Mar 17, 2012 Wondershare Disk Manager is another free hard disk partitioning software to format hard disk partition. Apart from formatting partition, you can create partition, resize partition, convert partition, copy partition, etc. This disk manager is one of the easy to use tool which comes with a wizard like interface on which you can directly choose the operation to be performed. Here are top 5 USB flash drive formatting software tools for Mac to help in formatting, reformatting, erasing USB flash drive under OS X or macOS. Best 5 USB flash drive formatting software for Mac. USB flash drive formatting software for Mac can help us format, reformat or erase USB flash drive on Mac. SmartDisk FAT32 Format Utility is another free software to format USB flash drive. The name of the software itself indicates that it formats USB drive in FAT32 format. It supports auto detection of mounted USB flash drives and displays the list. You can select the device to format from the list. EaseUS is one of the very best free partition software in the market today. It gives a host of options to the user, including, create, format, resize, move, split, merge, copy, wipe, check and explore. The reason it is at number one is because it not only works exactly as advertised, but also includes a number of extra features, like a partition recovery option that can recover lost or deleted.
After years of use, thousands of files and GBs of file fragments have been stored on your Mac hard drive. You may want to get rid of all this junk data and reuse your hard drive. Formatting is the easy solution to help you remove all data/traces on your Mac hard drive. Normally, once your hard drive is formatted, you will get a brand new hard disk drive. But, how to format a local/external hard drive under Mac OS? How to format a hard drive on Mac and permanently erase the data information on the hard drive? Don't worry. Here are two hard drive format software tools for Mac to help you securely format, reformat and erase hard drive, external hard drive, USB flash drive, and memory card under Mac OS.
Two Reliable Disk Formatting Software for Mac
Unlike Windows OS, Mac OS doesn't provide quick format tool. Fortunately, there are some Mac hard drive format software or smart disk formatting applications can help you securely and easily format, reformat, or erase hard drive under Mac OS. Here are two outstanding Mac hard drive format software tools you can rely on.
NO.1 Mac Hard Drive Format Tool – AweEraser for Mac
As a comprehensive data erasure tool, AweEraser for Mac can help you securely and permanently format a hard drive or device under Mac OS. It is pretty simple to use. So, it can help you quickly format, reformat and erase hard drive under Mac. First of all, free download AweEraser for Mac and install it on your Mac.
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Outstanding Mac disk formatting features:
- Format hard drive, USB flash drive, memory card, SD card, digital camera, external hard drive, and other media device under Mac OS.
- Format and erase SSD under Mac OS.
- Reformat and erase hard drive/device under Mac OS.
- Permanently erase the data on the hard drive.
How to use AweEraser for Mac to format a hard drive or device on Mac? Actually, it is very simple. Just run AweEraser for Mac on your Mac. Select the mode 'Erase hard drive'. AweEraser for Mac will show all the hard drives and external devices on your Mac. Just select the targeted hard drive or device, then click on 'Erase' button. AweEraser for Mac will help you format the selected hard drive/device and erase all data, data traces, and fragments on the selected hard drive/device.
Mac hard drive formatting steps: Run AweEraser for Mac > Choose 'Erase Hard Drive' > Select hard drive > Click on 'Erase' button > Format the selected hard drive.
Please note that once the hard drive is formatted by AweEraser for Mac, all the data on the hard drive will be permanently erased, can't be recovered by data recovery software or manual data recovery service. So, please back up your important data to another hard drive before you use AweEraser for Mac to format your Mac hard drive.
The formatting process will not cause any damage to your hard drive or device. AweEraser for Mac will not shorten the service life of your hard drive/device. It just securely formats your Mac hard drive/device and permanently erases all the data. Then your hard drive/Mac computer/device is able to reuse, resold, recycled or can be safely donated or lent to other people.
NO.2 Mac Hard Drive Format Tool – Disk Utility
Disk Utility is a smart hard drive format tool built in Mac system. Just run it on your Mac, it will show all the hard drives and external devices on your Mac. Select the hard drive and click 'Erase', then Disk Utility will help you format and erase the hard drive or device. But, the formatted data by Disk Utility can be recovered by data recovery software.
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The two hard drive formatting software for Mac can help you securely format hard drive or device under Mac OS. But both of them can't format the hard drive which the Mac OS is installed on because the Mac system doesn't allow other software to destroy the system. However, AweEraser for Mac can help you erase unused disk space of the system hard drive to help you permanently erase all already deleted data and history traces.
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Erasing your disk: For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac, you should erase your entire disk.
Erasing a volume on your disk: In other cases, such as when your disk contains multiple volumes (or partitions) and you don't want to erase them all, you can erase specific volumes on the disk.
Mivue manager download. Erasing a disk or volume permanently deletes all of its files. Before continuing, make sure that you have a backup of any files that you want to keep.
How to erase your disk
- Start up from macOS Recovery. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue.
If you're not erasing the disk your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. - Choose View > Show All Devices from the menu bar in Disk Utility. The sidebar now shows your disks (devices) and any containers and volumes within them. The disk your Mac started up from is at the top of the list. In this example, Apple SSD is the startup disk:
- Select the disk that you want to erase. Don't see your disk?
- Click Erase, then complete these items:
- Name: Type the name that you want the disk to have after you erase it.
- Format: Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility shows a compatible format by default.
- Scheme: Choose GUID Partition Map.
- Click Erase to begin erasing your disk and every container and volume within it. You might be asked to enter your Apple ID. Forgot your Apple ID?
- When done, quit Disk Utility.
- If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the disk you erased, reinstall macOS on the disk.
How to erase a volume on your disk
- Start up from macOS Recovery. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue.
If you're not erasing the volume your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. - In the sidebar of Disk Utility, select the volume that you want to erase. The volume your Mac started up from is named Macintosh HD, unless you changed its name. Don't see your volume?
- Click Erase, then complete these items:
- Name: Type the name that you want the volume to have after you erase it.
- Format: Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Disk Utility shows a compatible format by default.
- If you see an Erase Volume Group button, the volume you selected is part of a volume group. In that case, you should erase the volume group. Otherwise, click Erase to erase just the selected volume. You might be asked to enter your Apple ID. Forgot your Apple ID?
- When done, quit Disk Utility.
- If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the volume you erased, reinstall macOS on that volume.
Reasons to erase
You can erase at any time, including in circumstances such as these:
- You want to permanently erase all content from your Mac and restore it to factory settings. This is one of the final steps before selling, giving away, or trading in your Mac.
- You're changing the format of a disk, such as from a PC format (FAT, ExFAT, or NTFS) to a Mac format (APFS or Mac OS Extended).
- You received a message that your disk isn't readable by this computer.
- You're trying to resolve a disk issue that Disk Utility can't repair.
- The macOS installer doesn't see your disk or can't install on it. For example, the installer might say that your disk isn't formatted correctly, isn't using a GUID partition scheme, contains a newer version of the operating system, or can't be used to start up your computer.
- The macOS installer says that you may not install to this volume because it is part of an Apple RAID.
About APFS and Mac OS Extended
Disk Utility in macOS High Sierra or later can erase using either the newer APFS (Apple File System) format or the older Mac OS Extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you.
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How to choose between APFS and Mac OS Extended
Disk Utility tries to detect the type of storage and show the appropriate format in the Format menu. If it can't, it chooses Mac OS Extended, which works with all versions of macOS. If you want to change the format, answer these questions:
Disk Format App
- Are you formatting the disk that came built into your Mac?
If the built-in disk came APFS-formatted, Disk Utility suggests APFS. Don't change it to Mac OS Extended. - Are you about to install macOS High Sierra or later for the first time on the disk?
If you need to erase your disk before installing High Sierra or later for the first time on that disk, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). During installation, the macOS installer decides whether to automatically convert to APFS—without erasing your files. - Are you preparing a Time Machine backup disk or bootable installer?
Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for any disk that you plan to use as a Time Machine backup disk or as a bootable installer. - Will you be using the disk with another Mac?
If the other Mac isn't using macOS High Sierra or later, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Earlier versions of macOS don't work with APFS-formatted volumes.
How to identify the format currently in use
If you want to know which format is currently in use, use any of these methods:
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- Select the volume in the Disk Utility sidebar, then check the information shown on the right. For more detail, choose File > Get Info from the Disk Utility menu bar.
- Open System Information and select Storage in the sidebar. The File System column on the right shows the format of each volume.
- Select the volume in the Finder, then choose File > Get Info from the menu bar. The Get Info window shows the Format of that volume.
If your disk or volume doesn't appear, or the erase fails
- Shut down your Mac, then unplug all nonessential devices from your Mac.
- If you're erasing an external drive, make sure that it's connected directly to your Mac using a cable that you know is good. Then turn the drive off and back on.
- If your disk or volume still doesn't appear in Disk Utility, or Disk Utility reports that the erase process failed, your disk or Mac might need service. If you need help, please contact Apple Support.
Learn more
- If you can't start up from macOS Recovery, you can use a different startup disk instead.
- If Disk Utility shows a Security Options button in the Erase window, you can click that button to choose between a faster (but less secure) erase and a slower (but more secure) erase. Some older versions of Disk Utility offer the option to zero all data instead. These secure-erase options aren't offered or needed for solid-state drives (SSDs) and flash storage.