Need to format a USB drive to FAT32 on your Mac but not sure where to start? You’re not alone. Whether you’re preparing the drive for use with a Windows PC, game console, car stereo, or other FAT32-only devices, knowing how to properly format it on macOS is essential. In this post, we’ll discuss three proven methods to format USB to FAT32 on Mac, and also share a bonus tip for data recovery without a backup after formatting. Besides, we’ll also discuss potential challenges in formatting your USB drive. Let’s dive in!
Part 1: What Is FAT32 Format?
Before we discuss how to format USB to FAT32 on a Mac, let us give you a brief overview of a FAT32 file system. FAT32, short for File Allocation Table 32, is a file system using 32-bit data to organize data on storage devices like USB drives. FAT32 is compatible with Mac, Linux, and Windows. Plus, it can support attributes like read-only, hidden, system, volume, directory, and archive.
On the other hand, FAT32 is an older file system, so it doesn’t support modern features like file permissions or journaling.
Part 2: Can You Format USB to FAT32 on Mac?
Yes—you can format a USB drive to FAT32 on a Mac, but there’s a small catch: macOS doesn’t label it as “FAT32” in Disk Utility. Instead, it shows up as “MS-DOS (FAT)”, which is actually the same thing. This often confuses users who expect to see “FAT32” listed as an option.
Now, let’s get straight to the point and check how to format a flash drive to FAT32 on a Mac.
Part 2: How to Format USB to FAT32 on Mac
You have a few options to convert USB to FAT32 Mac based on your expertise. Check them out below and pick one that you’re at ease with.
3.1 Format USB to FAT32 on Mac with Disk Utility
When in a hurry, you can do a quick Mac format USB FAT32 with “Disk Utility,” which is an in-built comprehensive toolkit for managing all your storage tasks. It formats, erases, partitions, and fixes internal and external drives, covering everything from hard drives and SSDs to USB sticks and SD cards.
Formatting with Disk Utility is easy, only takes a couple of minutes, and works well with 32 GB USBs. Follow the give steps
Step 1: Plug in the USB you want to format.
Step 2: Open “Applications,” choose “Utilities,” and then click “Disk Utility” to launch it.
Step 3: Pick your USB from storage devices and click on the “Erase“ button above.
Step 3: Choose “MS-DOS(FAT)” file system, name it, and hit “Erase” again.
Bonus Tip: How to Recover Data From A Formatted USB Drive?
We’ve mentioned earlier that performing a Mac format USB FAT32 can erase all data. If you forgot to create a backup and formatted your USB, you can wash your hands off your data.
But still all is not lost as you can easily recover formatted data from your USB drive with help of 4DDiG Mac Data Recovery. It’s a powerful tool to locate and extract hidden, lost, corrupted, or deleted data that are otherwise deemed impossible to retrieve. Check out this tool’s fabulous features:
- Recover data from Macs and 2000+ Mac-based storage devices.
- Retrieve data from various data loss scenarios.
- Free preview to check recovered files before saving them.
- Retrieve 1000+ file formats in just three simple clicks.
- Compatible with T2 chip, M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and macOS Sequoia systems.
Here’s how to recover lost data from Mac format USB FAT32 with this tool:
Step 1: Install Mac recovery tool on Mac and connect your USB to your computer.
Step 2: Launch tool and choose USB for recovery. Hover over desired location, and a “Scan” icon will pop up in lower right corner. Click to start searching for files lost due to formatting.
Step 3: The recovery process will take some time. Once it’s done, you can preview specific file types by clicking on them. Hit “Recover,” to choose a location to save files to a safe location in another partition than one where you lost them to prevent overwriting.
3.2 Format USB to FAT32 on Mac with Terminal
Another way to convert USB to FAT32 Mac is via “Terminal.” It’s a command-line interface with advanced capabilities and root-level access. But it has no friendly GIU, requires a bit of technical know-how, and is riskier if not used carefully. Here’s how to format a flash drive to FAT32 on Mac with Terminal:
Step 1: Connect USB you want to format as FAT32 with your Mac.
Step 2: Open “Applications,” choose “Utilities,” and then click “Terminal” to launch it.
Step 3: Type “diskutil list” to see list of external devices and identify your USB (e.g., /dev/disk1) among them. Here 1 is number of your disk.
’Step 4: Run this command: “sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat /dev/disk3” and replace “dev/disk3” with your device’s path.
3.3 Format USB to FAT 32 on Mac with Third-Party Tools
You can also use third-party tools for Mac format USB FAT32, as they offer more features than Disk Utility or Terminal. Some popular options include:
- GParted
- iBoysoft DiskGeeker
- BitRaser
- Super Eraser
They are user-friendly and require no manual tweaking to format storage devices like USBs. So, this makes them ideal for beginners as well as professionals looking for thorough formatting without data loss, and consuming much time.
Part 3: Why Can’t I Format USB to FAT32 on Mac?
When you’re unable to convert USB to FAT32 Mac it could be due to many reasons such as following:
- Volume Size Limitations – FAT32 has a max volume size of 2TB and a file size limit of 4GB. If your USB is larger or you need to store bigger files, FAT32 won’t work. So, consider using exFAT for formatting, as it supports 128 (petabytes) PB of volume size.
- Disk Errors – Before you learn how to format to FAT32 on Mac, check for disk errors as they can prevent you from formatting your USB. The “First Aid” feature in Disk Utility can help in that regard to repair disk errors.
- Incompatibility Issues – Some USB drives may not be compatible with your macOS version due to firmware or original formatting. For example, if your USB comes with an NTFS file system, which is a Windows file system, macOS can read it but won’t write to it unless you use extra software.
- USB Drive Damage – Physical damage or internal degradation over time may render USB non-formattable.
How to Format USB to FAT32 on Mac FAQ
Q1: Does Mac support FAT32 format?
Yes, macOS fully supports the FAT32 file system. As already noted, while it doesn’t label the format option as “FAT32” in Disk Utility, you can still format drives to FAT32 by selecting “MS-DOS (FAT)” as the file system. This option works for USB flash drives, SD cards, and external hard drives.
Q2: How do I know if my USB is FAT32 on Mac?
You can check if your USB drive is formatted as FAT32 by using Disk Utility on your Mac. First, connect the USB drive and open Disk Utility by searching for it through Spotlight. Once it’s open, select your USB drive from the sidebar. At the bottom of the window, or by clicking the small “Info” (i) button in the toolbar, you’ll see details about the drive. Look for the section labeled “Format.”
Wrapping Up
So, that’s all there was to learning how to format a flash drive to FAT32 on Mac. We discussed three ways based on your skill level and ease of use to format USB to FAT32 on Mac. If you don’t have a backup and lost your data after formatting, consider using a third-party tool like 4DDiG Mac Data Recovery to retrieve data lost due to formatting with a high success rate. The tool also offers a comprehensive set of features for file recovery from various data loss scenarios and storage devices.
