Flash drives, whether normal or improvised with a memory and a micro SD adapter, are very useful in many ways. One of the biggest uses for this kind of storage media is recording operating systems for installation on other devices.

When using a flash drive to install an operating system or when recording files of any kind, it is necessary that you proceed to format the drive to avoid all kinds of errors. Next, we will show you how to format a flash drive, which file system to use to format the flash drive, and how to format a flash drive by changing the file system.

How to FORMAT a PENDRIVE and its file systems? – Fast and easy

Index(  )

1. What is the procedure to format a flash drive?
2. Which file system to choose according to your needs?
   1. FAT32 and exFAT file system
   2. NTFS and HFS+ file system
   3. APFS, Ext2, ext3 and ext4 file system
3. How to format USB by changing file systems?
   1. File systems in Windows
   2. File systems in MacOS

What is the procedure to format a flash drive?

USB drives, mostly known as flash drives, are very easy to use and use. To use them, you just have to connect them to the computer or if not to the cell phone using an adapter cable, go to the file manager and move or remove files from there.

The process to format a flash drive can vary a bit depending on the place from which it is done. See how to format a flash drive from a Windows PC:

1. Start the computer.
2. Connect the flash drive to the computer.
3. Open the file explorer.
4. Locate the USB device in the ‘Devices/Drives’ section.
5. Left click on the device.
6. Choose the ‘Format’ option.
7. To finish, designate the name that the flash drive will have and go on to format it.

If you want to format a USB device from your cell phone or tablet, you must follow each of the following instructions:

1. Start your cell phone.
2. Connect the USB stick to the cell phone using an adapter cable.
3. Then go to the file manager.
4. In the part where the different devices are shown, choose the pendrive.
5. Inside the device, press where it says ‘More’, select ‘Format’, choose the name that the device will have and proceed to format the drive.

By the way, if at some point your flash drive should have problems and these are related to the Recycler virus, you can eliminate them by doing a couple of things .

Which file system to choose according to your needs?

When formatting a flash drive, it is important to take into account things such as the type of file system that the device will have. All flash drives have the ability to adapt to the type of file system that you most want to put on it. Each type of file system serves a specific purpose.

It is necessary to be aware of the things that can be done with certain types of file systems in order to know how to make the most of your flash drive. In the following 3 subtopics, we are going to explain what each of the file systems that flash drives have is for and which one is the best to use depending on the occasion.

FAT32 and exFAT file system

With the FAT32 and exFAT file system, it is possible to use all the capacities of the flash drive and it is a file system that was created with the objective of storing a file that weighs more than 4 GB. With this type of format, it is possible to take full advantage of all the capabilities of USB memories.

Speaking more about flash drives , you need to keep in mind that sometimes these devices are not recognized by computers. When this kind of problem occurs to you, you should keep in mind that there are ways to solve it .

NTFS and HFS+ file system

The NTFS file system is widely used because with it you can easily partition or divide the sectors of the device to store data. On the other hand, the HFS+ file system is used to copy or manage files efficiently , as it enables devices to have maximum performance.

Both file systems are commonly used to work with hard drives and servers to host files. It should be noted that, if you need to save private files on a USB memory, you can go on to put a password on it .

APFS, Ext2, ext3 and ext4 file system

This kind of file system is for more than all Apple-branded external storage devices. All of those file systems are from Apple and serve pretty much the same function as the other file systems we mentioned earlier.

How to format USB by changing file systems?

If you want to change the file system on your USB, you need to learn how to do this kind of thing from Windows computers and MacBooks.

File systems in Windows

To change the file system to a pendrive from Windows, you have to do everything mentioned in the following procedure:

1. Start the computer.
2. Connect the flash drive to the computer.
3. Look for the USB in the devices section.
4. Right click on the flash driveto which you are going to change the file system.
5. Choose the Format option.
6. In the window for formatting, select the file system and proceed to format the device so that that type of file system is applied.

In this way, the file system of a pendrive is changed, using the Windows operating system . In the event that you are experiencing problems, you can visit the Microsoft technical support website to see how to solve that problem.

File systems in MacOS

1. Turn on your MacBook.
2. Connect the USB stick.
3. Go to the ‘Disks‘ option.
4. Select the disk.
5. Choose the ‘Format’ option.
6. Then, choose the type of file system that you want the flash drive to have and proceed to format the device.