How to Format an SD Card on a Mac [Using Terminal and Disk Utility]

An SD card is a common type of external storage device often inserted into electronic devices like digital cameras, phones, and gaming consoles. There are several types of SD cards, which include SD cards, SDHC cards, and SDXC cards.

When choosing an SD card, you need to pay attention to what type of SD card is best for your device. Portability is one of the greatest advantages of SD cards, but unfortunately, issues with unrecognized or unsupported SD cards do happen.

When the SD card is corrupted or not readable and usable, like the SD card turns to RAW format, SD card not showing up on Mac, and more, the most effective way is to format SD card on Mac.

Preparations Before Formatting an SD Card on a Mac

Formatting your SD card will delete everything on it, so back up any important data beforehand. Read on to learn how to back up important data on an SD card.

?Back Up Data Before Formatting SD Card on Mac

To avoid losing data from your SD card after formatting it on a Mac, you can back up the SD card data to iCloud or Time Machine. Alternatively, you can cut the files from the SD card and paste them onto another hard drive. If the SD card is damaged and you can't access its data, don't worry; the second method will still work in this scenario.

?Recover Data from Damaged SD Card Before Formatting on Mac

If you have some important data on the SD card that wasn't backed up, we recommend using professional data recovery software like the Mac Data Recovery Wizard to retrieve files from an SD card that's not working properly.

It can also recover data from RAW SD card on Mac before formatting. This professional and reliable Mac SD card recovery software can restore corrupted SD card data on Mac in 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Choose your SD card

Connect the memory card to your Mac correctly. Launch the Data Recovery Wizard for Mac tool.
• Navigate to "SD Card Recovery," find your Canon/Nikon/Go Pro/DJI/Sony SD card, and click "Search for lost files."

Notice: Before the data recovery, it's better to click “Disk Backup” on the left sidebar and create a backup for your SD card to prevent further data loss. After backing up the SD card, the software can recover data from the SD card backup, then you can remove the SD card and use it again.

Step 2: Filter the lost data from SD card

When the scan is finished, all files will be displayed in the left pane of the scan results. Find the photos, videos, and other files you want.

Step 3: Preview and recover the data

Preview the SD card data, select the files you want, and hit “Recover.” To avoid overwriting your data, do not save the recovered files to the SD card itself.

After you use the recovery software for SD card recovery on Mac, this article will guide you on how to format an SD card on Mac using the built-in Disk Utility app. Let's start with the SD card formatting process.

How to Format an SD Card on a Mac Using Disk Utility

Formatting an SD card on a Mac will use the built-in application "Disk Utility." Here's a video on how to format an SD card using Disk Utility on a Mac:

• 00:25 - Connect your SD card to your Mac
• 00:40 - Open Disk Utility
• 01:12 - Choose the file format and rename the SD card

Note: If you're unsure whether your Mac has an SD card slot or reader, you can check on Apple's website: click here.

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Follow these steps to format the SD card on your Mac:

Step 1: Connect the SD card to your Mac.

If your Mac has an SD card slot (usually on the side), you can insert the SD card directly into your Mac. If your Mac doesn't have an SD card slot, use a card reader.

Step 2: Open "Applications" > "Utilities" > "Disk Utility," then launch Disk Utility. You can also open Disk Utility when your Mac is booting up, if you prefer.

Step 3: Locate the SD card on the left, select it, and click “Erase.”

Step 4: In the Format tab, choose a new file system format for your SD card. If you wish, rename the SD card.

The most common formats for an SD card are FAT and exFAT, both of which are compatible with cameras. For example, if your SD card is 64GB or larger, choose exFAT; if your SD card is 32GB or smaller, choose MS-DOS (FAT). Other options like NTFS or Mac OS Extended (HFS+) are typically used for Mac hard drives.

Tap “Erase” again to confirm, wait for the formatting process to complete, and your SD card should be good as new.

The time it takes to format will depend on the size of the SD card, the new format type you've chosen, and the speed of your reader. Not sure which format to choose? This article can help you determine the right one for you!

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File System Format Comparison: exFAT vs Mac OS Extended [Everything You Need to Know]

This article discusses which format is suitable for you: exFAT or Mac OS Extended. Read More >>

How to Format an SD Card on a Mac Using the Terminal

Aside from using disk utilities, you can also format your SD card to FAT32 or another format using Mac Terminal commands. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Open Terminal from either Finder or the Spotlight search bar.

Step 3: Select the SD card from the list of storage devices.

Step 4. Type in the command sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 SDCARD MBRFormat /dev/disk2. This will format your SD card. It can also be used to format a USB flash drive to FAT32 on Mac.

The bottom line?

If your SD card is damaged or has become RAW, you'll need to format it in order to use it again. Formatting an SD card on a Mac uses a built-in program called Disk Utility, which can erase, repair, and unmount external hard drives on a Mac.

Before formatting a damaged SD card, you can use the Data Recovery Wizard for Mac tool to retrieve important data from it. Additionally, as long as the data hasn't been overwritten, you can utilize recovery tools to restore an SD card formatted on your Mac.

Frequently Asked Questions About Formatting SD Card on Mac

Here are some common questions people ask when searching how to format an SD card on a Mac:

**Why Can't I Format SD Card on Mac?**

One of the main reasons why an SD card won't format on a Mac is that a file on the SD card has its permission set to "Read Only." This makes the entire SD card write-protected. To format the SD card, you need to change its permission to "Read and Write."

2. How to Format SD Card on Mac?

Please use the Disk Utility to format your SD card, following these steps:

Step 1: Connect the SD card to your Mac.

Step 2: Go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility, and open Disk Utility.

Step 3: In the left sidebar, find your SD card, select it, and click “Erase.”

4. On the Format tab, choose a new file system format for your SD card. If you like, you can also rename the SD card.

Step 5: Tap “Erase” again to confirm, and wait for the formatting process to finish.

How do I get my Mac to read my SD card?

If your Mac doesn't recognize your SD card, try these steps to get your Mac to read the card:

• Check your connection and restart your Mac.
• Inspect Finder and Desktop preferences.
• Check if the SD card is locked or damaged.
• Verify if the SD card reader is functioning properly.
• Mount the SD card using Disk Utility.