

USB formatting screen in Windows 10
  1. Insert a USB drive into a USB port.
  2. Open File Explorer.
  3. Click on This PC from the left pane.
  4. Under the "Devices and drives" section, right-click the flash drive and select the Format option.
  5. Use the "File system" drop-down menu and select the preferred option.
  6. In the "Allocation unit size" drop-down menu, use the default selection.
  7. In the "Volume label" field, confirm a drive name that will appear in File Explorer. For example, KingstonUSB.
  8. Under the "Format options" section, select the Quick format option or don’t depending on the use case.
  9. Click the Start button.
  10. Click the Yes button.
  11. Once formatting is complete, the USB flash drive will be all set to store documents, pictures, videos, and other files on the removable drive.

Formatting Drives on Mac OS 10+

  1. Insert a USB drive into your USB port.
  2. Launch “Disk Utility” (from Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility).
  3. Select the USB drive from the list on the left.
  4. Select “Erase” at the top.
  5. Select the file system you would like to use, shown here as “Format”. You should be able to select MS-DOS (FAT), ExFAT, and a few variations of Mac OS Extended. If you want to use one of these, go to step 6. If you are using macOS 10.13 High Sierra or newer and you want to use APFS and do not see it from the list, click Cancel. Go to the View menu and select “Show All Devices”. Select the new device that will now appear higher in the logical device tree, which will probably be named something like "Kingston DataTraveler Media" with mixed case lettering, not the one below that which could be named "KINGSTON". Click Erase again. Then, from Scheme dropdown menu, select "GUID Partition Map". Next, click on the Format dropdown and "APFS" will become available for you to select.
  6. Type in a name for the drive.
  7. Select “Erase.”
  8. Once complete, select “Done.”
  9. Once formatting is complete, the USB flash drive will be all set to store documents, pictures, videos, and other files on the removable drive.

Conclusion

Formatting a USB flash drive can be a great option if you want to erase your data from the flash drive with speed and efficiency or if you want to use your flash drive on a different operating system. By taking the time to format your USB drive, this will ultimately optimize its performance.

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