- May 13, 2019 FAT32 works with all versions of Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Practically, most USB drives are pre-formatted with FAT32. And most game consoles, such as PlayStation, require external USB drive with the FAT32 format. FAT32 has a limit that files larger than 4GB can't be stored on a FAT32.
- Jul 01, 2020 Turn to third-party professional USB format software. If you need to format large partition, such 64GB or 128GB partition to FAT32 or format the second partition on SD card/USB flash drive, you can turn to AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, a comprehensive and all-round USB FAT32 format tool for Windows operating system. It can help you to.
Jun 03, 2015 Fat32 is the most portable format. Can be read/written by just about anything. Deals with medium to large volumes (2TB) and reasonably large files (2GB). NTFS is the native format for Windows NT. It can deal with really large files and volumes. It can be read by Macs, and if you install some special software, NTFS can be written by Macs. May 25, 2020 Free software to format exFAT to FAT32 regardless of partition size AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard is free partition manager that earns good reputation among its users. One of its users says the software will format any type of drive/partition to any desired file system and it is free.
Jun 11,2020 • Filed to: Hard Drive Recovery • Proven solutions
There are several reasons to format a hard drive to FAT32 in Windows 10. For instance, you want to make your drive faster when writing large files to it or make the drive works with non-Windows operating systems. No matter what’s your reason to format your hard drive to FAT32, you’ve landed in the right place. Here is everything you should know about Windows 10 format disk FAT32. So, let’s start to learn how to format the drive to FAT32 format and what to do if you lost your important files after the drive formatting.
Part 1: What is FAT32 Format?
When you get a new hard drive or while reinstalling Windows, the operating system may request you to format the drive. If the choice is given, you get three file systems to choose from - NTFS, exFAT, and FAT32. As the Format dialog doesn’t explain what they are, so we will.
A FAT32 file system is the oldest of the three ones available for Windows. It is the most common version available of the FAT (File Allocation Table) file system. With the release of Windows 95, this file system was introduced as a replacement for the older FAT16 format used in Windows 3 and MS-DOS. The big advantage of the FAT32 file system is that it’s very old. It has been the standard format for hard drives and floppy disks so to maximize the compatibility across modern systems including Mac, Linux, and Windows. The maximum size of the file you can store in the hard drive with FAT32 is 4 GB along with 8TB maximum partition size.
You should use FAT32 on the drives where there is a requirement for the maximum compatibility with a wide range of devices, and you don’t have any 4 GB or larger file in size.
Part 2: Does FAT32 Work on Windows 10?
Even though the FAT32 format is so versatile and widely used, Windows 10 doesn’t allow its users to format the hard drive in FAT32. There is a reason behind it. As it is an extremely old file system and that’s why it has two significant limitations:
- The FAT32 file architecture can’t be used on the hard drive larger than 16 TB.
- The FAT32 file system can’t deal with the files which are bigger than 4 GB.
Both are huge issues for most people. That’s why FAT32 got its replacement, which is the more modern file system known as exFAT (extended file allocation). The exFAT is better in terms of file-size limit. The only drawback of the exFAT is that it was introduced by Microsoft and that’s why owns all the patents. It also means that manipulating this file structure, for instance, write, read and repair operations require a license.
Therefore, there are compatible issues while using exFAT. As a result, it makes the FAT32 file system easy to work with, regardless of the file-size limitations.
Part 3: How Do I Format My Hard Drive to FAT32 on Windows 10?
When it comes to formatting the drive to exFAT or NTFS file system, you can do with the usual or in-built Windows 10 formatting tool known as Disk Management. But, you can’t use the formatting tool if you would like to format FAT32 Windows 10. However, it doesn’t mean there is no way to get the job done. While you can’t select the FAT32 file system in the regular Windows 10 formatting tool, you can yet do it without any third-party software.
As formatting means deletion of everything and that’s why it is recommended to create a backup of your important files before you proceed further.
So, let’s now learn how to format a hard drive to FAT32.
Method 1: Using Command Prompt
Command Prompt is Windows Command Processor and it is used to perform commands in the Windows system. If you are good at working with commands, then you can try to format your hard drive to FAT32 using the command prompt.
Here’s how to do:
Step 1 In the Windows Search, look for the Command Prompt. Once finding it, right-click it and choose “Run as administrator” option.
Step 2 Next, type “diskpart”>” hit Enter.
Step 3 After that, type “list disk”>” hit Enter”. Type “select disk*”, where “*” is the drive number.
Step 4 Now, you need to type the following commands and press the “Enter” key after each command.
- create partition primary
- select partition 1
- active
- format fs=fat32
- assign
- exit
In a while, your hard drive will be formatted to the file system - FAT32.
Method 2: Using PowerShell
To format HHD to FAT32 Windows 10, you can use PowerShell if you don’t want to use the command prompt. It is a task automation & configuration management framework developed by Microsoft, compromising of a command-line shell and related scripting language. You’re probably familiar with this tool if you’ve been a user of a Windows 10 system for quite some time.
So, let’s learn how to use PowerShell to format your drive to FAT32.
Step 1 To start the process, press the “Windows + X” keys at the same time to open a menu and click the “Windows PowerShell (Admin)” option.
Step 2 Next, you need to type the command - “format /FS:FAT32 D:” and press “Enter”. Here, you need to replace the “D” with your drive letter.
Software To Format Fat32 On Mac Download
In a while, it will format your hard drive to FAT32. If you want to format FAT32 in Windows 7, then you can do that using PowerShell as well as the command prompt.
Part 4: How to Recover Data from Formatted FAT32 Drive?
There are times when you end up losing your important data after performing drive formatting to FAT32. In such cases, a backup comes quite in hand to restore the lost files with ease. But, what if there is no backup and you want to recover the files stored in the formatted FAT32 drive? In such scenarios, all you need is the best data recovery software like iSkysoft to help you rescue your data.
With the assistance of Recoverit (IS) software, you can get back your lost data in no time. It can help you recover any type of file from your formatted drive. In short, it can recover everything from external drives and computers. It has a simple interface, which makes the data recovery easy even for a non-tech savvy person.
Recoverit (IS)
Here are its key features -
- Supports file types including photos, videos, audios, documents, graphics, emails, etc. to recover.
- Using iSkysoft, you can recover data from various storage devices including external hard drive, internal hard drive, memory card, pen drive, etc.
- It is compatible with Windows as well as Mac system.
- Whether you lost your files due to device formatting, accidental deletion, virus attack, system crash, etc, every data loss situation is covered.
- Three simple and easy steps to recover files.
Get Recoverit (IS) from its official website and use it to recover the data you lost after you format hard drive to FAT 32 Windows 10 PC.
Step 1 Select a location
Install and run Recoverit (IS). Then, select the drive from where you lost the files and click the “Start” button to continue with the process.
Step 2 Scan the location
Once hitting the Start button, the software will start the scan process to look for the lost files in your selected drive or location. Here, you can choose filers or define selections, for instance, choose to scan a specific file path or type.
Step 3 Preview & recover data
Once the scan process finishes, preview the recoverable files. Select the target ones you would like to recover and hit on “Recover” button to get the selected files back on your system.
Keeping the recoverable data to the location from where you lost them before is not recommended. Instead, choose another safe location.
Conclusion:
That’s how to format HHD to FAT32 on Windows 10 PC. Using the methods mentioned here can help you in formatting your hard drive to the FAT32 file system on your Windows system. In case if there is data loss after formatting the drive, using Recoverit (IS) as soon as possible is strongly ecommended recovering your lost files. Otherwise, you could lose your important files forever.
Jun 08, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
But why?
Let us go in detail to find the answer.
Suppose you are using a vehicle but don’t go for routine service. What will happen? After sometime, it starts giving problems. So what is the solution?
Obviously, we need to take it to a professional mechanic.
The same thing is with your SD card, Now how to Format the SD card to FAT32 on MAC?
Well! Find out the solution yourself in this resolute dossier.
How to format SD card to FAT32 on Mac?
Are you tired of applying several older techniques that are not able to format your SD card to fat32 on MAC? No worries anymore, we are here for you, just follow these simple steps and get what you want.
Before that, you are advised to take a backup of data on your Mac device, before the beginning of the process. There are two ways to format USB flash drive to FAT32, including Disk Utility and Terminal command line, but here we discuss the former one.
Once SD or micro SD card has been backed up, you will be ready to format the storage device. Here are the steps to make it happen:
- Insert the SD card into the slot on your Mac.
- Navigate to Finder > Applications > Utilities.
- Open Disk Utility.
- In the sidebar, select the SD card that you are trying to format.
- At the top of Disk Utility, press Erase.
That's it! Your task is completed successfully.
Reasons for Formatting SD card to FAT32
The Default memory card file systems:
A file system is a way of organizing a drive efficiently to access files with ease, later on. It defines the stored data on your drive. There are many types of file systems among which some common and more usable are:
- Choose FAT32(File Allocation Table 32) if SD card is <=32GB
- Choose exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table) if SD card is >=64GB
- NTFS (NT File System)
- APFS (Apple File System)
What’s FAT32 system on Mac?
The configuration of hard drives in MAC is different From Windows. Mac basically uses HFS+ but also supports FAT32. This FAT32 system on MAC is used for storage media, such as memory cards, flash drives and also external hard drives. One simple technique to convert FAT32 to HFS+ is by using disk utility feature that comes with OS X. If this technique doesn’t works for you, No worries! Here we provide you step by step solution in easy way with the help of images.
- Reasons for changing SD card format on MAC:
- If proper cleaning is not carried out at regular intervals of time, the performance of your SD card will degrade.
- One of the main reasons to format SD cards on MAC to FAT32 is to generate a bootable startup disk, that exactly contains the same Operating System version, that‘s with your MAC. This further helps to deal with troubleshooting problems and restoring files later.
- Another reason is to change from one format to another, in order to increase the speed of writing data in the SD card.
It is always beneficial to go for a little spring cleaning in your room, in order to keep your room clean from dust, as well from certain mites. But if, under certain circumstances, this process is not carried out then what will happen?
Obviously, you can't live there properly. The same thing is with your SD card.
Steps to format SD card to FAT32 MAC
Formatting is essential for your SD card to run properly. When the size of your SD card is 64 GB or above the best way is, to go with FAT32 format. This will help you to experience the feel of using a new card.
Note: It is advisable to backup your data from the SD card, it is very important to protect for any loss of crucial information, which on later stages will be hard to recover.
How to format 64 GB SD card to FAT32 on Mac
There are basically two general techniques to Format SD card to FAT 32 in Mac:
Formatting SD card to FAT32 on Mac is an easy process to go with. It is due to the presence of a built in utility application named “disk utility”. It erases all the data from your SD card. Not only this after the process of formatting, new directories and file systems are generated, which further helps to increase the speed and functioning of the SD card. This can be done by following some of the basic steps as mentioned below:
1. Using Disk utility:
If you are using operating system X, a simple method to Format SD card is by using Disk utility.
Step 1: Open “Disk Utility”, by typing in search box, available at top right corner of screen and then click on it.
Step 2: Now look for SD card on left side of the window. It will be shown by a name of “NO NAME” or “UNTITLED”. Select it.
Step 3: Now click on “Erase” tab available in the window.
Step 4: Now click on the “format” dropdown menu. This provides you with the available formats, from there select “FAT32” option.
Step 5: A message will appear on your screen asking your permission for erasing partition. Give the permission by clicking on “Erase” option. This will start the process of formatting for your SD card.
2. Using MAC command line:
In some of the cases the above mentioned process does not able to perform well. There may be certain reasons behind this among which some common are compatibility issues, errors and viruses. Then under these circumstances the use of MAC command line is beneficial. Although this technique requires a bit of attention and hard work but here you are provided with step by step guide that makes the task to format sd card on mac to fat32 easy for you. One of the advantages of using this technique is it provides accurate results in most of the cases.
Step 1: Hit cmd + space for launching spotlight, a box will appear with an option of typing, type terminal in this box and press “Enter” to open.
Step 2: Now Insert your SD card.
There are also other cards or disk storages, so next step will help you with this.
Step 3: For Identification of card Type “diskutil list”
Now all the available storeges will be presented to yopu in form of list
Step 4: Select your SD card.
Step 5: Now to format the SD card to FAT32 on MAC you need to type the command” sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT 32 SDCARD MBRFormat /dev/disk2”
Note: In this case, the name of a card is “SDCARD” and”/dev/disk2”is the location of card.
- Here sudo provides you with super user rights.
- diskutil will call the disk utility program.
- EraseDisk is the command given for formatting the card.
- FAT32 is used to set the file system.
- MBRFormat gives the information to disk utility program for formatting a card with the Master Boot Record.
- After this process your password (depends) will be demanded. Filling it right, will start the process of formatting.
Fix “can’t Format SD card on Mac”
Causes of Failing to change SD card to FAT32 on MAC: There are several reasons for an SD card, for not been formatted with the methods and techniques, that previously done the task for you. The common reason for this problem is unsafe ejection, virus attack that lead to corrupt the files and in some uneven circumstances power failure.
Some of other reasons behind this problem are:
- SD card is protected by rights, which don’t allow you to make any changes.
- SD card is corrupted due to the introduction of bad sectors.
- SD card is corrupted due to file system error.
Steps to fix “Can’t format SD card to fat32 MAC”:
There are several techniques to fix this problem. The most common and safe technique is to take the help of utility software available with OS X.
Step 1: The first step in this is to connect your SD card with your MAC. Some MACs are available with an option of build-in SD slot. If you are using one among those, well for you and if not. No need to worry, we are having an alternate solution for you, in which you can use an external SD card cartridge. Still if you can’t able to make it then you can go with USB SD card reader.
Step 2: Now open utility disk app which is inbuilt in the MAC OS X. For this go for Applications, then click on the utilities and there you will find the Disk utility option. You can directly open it from top right side of your screen, in search option by typing “Disk Utility”
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Step 3: Now identify your SD card from the list of available drives on left side of the disk Utility screen. Then click on it, this will show you the available storage in your device. With this you can also match the storage of your inserted card to the chosen one, for confirming that you had chosen the right card option. Generally the name will be NO NAME or Untitled as shown in image.
Step 4: Now choose Erase function from the functions list at the top.
Step 5: Now enter the name of your SD card that you want to assign from name field option. This is an optional step.
Step 6: Now choose ExFAT, as a file system format from the format drop-down menu as shown below.
Step 7: Now hit erase and the process of erasing data begins as shown below.
Step 8: Once the above process you will get a message of completion as shown below. Now your card is ready to use.
Recover Accidently Formatted SD Card Files.
Sometimes there arise certain situations when you accidentally formatted your card and lose all of your data. Then you probably wonder what to do now? Or there arises certain circumstances when someone formats your SD card mistakenly?
Many times you tried a lot of software, but of no use at all. Also, you tried several techniques but still not able to recover your crucial information. What happens is, you lose hope and give it up.
If this is the situation, with you, don’t worry we have a guaranteed solution for you with detail structure.
First of all, you need to know is, the data from your SD card is not gone permanently. It is just a temporary process that takes place and can be reversed easily. If a proper technique or software or combination of both is used.
What you need to do is to simply install Recoverit for MAC that is available for download on Wondershare.com on your single click, and follow some of the easy steps as given below. Make sure these steps should be followed in the same order, as mentioned.
Talking about “Recoverit”, It is one of the best data recovery tools, that provides you the facility to recover your data from systems like systems and even crashed systems. Not only this Recoverit Data Recovery Ultimate provides you a facility to recover even fragmented videos and is also capable of fixing and repairing damaged or corrupt videos for you.
Launch ‘Recoverit” on MAC: The first step you need to follow is to install “Recoverit” on your MAC. After the successful installation of this software on your MAC, Double click on “Recoverit icon” that is shown up. If you can’t find it, then go for a finder, and then select applications, there you will find Recoverit easily. Now double click it to open.
Now you have to follow three simple steps to recover your crucial information from your SD card, as mentioned below:
- Initially you need to select a target location
- Then you have to Scan the location
- Finally go for a Preview and recover data
Got it!
If not, no worries. Let us discuss each step in detail that makes up easy for you.
- Select the SD card you want to format: For this, go for data scanning and searching option and then choose your SD card as a target location. You will find a dialogue box appears before you as shown below.
- Scan the removable media: It is an All-round scan which usually takes few minutes. During this process you are provided with an option of filter and locate files of your choice as shown below.
- Preview and recover files: After the above process you are provided with a preview function in which lot of files will be there that includes Pictures, videos, movies, images, audio, documents and so on.
Format Fat32 On Mac
Here you need to select the files you want o recover. For this just click and select the required files and just simply click on “Restore”. You can also opt for all files of if particular files are selected then these selected files will be restored. Finally you get your data back.
Conclusion
Today we live in digital world, where data is stored in digitally. Digital data occupies less space, can be stored on cloud storage and, it can be encrypted. But at same time it carries lot of problems and one among them is the problem of erased data or accidental formatting. For these cases, a precision is required, especially for your SD card. Here you are provided with a resolute dossier on how to format SD card to FAT32 on Mac that makes your task easy.
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