Mac OS X users often need to use a USB pendrive that's compatible with other computers. In theory, this should be easy, but sometimes it can be problematic because the USB pendrive can be read by other devices but it's not possible to save files on it. In this article at oneHOWTO we'll explain how a USB pendrive is useful for storing text documents on any computer and show you how to format a USB pendrive using a Mac.
When formatting a pendrive using a Mac, the first issue to be concerned with is that it's operational on both a PC with Windows, as well as a Mac. To do this, pay attention to the file system. There are two options, the file system FAT32 or the exFAT file system.
To format a USB pendrive using a Mac, if you choose the FAT32 system, know that it's limited and only allows you to copy files with a maximum of 4 GB.
The exFAT file system allows users to store larger files, but it also has limitations. If you want to format a USB pendrive with exFAT and you'd like it to be compatible with both systems, you must do so using Windows, to ensure that it works with both Mac and PCs.
If you want to format a USB pendrive using a Mac and to ensure that it can be used on any computer, begin by inserting the pendrive into the Mac.
Next, open the Applications folder, scroll down to Utilities and then open the Disk Utility application.
The next step to format a USB pendrive using a Mac, will be to select the Erase tab and click on the Format dropdown box that says "MS-DOS (FAT)," thus enabling the pendrive to be compatible with Windows.
Next, find out how to open ISO files on Windows, how to convert 2 PDF files into one and how to put a password on a USB key.
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