HOW TO FORMAT USB DRIVE IN MAC MAC OS
HOW TO FORMAT USB DRIVE IN MAC PASSWORD
HOW TO FORMAT USB DRIVE IN MAC PC
HOW TO FORMAT USB DRIVE IN MAC WINDOWS

This may be the preferred option if you don’t want to commit to an encrypted drive and password immediately, but you want to be able to encrypt your storage medium on-the-go later on using Finder. This won’t encrypt your USB drive within Disk Utility, but it will allow you to encrypt it using the simple Finder method.

HOW TO FORMAT USB DRIVE IN MAC MAC OS

Alternate methodĪlternatively, you can also set the Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and the Scheme to GUID Partition Map. Once it’s on the drive, it’ll automatically be encrypted and password-protected. When all is said and done, copy all of the data that was originally on your thumb drive back from the safe location. Like with the Finder method, you’ll want to keep this in a safe place because there’s no option to reset it. You won’t be able to reset or recover it - and your data could be lost.įrom here, you’ll be prompted to input a password and hint again.

Under the Format menu, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted).

You’ll need to change this before selecting the Format.

Under the Scheme menu, make sure you have GUID Partition Map selected.

Click the Erase option in the Disk Utility toolbar.

Make sure to click on the top option, not any subsequent device names listed underneath it.

Select your USB thumb drive from the left-hand sidebar.

Now, select the Show All Devices option to check it if it isn’t ticked already.

In the top Disk Utility menu bar, click on View.You’ll find it in Applications -> Utilities in Finder or in the Utilities folder in Launchpad. Then set the Scheme to GUID Partition Map and the Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Once your data is somewhere safe, you can go about actually erasing and encrypting your flash drive. Somewhere on your Mac’s internal disk is a good option. Of course, make sure to copy all of the data from your USB drive to a safe location. To get the encryption option, you’ll need to erase your thumb drive and then encrypt it in Disk Utility. Leverage Disk Utility on macOS to encrypt USB drivesĪs we covered, if you don’t see the Encrypt option, it means that your USB device hasn’t been formatted with a GUID partition map - which is a requirement for Finder encryption. You’ll need to use the following method to encrypt your drive. Note: If you don’t see the Encrypt option when you right-click the thumb drive, it means that the USB storage device isn’t in the proper format to use the baked-in macOS encryption. There’s absolutely no way to reset this password, so make sure you write it down in a safe place or use a password management platform. To access the contents of the thumb drive, you’ll need to input the password that you created earlier.

Depending on how much data is on it, the process could take a while. But keep in mind that you cannot recover or reset this password.įinder will then encrypt your thumb drive. Input a password (and a hint, if you’d like).

When all of that is typed in, click Encrypt Disk.

This will be used to access the data on your thumb drive - so don’t lose it!

Finder will now prompt you to enter a password and a hint.

If you don’t see this option, skip to the note below.

Click on Encrypt “(Name of mass storage drive)”.

Right-click the thumb drive in the left sidebar.

Plug your thumb drive or generic mass storage medium into your Mac.

If the USB drive you want to encrypt is formatted properly, the process only takes a couple of clicks.

HOW TO FORMAT USB DRIVE IN MAC WINDOWS

You won’t be able to access the data on it on a Windows or Linux machine. Keep in mind that using Finder to encrypt a thumb drive will restrict its usage to macOS. This uses XTS-AES encryption, which is the same type of encryption that the macOS FileVault 2 system uses. Use Finder to encrypt USB drives on MacBookĪs of macOS Mojave, you can easily encrypt and decrypt generic mass storage devices on-the-go using Finder.

HOW TO FORMAT USB DRIVE IN MAC PC

USB drive encryption that works with Windows PC and Mac.

Leverage Disk Utility on macOS to encrypt USB drives.

Use Finder to encrypt USB drives on MacBook.

How to format usb drive in mac