Format A Disk For Windows Computers In Disk Utility On Mac

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macOS Tahoe 26 macOS Sequoia 15 macOS Sonoma 14 macOS Ventura 13 macOS Monterey 12 macOS Big Sur 11.0 macOS Catalina 10.15 macOS Mojave 10.14 Select version: macOS Tahoe 26 macOS Sequoia 15 macOS Sonoma 14 macOS Ventura 13 macOS Monterey 12 macOS Big Sur 11.0 macOS Catalina 10.15 macOS Mojave 10.14 Modifying this control will update this page automatically Search this guide Clear Search Table of Contents

Disk Utility User Guide

• Welcome
• Overview
  • Intro to Disk Utility
  • View all devices or only volumes
  • File system formats
  • Partition schemes
  • Get detailed information about a disk
• Manage physical disks and volumes
  • Add, delete or erase APFS volumes
  • Erase and reformat a storage device
  • Initialise a storage device
  • Encrypt and protect a storage device with a password
  • Partition a physical disk
  • View APFS snapshots
  • Format a disk for Windows computers
  • Repair a storage device
  • Restore a disk
• Store data on disk images
  • Create a disk image
  • Convert a disk image to another format
  • Resize a disk image
  • Restore a disk image to a disk
• Set up and manage RAID disk sets
  • Overview of creating disk sets
  • Create a disk set
  • Delete a disk set
  • Unmount a disk set or disk member
  • Repair a disk in a mirrored disk set
  • Add a disk to a disk set
  • If a disk in a disk set on Mac fails or is missing
• Troubleshooting
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Copyright and trademarks

In Disk Utility, you can format an external disk that you can use with both a Microsoft Windows–based computer and a Mac. For example, you might want to do this if you use a flash drive to store data files you need to use on your Mac at home and when using a Windows-based computer at school or your local library.

WARNING: Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting.

Open Disk Utility for me

1. Go to the Disk Utility app on your Mac.

   If Disk Utility isn’t open, click in the Dock, type Disk Utility in the Search field, then click .

2. Choose View > Show All Devices.

3. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with Windows computers.

4. Click in the toolbar.

5. In the Erase dialogue, click the Scheme pop-up menu, then choose a partition scheme.

6. Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose one of the following:

   • MS-DOS (FAT): Choose this format if the size of the disk is 32GB or less.

   • ExFAT: Choose this format if the size of the disk is over 32GB.

7. Enter a name for the volume.

   The maximum length for the volume name is 11 characters.

8. Click Erase, then click Done.

See alsoFile system formats available in Disk Utility on MacPartition schemes available in Disk Utility on MacPartition a physical disk in Disk Utility on Mac Helpful? Yes No Character limit: 250 Please don’t include any personal information in your comment. Maximum character limit is 250. Submit Thanks for your feedback.