How to Format USB as exFAT on Mac [Ultimate Guide]

Do you know how to format a USB as exFAT on a Mac? Windows and Mac use different file systems. As such, you may need to format a USB into a compatible format for use on a Mac, one that also works with Windows.

Is exFAT format supported on Mac?

Yes, Mac supports the exFAT format on USB. It can be read and written by a Mac. "exFAT" is the latest file system format, typically used to format external and USB drives. Unlike FAT32, it doesn't have a 4 GB file size limitation. This article will provide solutions to format USB as exFAT on a Mac. Also, this applies to formatting a USB flash drive as FAT32 on a Mac.

Also, if you're interested in how to format a USB on Windows, you can click the link for more information.

Format USB External Hard Drive to exFAT [Windows & Mac]

Need to format USB or external hard drive to exFAT in Windows or macOS? Follow this guide to learn how to format your storage device to exFAT yourself.

Here's how to format a USB on a Mac.

Method 1: How to Format a USB as exFAT on a Mac Using Disk Utility

"Disk Utility" is a very simple app built into every Mac that can format SD cards, hard drives, and more. It's a great way to make a drive compatible with your Mac. Read on for detailed steps on how to format a USB as exFAT.

Step 1: Plug the USB flash drive into your Mac.

Step 2: Press "Command + Space" to open the "Disk Utility." If you can't find it, go to your "Finder," then click on "Applications," and look for "Disk Utility" there.

Step 3. Select the USB drive on the left and click “Erase” at the top.

Step 4. Name your drive and choose the “exFAT” format.

Click “Erase” to format the USB as exFAT on your Mac.

Method 2: Format USB as exFAT on Mac Using Terminal Command

The Terminal is a powerful tool for browsing and executing tasks in the Mac environment, though it can be complex and require some know-how. Almost anything that can be done through a graphical user interface (GUI) can also be done in the Terminal. The following will explain how to format a USB drive with terminal commands.

Step 1: Insert the USB drive into your Mac.

Step 2. Press “Command + Space,” and search for “Terminal.” Alternatively, go to “Finder,” locate “Utilities,” and open “Terminal.”

Step 3: Type "diskutil list" to see all available devices.

Step 4. Select the USB device you want to format and type the following command:

diskutil erasedisk exFAT MyDisk DISK_IDENTIFIER

Additional tip: What formats can you use to format a USB on a Mac?

The five most common file system formats are NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, HFS+, and APFS. While Windows uses NTFS, it is read-only on a Mac. The other four are supported by macOS, but there are some differences. You can refer to the table below for information about file system formats tailored to different users.

The format needed will depend on the type of device being used. For Macs, the default file systems are APFS and Mac OS Extended. You can learn more about the differences between them by clicking the link below.

APFS vs macOS Extended

Which file system is the best for your system? To help you understand, we have explained in detail the APFS and macOS Extended file systems.

Conclusions

This article provides two ways to format a USB on a Mac as exFAT. Of the two, using Disk Utility is simpler than terminal commands. It also offers additional tips about which format to use in different circumstances. The default formats for macOS are APFS and Mac OS X Extended. If you want something compatible with both Windows and Mac, choose exFAT or FAT32.

Frequently Asked Questions on How to Format USB as exFAT on Mac with UTF-8 Encoding

This article will show you two ways to format a USB as exFAT on your Mac. You'll also find some common issues with formatting on a Mac.

< strong > 1. How to Change File System from FAT32 to exFAT on Mac? < /strong >

You can convert a FAT32 format to exFAT on your Mac using Disk Utility or a terminal command. Here are the general steps to do it with Disk Utility:

Step 1: Go to “Applications” and find “Disk Utility.”

Step 2: Select the disk you want to change, then click “Erase.”

Step 3. Select exFAT from the menu.

< strong > 2. Why exFAT is not working on Mac?

If exFAT isn't working on your Mac, it might be due to incompatibility between the operating system and the USB or a missing driver. You can click on exFAT USB not showing up on Mac to find specific solutions to this problem.

3. Can a Mac read FAT32 formatted storage devices? Yes, Mac systems can read FAT32 formatted storage devices. FAT32 is a widely-used file system that is compatible with multiple operating systems, including Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. As such, you can easily view and read files from FAT32 formatted USB drives, SD cards, or other external storage devices on your Mac without any issues. However, the Mac might not be able to directly write single files larger than 4GB to a FAT32 partition, due to limitations of the FAT32 file system. If you need to write large files on your Mac, it's recommended to use file systems like ExFAT or APFS instead.

Yes, a Mac can read the FAT32 file system. Macs can recognize several types of file systems, including HFS+, NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, and ext2. However, not all of these file systems support write operations. You can format the drive using Disk Utility.