- Give the drive one FAT32 (MS-DOS) partition, which both Mac OS X and Windows can read and write. This is a good place to put files that you want both Mac and Windows to have read/write access to. The FAT volume format is showing its age, but a huge variety of OSes know how to work with it.
- Insert the USB drive on your Mac and follow the below instructions to format. Press “Command + Spacebar” to open Spotlight Search box and type “disk utility”. Open the “Disk Utility” app from the search results. Disk Utility will show the current file system of the USB drive.
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Aug 22,2019 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions
“I have been trying to format my pen drive, but every time I do, I get “The Disk is Write Protected” error. How to format a write protected USB on Windows?”
This is one of the most commonly asked questions related to the formatting of USB drives these days. With the advancement in technology, USB drives have also evolved and become more secure. To protect the drive, the system of write protection was introduced, which is still not known by a lot of people. Therefore, if the USB drive you are trying to format is write protected, then you might get a similar error too. Don’t worry – it is quite easy to learn how to format a write protected pendrive on both Windows and Mac. Here’s a detailed guide on the same!
Part 1: What is 'Write Protection' on a USB Drive?
USB or Thumb drives are extensively used to store or transfer data from one source to another. Although, while doing so, they often suffer from numerous privacy and security issues. To resolve this, the concept of “write protection” was introduced. Ideally, when the feature is turned on, then the USB drive is switched to a read-only mode. This means, users can only read data from the USB drive, but can’t write anything on it. Additionally, they can’t delete anything from the USB drive or format it.
If you want to protect your pen drive from a malware attack or you are connecting it to a public computer, then enable the write protected feature. Also, if you have sensitive data on the pen drive that you can’t let go off, then you can turn it on to avoid any accidental data deletion.
Part 2: Causes of 'The Disk is Write Protected' Error
Before we dive into the details and learn how to format a write protected USB, it is important to know its cause. Following are some of the major reasons for getting this prompt while formatting the drive.
- Chances are that you might have turned on the write-protection switch by mistake and forgot to disable it afterward.
- The USB drive can enter the read-only mode via firmware setting or update as well.
- Sometimes, users also get this error when the USB drive is corrupt or has a bad sector.
- A malware or virus can also be one of the reasons for this problem.
- Your system might block the USB drive or a change in its registry can also be an issue.
- If your pen drive is physically damaged, then it can also enable this feature without you noticing.
Part 3: How to Format Write Protected USB
The good thing is that you can easily disable the write protection feature on a USB drive and later format it. To do this, you don’t need any write protected USB format tool at all. All you need to do is follow two simple steps – disabling the write protection feature and formatting the drive.
Step 1: Check and Unlock USB Flash Drive
Firstly, check if the USB drive that you are using is write protected or not. If it is, then simply disable this feature in the following way.
Burn dmg to disk windows. Turn Off the Write-protect Switch
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This is the easiest and the quickest solution to disable the write protection feature on a thumb drive. Most of the USB drives have a write protected switch located on the side. By simply sliding the switch, you can turn the feature on/off. Move it in the upward direction (or sideways towards the unlock symbol) to disable this feature. The exact location and movement of the switch might vary among different models.
Step 2: Format A Write Protected USB/Pen Drive
After disabling the write protection feature, you would be able to format the USB drive in the same old way. Though, if you are still facing some issues, then follow these methods to format a write protected USB.
Method 1: Using the Registry Editor (Windows)
The first technique to format write protected USB drive is by using the Registry Editor on Windows. It is a dedicated system utility tool that stores all the vital details and parameters related to Windows settings. Mac canon printer drivers download. To learn how to format write protected USB drive via the Registry Editor, follow these steps.
1. Firstly, launch the Registry Editor tool on your Windows. To do this, you can just press the Windows + R keys on the keyboard. You can also launch the Run prompt and enter the “regedit” command.
https://jgibgpk.weebly.com/blog/mac-laptop-for-sale. Mazda 3 maps download. 2. This will launch the Registry Editor application on the screen. From here, you need to navigate to HKEY_Local_Machine > System > Current Control Set > Control > Storage Device Policies and open the “WriteProtect” file.
3. If you can’t find it, then right-click the “Control” folder and create a new policy by right-clicking it. Name it “StorageDevicePolicies” (without spaces) and create a new DWORD as “WriteProtect”. Make sure the value data field is marked as “0”.
4. In case if the WriteProtect file already exists, then double-click to open it and change the value data to “0”. Just make sure that you are logged-in as an administrator while doing so. Once it is done, you can format the USB drive the usual way.
Method 2: Using Diskpart (Windows)
If you can’t find the write protection switch on your USB drive, then don’t worry. You can manually enable or disable it as well via the Command Prompt. For instance, Windows users can take the assistance of the Diskpart (Disk Partition) utility command to do the same. In order to format a write protected USB drive, simply follow these basic steps.
1. Firstly, connect the USB drive to the system and launch the Command Prompt application from the Start menu. Once it is launched, enter the “Diskpart” command to launch the utility tool.
2. Enter the “list disk” command to view the attached drives. From here, identify the disk identifier from the list.
3. Now, you need to pick your USB drive using the “select” command followed by its identifier.
Divx for mac. 4. Then, type the “attributes disk clear read only” command, press enter. This will clear the read-only feature from the USB drive.
5. Don’t exit the Command Prompt now as you can also format the USB drive from here. Since the USB drive is already selected, enter the “clean” command to wipe it.
6. Subsequently, enter the command “create partition primary” to create a partition on the drive.
7. In the end, you can use the “format” command to wipe the entire disk and format it in a desired file system. Just type the file system you wish to format it to after the “format” command. For instance, to format the disk to an NTFS system, you can enter “format fs=ntfs”.
Sit back and wait as your USB drive would be formatted to the entered file system. The application will let you know, letting you disconnect the drive or use it the way you like. Hatsukoi 1/1 download.
Method 3: Using Disk Utility (Mac)
If you have a Mac and you can’t seem to format a write protected USB drive, then don’t worry – you can use its native Disk Utility tool. Therefore, instead of downloading any third-party write protected pen drive format tool or software, you can simply follow these basic steps.
![Usb Format For Mac And Windows Usb Format For Mac And Windows](/uploads/1/3/4/3/134318239/414656561.jpg)
1. Connect your USB drive to your Mac and from the Finder, go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
2. This will launch the Disk Utility application on the screen with a list of all the attached media on the sidebar. Just go to the left panel and select the connected USB drive.
3. On the right, you can view different options on the toolbar like first aid, partition, info, and more. Click on the “Erase” option from here.
4. A pop-up window will be launched, letting you select the partitioning scheme or file format. From the dropdown list, you can select a compatible file system (like FAT or exFAT) and click on the “Erase” button again.
This will start the formatting of the USB drive in the selected file format. If you wish to use it only on Mac, then you can go with an Apple exclusive file system like HFS+. Though, it is recommended to use a more universal file system like FAT or exFAT to use it on Windows as well.
Part 4: How to Recover Data from a Write-protected USB Flash Drive?
If you have formatted the USB drive accidentally or can’t seem to recover your data from it, then consider using a professional tool. From all the available data recovery tools for USB drives out there, Recoverit would be a go-to option. Developed by Wondershare, the tool runs on every leading Windows and Mac system. It features a user-friendly interface with one of the highest data recovery rates. The application also supports the recovery on all kinds of USB drives. This includes thumb drives from popular brands like SanDisk, Samsung, HP, Sony, Patriot, etc. as well as numerous file systems like NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, HFS+, and so much more.
Video: How to Recover Lost Data
Even if you have no prior experience of using a data recovery tool, you won’t face any kind of issue using Recoverit. It will also let you preview the extracted data on its interface and select the files you wish to save. Presently, it is compatible with 1000+ different types of files. To use the application, you can follow these steps:
Step 1: Select your USB drive location
Install and launch the Wondershare Recoverit Data Recovery application on your computer and connect your USB drive to it. From its home, you can view the list of the available sources – internal partitions as well as the connected external media. Select your USB drive from here and click on the “Start” button.
Step 2: Wait for the scan to be over
Sit back and wait for a few minutes as Recoverit would extract all kinds of files from the pen drive. Although you can pause the scan in between, it is recommended to let the process be completed to get the best results.
Step 3: Preview and save your files
Once the process is completed, you can preview the extracted files on the interface. You can preview your photos, videos, documents, etc. In the end, select the content you wish to save and click on the “Recover” button. The interface will let you save the data to any desired location.
This brings us to the end of this extensive guide on how to format a write protected pen drive. I’m sure that after following this step by step tutorial on the same, you would certainly be able to format a write protected USB drive on both Mac and Windows systems. If nothing else would seem to work, then simply take the assistance of Recoverit Data Recovery. It will help you get back your lost, deleted, or inaccessible data from all sorts of USB drives on Mac or Windows. Since it offers a free version, you can try it on your own without spending anything!
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- Recover USB Drive
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Nowadays, when you buy a USB drive, you can use it right out of the box with your Mac. However, unless it’s been designed for use with a Mac, it won’t be formatted using macOS’ preferred file system (either Mac OS Extended or APFS, depending on which version of macOS you’re running).
That’s because most of the computers in the world run Windows, and Windows uses a different file system, usually one known as Fat32. Drives formatted as Fat32 can be read from and written to by macOS, but it’s not optimal and you’re more likely to run into problems than if you use macOS’ native format. So, if you’ve bought a USB drive that’s formatted as Fat32, or any other format other than Mac OS Extended (also known as HFS+) or APFS, here’s how to format a USB drive on Mac. It’s exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a Mac.
How to format a USB drive on a Mac
1. Plug the drive into a USB socket (if you have a recent MacBook or MacBook Pro that only has USB-C connectors, you’ll need a USB-C to USB-A adaptor).
2. Open a new Finder window and click on the drive. Make sure it has no files on it that you need. The process of reformatting it will wipe all the data from it.
3. Once you’ve copied any files you need from the USB drive to your Mac, go to Applications>Utilities and double-click on Disk Utility.
4. Click on the USB drive in the sidebar and then choose Erase from the toolbar at the top of the window.
5. In the window that drops down type a name for the formatted drive in the box next to Name.
6. Choose a format from the dropdown menu.
7. If you have previously stored sensitive data on the drive, click the Security tab.
8. Choose a security level using the slider. The further to the right you move the slider, the more ‘passes’ the erase tool will make and the more securely files will be deleted. However, it also increases the time it takes to format the drive quite considerably.
9. Click Ok then click Erase.
Tip: You don’t need to erase a whole drive to delete files securely. If you have confidential files or sensitive data you need to remove from your Mac completely, you should use CleanMyMac’s File Shredder. It’s specifically designed to securely delete sensitive data and will render it unrecoverable. You can download CleanMyMac X for free here.
Which format to choose?
If your Mac is running macOS High Sierra or later, you have two options for file formats: APFS and Mac OS Extended. Which should you choose? The key point is that disks formatted as APFS won’t be recognized by Macs running versions of macOS older than High Sierra. So if you think you might need to plug the USB drive into a Mac running an older version of macOS, format it as Mac OS Extended.
APFS is optimized for SSD (solid state drive) such as flash drives, so if you reformat a flash drive on a Mac, you should definitely choose APFS (unless you plan to use it with a pre-High Sierra Mac, of course). Even on hard drives, however, APFS is faster and more reliable than Mac OS Extended.
Format Usb For Mac And Windows 10
Finally, if you plan to use the USB drive as a destination for Time Machine backups, choose Mac OS Extended. Time Machine can’t currently back up to an APFS disk and if you select one for use with Time Machine, it will offer to reformat it as Mac OS Extended. You can, however, backup an APFS formatted disk to a Mac OS Extended Time Machine drive.
How to format a USB drive to FAT32 on a Mac
![Usb Format For Mac And Windows Usb Format For Mac And Windows](/uploads/1/3/4/3/134318239/791510757.png)
The main reason for formatting a USB drive as Fat32 on a Mac is that you want to be able to use the drive on a Windows PC, as well as a Mac — perhaps to transfer files between the two machines. You may also be preparing the drive for use as, say, a storage device for a media player or to record TV programmes on a TV with a USB port.
The fact that Fat32 can be read from and written to on both Mac and Windows makes it very versatile. However, there is a significant limitation — individual files have a maximum size of 4GB. So, if you’re using the USB drive to store large video files, you may run into trouble. There is a solution, however, exFAT. https://jgibgpk.weebly.com/blog/game-emulators-for-mac. Unlike FAT32, exFAT doesn’t have a maximum file limit. Better still, it can be read from and written to on any Mac running Mac OS X Snow Leopard or later and on Windows.
To format a USB drive in FAT32 or exFAT:
1. Plug the USB drive into your Mac.
2. Go to Applications>Utilities and launch Disk Utility.
3. Click on the USB drive in the sidebar in Disk Utility.
4. Wget for mac. Click Erase in the Disk Utility toolbar.
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5. Type in a name for the formatted disk. https://birdtree632.weebly.com/blog/how-do-you-download-netfliz-on-mac.
6. Click on the Format menu and choose either MS-DOS (FAT32) or ExFAT.
7. Click Erase.
Your USB drive will now be erased and re-formatted as either FAT32 or ExFAT, depending on the format you chose in step 6.
How to manage your drives easily
If you look for a quick and easy way to manage your drives, try using CleanMyDrive 2. With its help, you can drag-and-drop files directly to any drive, clean hidden junk from external drives, and check disk stats. It works for all drives, including USB drives, SSD, SD cards, external hard drives. All the drives will be at hand in the menu bar, so you can get to see types of drives you have and manage them easily. CleanMyDrive is absolutely free to use, so download it on the Mac App Store and enjoy!
It’s very easy to format a USB drive on a Mac using Disk Utility. There are a couple of things you should keep in mind, however. The first is that when you format and disk, you will erase all the data currently on it. So if you need that data, make sure you copy it onto another disk before you start. Secondly, there are several formats to choose from, each with advantages and disadvantage. Use the guide above to help you decide which is right for you.