Formatting USB Flash Drive to FAT32 on Mac - Here are 2 Easy Ways to Choose from
Last Updated on September 20, 2025 by Yulia Ilina
The biggest advantage of data storage on USB is compatibility and convenience. Many people will choose to format USB flash drives to FAT32 because it can ensure seamless sharing of data on different platforms. Then when formatting USB, data loss is inevitable. In this guide, we'll dive into the process of recovering data after formatting a USB flash drive to FAT32, helping you get back seemingly lost data and turn a seemingly bleak situation into a recovery story.
Part 1: Why Convert USB Format to FAT32 on Mac
Converting a USB drive's format to FAT32 on a Mac can have several advantages and use cases. FAT32 is a widely recognized file system that is compatible with both Mac and Windows operating systems, making it a versatile choice for storage devices that you might need to use across different platforms.
1. Cross-Platform Compatibility. FAT32 is supported by both macOS and Windows, as well as many other operating systems. This makes it ideal for sharing files between Mac and Windows computers without the need for additional software or formatting.
2. Compatibility with Older Devices. Many older devices, such as gaming consoles, media players, and certain digital cameras, might only support the FAT32 file system. Converting a USB drive to FAT32 allows you to use it with these devices.
3. No File Size Limitation. While FAT32 has limitations on individual file sizes (maximum of approximately 4 GB), it's generally suitable for everyday documents, photos, videos, and other common file types.
4. Versatile Storage. A USB drive formatted as FAT32 can be used to store a variety of files, including documents, images, music, videos, and more. This versatility makes it a great option for general-purpose storage.
Part 2: How to Format a USB Flash Drive with Mac to FAT32
Method 1: Disk Unity
Disk Unity is a powerful tool for managing disks on Mac, in which you can directly view all disks on Mac, format them, manage partitions, etc. With Disk Unity you can easily format a USB flash drive to FAT32.
Step 1: Connect the USB flash drive to the computer, click the Magnifying Glass icon in the upper right corner of the desktop to open the search program in Spotlight. Type Disk Unity to find the disk utility and start it, find the USB flash drive in the list on the left and select it.
Step 2: After selecting a USB flash drive, relevant information will appear on the right side of the page, including storage space, size, type, etc. Click the Erase button in the upper right corner of the page to call out the corresponding dialog box. In the dialog box you can modify the name, format, and so on of the USB flash drive.
Step 3: Click the Format button, select MS-DOC(FAT) in the drop-down menu that appears, and click the Erase button, so that you can modify the format of the USB to FAT32 on the Mac. Wait for a few minutes, and the format of the USB can be modified successfully.
Step 4: After the modification is completed, you need to pay attention that FAT32 does not support large files and long file names. If this is the case, consider choosing exFAT as the USB format. If you need to remove the USB, you can double-click the USB flash drive on the left to bring up the shortcut menu and select Eject, which can prevent the USB from being damaged.
Method 2: Terminal
As another powerful function on Mac, Terminal can quickly type in commands to convert USB format to FAT 32. However, this method also has a disadvantage, that is, the page display is not clear enough to directly see the conversion process of USB format.
Step 1: Still open the Terminal program through the search function, enter diskutil list in the window, and use the Enter key to get a list of all disk drive locations on the Mac. Find the USB that needs to be converted to FAT32 in the available list, and remember the location of the USB flash drive.
Step 2: Enter sudo diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MBRFormat [location] on the page, and replace the location with the actual address of the USB flash drive. In this way, the Mac can format the USB flash drive to FAT32 according to the command.
Step 3: After formatting, all data in the USB will be lost, and the format will also be converted to FAT32. If you need to remove the USB at this time, please do not remove it directly, as this will damage the USB, just choose the correct method to eject the USB.
Part 3: Recover Data from a Formatted USB Flash Drive on a Mac
After converting the USB format to FAT32, all data will be lost. But it is not impossible, the formatted USB just marks the storage area as a storable area, as long as there is no new file storage and the file area is not overwritten, you can restore the data on the formatted USB. However, the data recovery of formatted USB is not so simple, Aiseesoft Data Recovery, as a high-quality data recovery software, can help you solve this problem. Aiseesoft Data Recovery provides a complete and rich recovery list based on file fragments by deeply scanning the storage space on the USB.
1. Works with various file systems commonly used on USB drives, such as FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS.
2. Retrieve data from all storage devices, whether external or internal.
3. Deep scan thoroughly searches the entire drive for more complex data recovery scenarios.
4. Recover a wide range of data from a formatted USB drive.
Step 1: Download and install Aiseesoft Data Recovery on your computer. After the installation is complete, start it, and on the software home page, you can see the data formats supported for recovery, including video, audio, images, documents, etc. Because you need to restore all the data in the USB, you need to click the Check All File Types button.
Step 2: After the external USB flash drive is successfully connected to the computer, it will be placed in Removable Drives, you only need to select it. Click the Scan button, and the software starts to scan the USB flash drive and provides a recoverable list. For formatted USB, you can click the Deep Scan button to deeply detect the recoverable files in it.
Step 3: In the recoverable list, you can preview the files. Or you can directly select all recoverable files in the left sidebar, click the Recover button, and the files can be recovered. After successful USB data recovery, you can check the integrity of the data in it.
Conclusion
When you successfully format the USB flash drive to FAT32, you should check whether the data is lost the first time. After data loss, use USB to store new data tentatively the first time, and then, you can use Aieesoft Data Recovery to scan the USB flash drive and recover the data. Don't worry, Aiseesoft Data Recovery is compatible with Mac and can directly let you recover data from a formatted USB.