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Last active June 6, 2026 17:46
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Format a USB Flash Drive as FAT32 on MacOS
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FAT32.md

The DiskUtility app for Mac does not support FAT32 within the GUI. You can, however, format a USB flash drive in MacOS from the terminal.

✓ Option 1: Use newfs_msdos

#Insert the drive -> open Terminal -> List your disks
diskutil list

# Identify your USB (e.g., /dev/disk2) -> Unmount the whole disk
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2

# Create a new FAT32 filesystem 
sudo newfs_msdos -F 32 -v MYUSBNAME /dev/disk2s1

# Eject it when done:
diskutil eject /dev/disk2

✓ Option 2: Use diskutil

#Insert the drive -> open Terminal -> List your disks
diskutil list

# Format the drive (ensure the name is correct)
diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 MYUSBNAME MBR /dev/disk2
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