How Do I Format a USB or External Hard Drive?

USB drives are great for carrying or backing up data and transferring data between devices. In order for the data to be read from a USB drive, the USB drive has to be formatted so that the computer or device is able to recognize it. Formatting a USB drive can also be performed when you wish to erase all contents contained on it. USB drives can be formatted with different file systems, such as NTFS, FAT, HFS, APFS, EXT, etc. The type of file system that is needed on your USB or external hard drive will vary depending on the type of device it is being plugged into or used with. Unless a device offers to format a USB drive to the necessary format when connected (if necessary), having a computer will be necessary in order to accomplish this process.

While USB drives may come in different physical forms, the process to format them is the same:

• USB flash drives
  
• USB external hard drives or solid state drives
  

To continue, we need to know what Operating System your computer is using.

There are 2 main Operating Systems for personal computers currently available, Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS.

Microsoft Windows	Apple macOS
Microsoft Windows runs on computers produced by multiple companies, such as Lenovo, Asus, Dell, Toshiba, Hewlett Packard, Acer, and Sony.	Apple is the only company that makes macOS computers.

Any and all data on the USB drive will be destroyed during this process. Make sure the drive is blank, or copy the data to a safe place before proceeding.

1. Insert a USB disk into your USB port.
2. Open Windows Explorer.
   
3. In the right-hand pane, locate your USB disk under This PC.
   
4. Using your right mouse button, right click on your USB disk. A menu will open up.
   
5. Select Format...
   
6. Select the File system you'd like the drive to have and type in a name for the Volume label.
   
7. Select Start.
   
8. A message will open, reminding you that any and all data will be lost. If you are sure this is okay, select OK.
   
9. Once the disk is done formatting, a message will open to tell you it is complete. Select OK.
   

Any and all data on the USB drive will be destroyed during this process. Make sure the drive is blank, or copy the data to a safe place before proceeding.

1. Insert a USB disk into your USB port.
2. macOS will recognize the disk and show its icon on the desktop.
   
3. Launch Disk Utility.
   1. Select Search in the top-right corner.
      
   2. type in "Disk Utility". Select the Disk Utility search result.
      
4. Select your USB Disk from the list on the left.
   
5. Select Erase at the top.
   
6. Type in a Name for the drive, then select a Format.
   
7. Format types to select from are shown below.
   
8. Select Erase.
   
9. A progress bar will open. Wait will the disk is formatted.
   
10. Once complete, select Done.
    
11. Quit Disk Utility. Select the Disk Utility menu at the top, then Quit Disk Utility.