How to format internal and/or external drive to work properly on Mac and Windows computers? External data storage devices such as USB flash drives, external Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), and Solid State Drives (SSDs) provide one of the easiest ways to transfer files between separate computers without accessing the Internet.

• Part 3: How to Format USB Flash Drive to FAT32 on Mac? If you want to use a USB drive on both Mac and Windows, then you need to format the drive to the format supported by both systems. And FAT32 is the format that both Mac and Windows PC support. In other words, you can read and write FAT32 file format on both the operating system.
• Click on “USB Flash Drive” from the main interface and then on “Burn”. Select 'USB Flash Drive' Once done, click on “OK” on the pop-up window. ISO files have been generated successfully; This is how simple it is to make bootable Windows 10 USB Mac with the help of this tool. Method 2: Use UNetbootin to Install USB Driver.

How can I format USB drive in CMD? How to format USB using CMD to NTFS? Can I format a USB using CMD in Windows 10? Don't worry if you have the same questions in your mind.

On this page, you'll learn how to format USB using CMD or CMD alternative tool in Windows 10/8/7 successfully. Pick up the suitable USB format tool for help now:

If you prefer an easy and quick way to format USB or you need to format to Ext 4/3/2, pick up CMD alternative format tool for help.

Let's start to format your USB using CMD or its alternative tool and make the RAW, inaccessible, unreadable, and even corrupted USB flash drive, pen drive, memory stick work normally again.

Part 1. How to Format USB Flash Drive Using CMD (Command Prompt)

Applies to: Format USB to FAT32/NTFS, format RAW USB, repair corrupted USB, etc.

USB flash drive is worldwide used for storing data and transferring files. However, sometimes, USB may corrupt or become inaccessible due to RAW or invalid file system, bad sector, or other errors. Formatting USB using CMD is a quick way to resolve these problems.

The following are two detailed guides, illustrating how to format a USB flash drive using Windows Command Prompt that you should strictly follow.

Steps to Format USB (to NTFS or FAT32) Using CMD

#1. Format USB using CMD in Windows 10:

Step 1. Connect USB to your PC and press Windows + R keys.

Step 2. Type cmd in the Search box and hit Enter to bring up Command Prompt.

Step 3. Type the following command lines one by one and hit Enter each time:

• diskpart
• list disk
• select disk + number (Replace 2 with the number of your USB drive.)
• list volume
• select volume + number (Replace 10 with the volume number of your USB flash drive.)
• format fs=ntfs quick (You can also replace NTFS with FAT32 or exFAT.)
• exit

CMD also works to fix Windows was unable to complete the format error in your computer hard drive, USB, or other storage devices.

#2. Format USB Flash Drive using Command Prompt in Windows 8/7:

Step 1. Plug USB in your computer and click the Windows icon and select 'Search'.

Windows 10 Format Usb Drive

Step 2. Type command prompt in the Search box.

Right-click on Command Prompt and choose 'Run as administrator'.

Step 3. On the Command Prompt window, type diskpart and press 'Enter'.

Step 4 Type list disk and press 'Enter'. Check the disk number of your USB flash drive. For example, disk 2.

Step 5. Now type select disk 2 and press 'Enter'. (If the USB number is not 2, replace it with the right one.)

Step 6. Type format fs=ntfs and press 'Enter'.

If you prefer other file system formats, change the command NTFS to the desired one, such as format fs=fat32.

Step 7. Type exit and hit Enter to close the window.

After this, exit DiskPart and you save data to your USB flash drive again. However, as Linux file system Ext2/3 is not compatible with Windows OS, you can refer to a UBS format tool in Part 2 for help.

Part 2. Format USB Using CMD Alternative in Windows 10/8/7

Applies to: Format corrupted USB, format USB to Ext2, Ext3, format FAT32 USB to NTFS, format USB to FAT32, etc. on all Windows OS.

Although CMD is capable of formatting USB flash drive, it's not user-friendly for most Windows beginners. Also, it requires users to remember all command lines while executing operations in Command Prompt.

Also, any importer operation may cause data loss on other storage devices. Here, we would like to recommend you try third-party CMD alternative software - EaseUS free partition manager.

EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition is a perfect CMD alternative tool for USB formatting. With an easy-to-use interface and precise operation, you can use it to format USB easily in only a few clicks.

Tutorial - 4 Steps to Format USB via CMD Alternative in Windows 10/8/7

All levels of users can apply this tool and format USB to usable again in Windows 10/8/7:

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition on your external hard drive/USB/SD card which you want to format and choose the 'Format' option.

Step 2. Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click 'OK'.

Step 3. In the Warning window, click 'OK' to continue.

Step 4. Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting your external hard drive/USB/SD card.

Part 3. Bonus Tips to Fix Errors While Formatting USB Using CMD

According to some USB users, they reported that they encountered some errors while formatting USB in CMD.

Here, we've collected two common errors in formatting USB using CMD, if you get the same errors, don't worry. You can follow the provided solutions to resolve them:

Error 1: Diskpart format fs=ntfs stuck at 0, 10, 11, 12...

If the formatting process gets stuck in DiskPart, as the shown message, don't worry. You have two ways to go:

1. #1. Just wait for the formatting process to complete.
2. #2. Close CMD, turn to EaseUS Partition Master in Part 2 to format your drive.

Error 2: Diskpart has encountered an error: Access is denied. See the System Event Log for more information.

If you come across this issue, click the link below to get rid of the problem:

Data Recovery is not a challenge anymore. EaseUS serves as a dependable data recovery application to retrieve lost data within simple clicks.

The End Line

Due to its portability, flexibility, large storage size, and reasonable price, USB flash drive is still the No.1 external storage device around the world.

While using USB for data transferring or storage, problems with USB flash drives also increase. Formatting USB flash drive is one of the top issues.

On this page, we included two USB formatting tools to help you format USB using CMD or CMD alternative - EaseUS Partition Master. You may pick up a suitable tool and follow the respective tutorial guide to make your USB flash drive work normally.

For an easy and free formatting resolution, take EaseUS Partition Master as your first choice. It's a perfect CMD alternative tool that can help you anytime.

People Also Ask About Format USB Using CMD

Some of you may have more questions about formatting USB. Here we collected some top concerned questions and listed answers below. If you have the same doubts, check out the answers now.

1. Why do you need to format USB flash drive?

Usually, HDDs and SSDs are widely used for OS installation and data storage and removable storage devices like USB flash drives are more used for data transferring and storage. But the USB flash drive may become inaccessible, and you'll need to format it so as to make it work again.

Here is a list of reasons why do you and other USB users need to format the flash drive:

1. 1. RAW, invalid, or unrecognized USB file system
2. 2. USB flash drive corruption
3. 3. Virus infection
4. 3. USB is write-protected
5. 3. Change USB file system to NTFS, FAT32, or Ext 2/3/4 by formatting

2. How to format bootable USB using cmd？

The process of formatting a bootable USB flash drive is almost the same as the process shown on this page. You can apply CMD to format it with the listed steps here:

1. Step 1. Connect the bootable USB drive to your PC.
2. Step 2. Open Command Prompt.
3. Step 3. Type diskpart and hit Enter.
4. Step 4. Type list disk and hit Enter.
5. Step 5.Type select disk + number and hit Enter. (Replace 2 with the number of your USB drive.)
6. Step 6. Type list volume and hit Enter.
7. Step 7. select volume + number and hit Enter. (Replace 10 with the volume number of your USB flash drive.)
8. Step 8. Type format fs=ntfs quick and hit Enter. (You can also replace NTFS with FAT32 or exFAT.)
9. Step 9. Type exit and hit Enter.

3. How to format write-protected USB using cmd?

Here are the steps that you can follow to format a write-protected (read-only) USB using the command lines below:

1. Step 1. Press 'Win + R', type cmd to open 'Command Prompt'.
2. Step 2. Type diskpart and hit Enter.
3. Step 3. Type list disk and hit Enter.
4. Step 4. Type select disk 2 and hit Enter. (Replace 2 with the write-protected device number) and hit Enter.
5. Step 5. Type attributes disk clear readonly and hit Enter.
6. Step 6. Type exit to close the diskpart window.

Once the write protection removing process completes, you can format the USB drive again. You can either apply EaseUS Partition Master, Windows File Explorer, or even the CMD command as shown in Part 2 to format the USB drive.

4. Windows was unable to complete the format, how to fix it?

When you use File Explorer to format the USB flash drive, it warns you that 'Windows was unable to complete the format', don't worry. Here are 7 ways that you can try to fix this error:

1. #1. Use EaseUS Partition Master
2. #2. Use Diskpart Command
3. #3. Use Disk Management
4. #4. Clear Virus and Complete the Format
5. #5. Remove Write Protection and Complete the Format
6. #6. Fix Disk Errors and Complete the Format
7. #7. Repair Bad Sectors and Complete the Format

Note that you can try the above two tutorials to format your USB flash drive and resolve this issue. You can also follow this link to get rid of the Windows Was Unable to Complete the Format error immediately.

As a tiny, portable and somewhat capacious removable storage media, the USB flash drive, thumb drive or USB stick seems to be seen everywhere among modern computer users. What are the purposes of owning a flash drive? In general, we use a USB drive mainly for transferring files across operating systems and different devices, or making a bootable USB drive for booting up a failed or crashed computer.

In order to make full use of a USB drive's capacity and performance, it's essential to format it with an appropriate, compatible and efficient file system. Do you know what is the best file system for a USB drive? Should you choose FAT32 or NTFS while formatting the USB flash drive?

EaseUS Partition Master is your optimal choice to format the USB drive to FAT32 or NTFS in Windows 10/8/7:

Here we will explain reasons and give answers to whether you should format USB drive to FAT32 or NTFS with the best USB format tool.

What are file systems?

A file system can be interpreted as an index or database containing physical location of every piece of data on a storage drive. The structure and logic rules used to manage the groups of data and their names is called a file system.

A Windows computer, Mac, smartphone, Xbox and any place that stores data must adopt particular kinds of file systems to read, write, store and organize data on various storage media, including a flash drive, memory card, pen drive, hard drive, HDD or SSD. In simple terms, without a matched file system, the media will be totally useless as it cannot be recognized at all by your certain device.

There are many different kinds of file systems. Each one has different structure and logic, properties of speed, flexibility, security, size, etc. Following examples are the most commonly acknowledged and used file systems on popular operating systems.

Don't miss: completely free FAT32 & NTFS formatter for USB

NTFS: (NT File System) It's the default file system for all Windows versions.

HFS+: (Hierarchical File System) It's the default file system for macOS versions.

APFS: (Proprietary Apple File System) It's developed as a replacement for HFS+ since the release of iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.13.

FAT32: (File Allocation Table 32) It's an older standard Windows file system before NTFS.

exFAT: (extended File Allocation Table) It's developed based on FAT32 and offers a lightweight system without all the overhead of NTFS.
EXT2, 3 & 4: (Extend File System) It's initially created specifically for Linux.

FAT32 vs. NTFS: What's the difference?

Now you should have a basic understanding of a variety of file systems in prevalence. When it comes to the final selection for a USB flash drive between FAT32 or NTFS, which one will you choose?

Following is an overall explanation of each.

FAT32 is compatible with all operating systems since it's a simple file system and has been around for a really long time. In contrast, NTFS is more robust and effective than FAT as it adopts advanced data structures to improve reliability, disk space utilization and overall performance. The application of NTFS has grown but FAT32 is still more universal.

What's more, FAT32 can be converted to NTFS but it's getting hard to convert NTFS back to FAT, due to the facts that NTFS has great security, file by file compression, quotas and file encryption.

Don't miss: completely free FAT32 & NTFS formatter for USB

FAT32 or NTFS? Which one should you choose?

If you're looking to decide which file system to use when formatting a USB drive, most of all, you should consider two of the most important aspects: portability and file size limits when made your own decision.

As you can judge from the comparison table, FAT32 is almost supported by all operating systems, only to notice that it cannot transfer or store a single file larger than 4GB & max partition size should be under 2TB in size. However, NTFS seems to have no limit in dealing with extremely large files and partition sizes.

In one word, it's a good idea to choose your own format like this:

If you'd like to use the USB on older computers, or non-PC systems like digital picture frames, TV sets, printers or projectors, choose FAT32 because it is universally supported; In addition, if you're using multiple different operating systems in one same computer, FAT32 is also a nice choice.

While if you're using the USB drive as a Windows computer backup drive, to store high-definition videos, movies, pictures and any other large files, at the same time, asking for a high security, choose NTFS.

What's the best USB format tool?

Once made your own decision as above guided, it's time to format your USB drive a desired file system. No matter it's a newly bought flash drive or a used one, you can directly use a capable USB format tool to format the USB drive to FAT32 or NTFS.

As a matter of fact, in Windows OS for example, there are many accessible ways for users to format a disk. The most familiar ones are Windows File Explorer, Windows Disk Management and Windows Command Prompt. Here we introduce none of them. Instead, we show you a third-party Windows USB format program - EaseUS Partition Master Free, which will greatly ease your worry of encountering the problem of 'Format option is greyed out', 'Windows cannot complete the format', etc. What's more, the third-party software is free, user-friendly, powerful and be able to convert FAT32 to NTFS without losing data, which the aforementioned programs cannot handle that.

Guide: format USB to FAT 32 & NTFS

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.

Guide: convert FAT32 to NTFS without losing data

Step 1: Install and launch EaseUS Partition Master on your computer.

Step 2: Select a FAT32 partition, right-click on it and select 'Convert to NTFS'. If you need to convert a storage device such as SD card or USB flash drive to NTFS, insert it into your PC first and repeat the previous operation.

Format Flash Drive Windows 7

Step 3: Click 'OK' on the pop-up dialog box to continue.

Format Mac Drive In Windows

Step 4: Go to the upper left corner, click the 'Execute 1 Operation' button and you will see the operation details. Click 'Apply' and 'Finish' when the process completes.