Formatting scrubs the external drive clean and rids it of all permissions, settings, data, files, and information. These files may be difficult to find or delete manually, so formatting your flash drive allows you to get rid of most issues you can find on your device. You may also find that if you do a little digging into the hidden files of your USB, some files may compromise its security. The process of using your USB and ejecting it incorrectly could cause it to become corrupt. You may have a USB that feels cluttered and unorganized. If you have an older drive or one that still comes in NTFS or FAT, consider reading the how-to below to change the format of your USB. These days, the more expensive external drives come in ExFAT formats, which eliminates the 4GB file size limit. If you transfer a lot of files on a regular basis (provided that those files are under 4GB), then formatting your USB flash drive to Fat32 can help tremendously. There are a few benefits to formatting your USB Flash Drive to FAT32, such as: CompatibilityĪs mentioned, a USB formatted to FAT32 allows you to use the device on all systems and hardware. Formatting your drive to FAT32 allows you to use your USB anywhere, such as on a Windows PC, game console, Linux, or any other system. Something that not a lot of computer users understand, though, is that sometimes flash drives aren’t universal. Before you format your drive, you will need to back up any files you may have on it, as you will lose them in the process. This process is useful if you’ve accidentally corrupted your USB or if your Mac can’t read it.

The act of formatting your flash drive erases any pre-existing data, settings, and information, giving you a completely fresh device.

Why You Should Format your USB Flash Drive to FAT32

How to Format Your USB Flash Drive to FAT32.Why You Should Format your USB Flash Drive to FAT32.

How to format usb drive in a mac