This guide will show you how to clear a USB stick on a PC and on a Mac, the method you use will vary depending on which type of computer you are using.
If you want to completely erase all of the data from your USB drive then you will need to format it. The way to format and erase a USB drive varies slightly between a PC and Mac, although both methods perform the same task and will erase your device so it can be used again. Follow the steps below depending on what type of computer you have.
There are a number of different ways that you can format your USB stick, this includes FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, and MacOS Extended.
How to erase a USB stick on a Mac computer
In order to erase and format your USB drive on a Mac computer, you will need to use Apple’s Disk Utility program.
The first thing you need to do is plug the USB drive into your Mac or MacBook.
This can be done by opening the Finder on your Mac and then selecting Applications, now select Utilities, and then open the Disk Utility app.
You will now see your USB drive listed in the list of drives, make sure you select this drive and then select Erase. You will then be given a range of options to choose from, you can select Mac OS Extended (Journaled), this is the best one to select to use with a Mac.
You can also format your USB drive to use with a Windows PC on a Mac, if you want to do this then MS-DOS (FAT).
How to clear a USB stick on a Windows PC
The way you clear and erase a USB stick on a Windows PC is different to that of a Mac. To do this plug the USB stick into your Windows computer.
Now select This PC on your computer, if this is not an option then press the Windows key and E at the same time, this will open File Explorer on your device. Now select This PC from the menu on the left.
You will now be shown a list of the different drives on your computer, select your USB Drive and Right Click on the highlighted device.
A drop-down menu will now appear, select Format, and a new window will open, giving you various options to format your device. Normally the option I use the most is Quick Format, as this works well. Once you have selected the option you want click Start. You will then be asked again if you want to format the USB drive, click OK and the drive will be formatted. That’s it when finished it will say Format Complete, select OK and the drive has been erased on your Windows PC.
We hope that you find this guide useful and hope that it helps you easily erase your USB drive on your Windows PC or your Mac computer. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please let us know in the comments section below.
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