Format USB stick for Windows and Mac

To be able to use a USB stick with both a Mac and a Windows computer, you have to format it so that both systems can read and write on it. You can find out what you need to consider here.

Format USB stick under Mac OS X.

Because Windows cannot read a native Mac partition format, you must format your USB stick on a Mac compatible with Windows. That's how it works:

• Connect the USB stick to your Mac.
• Go to your program folder and there in the sub-folder Utilities.
• Open the "Disk Utility". Here you can see all connected drives - including the USB stick.
• Select the USB stick you want to format. Make sure that it is really the right one, because all data on the stick will be deleted when formatting.
• Click the "Partition" button.
• In the drop-down menu under "Volume scheme" you can select the desired number of partitions, i.e. the virtual drives on your USB stick. One partition should normally suffice.
• Click the "Options" button and select the "Master Boot Record" partition scheme in the dialog window. This is the schema that both Windows computers and Macs can read and write. Click OK".
• In the "Volume information" area you can enter a name for your USB stick.
• Select "MS-DOS file system (FAT)" from the dropdown menu under "Format". Only this file system is compatible with both OS X and Windows.
• Click on "Apply" and confirm the security question by clicking on "Partition". Now all you have to do is wait for the USB stick to be formatted.

Format USB stick with Windows

Because a Mac can read every Windows partition format, but cannot write to each, you have to choose the right file system, even if you format your USB stick on a Windows computer:

• Connect the USB stick to your Windows computer and then close the "Automatic playback" window.
• Click on "Computer" in the start menu. Here you will find the USB stick in the "Devices with removable media" area.
• Right-click on the USB stick and select "Format ..." from the context menu.
• In the formatting window, select "FAT 32" as the file system so that a Mac can also access the medium.
• Enter a name for your USB stick under "Volume name".
• If necessary, activate the check mark for "Quick format". It's quicker, but not as thorough.
• Click on "Start" and confirm the security question with "OK".

It works exactly the same way with hard drives.