Can I use Rufus on a Mac computer in order to create a bootable Windows bootable USB? You can do all this with Boot Camp Assistant, but the process is lengthy and complicated. In other words, it is not suitable for a user with no experience in creating a dual-boot Mac, also known as a hackintosh. Boot Camp Driver. Open Boot Camp Assistant in the Utilities folder, and download the current Windows Support Software from the Action menu. Save the Windows Support Software to your desktop or other location, but do not save directly to the USB Flash Drive. Windows Install Media. Download the current install media from the Microsoft website. Download Rufus For Windows 7; Boot Camp Mac Problems; Dec 06, 2018 In macOS High Sierra and earlier, you can install Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 using Boot Camp Assistant on supported Mac models. While Rufus is the gold standard for creating bootable USB drives, it’s limited to Windows operating system only. In contrast, Etcher is a full-fledged program which is available on all major platforms including macOS and supports all kinds of system images like ISO, DMG, IMG, etc.

If you need to format a USB flash drive, HDD, SDD, or some other form of storage to FAT32, you've come to the right place.

In this article we'll go over what a file system is, the FAT32 standard, and several ways to format a storage device to FAT32 on Windows 10.

What's a file system?

A file system is a standardized way of organizing data on a computer storage device like a flash drive or HDD.

A file system divides a storage device into virtual compartments, almost like a wall of post office boxes, and keeps track of all the information that gets stored in each box.

Some of the most common file system formats for portable storage devices are FAT32, NTFS, and ExFAT.

FAT32 compared to other formats

Of those three common formats, FAT32 is the oldest and most widely supported. Every major operating system will allow you to read and write from a USB flash drive that's formatted to FAT32.

Meanwhile, macOS can only read NTFS drives, and you would need to install third-party software to write back to the drive.

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However, though FAT32 is well supported, its maximum drive and file size is severely limited when compared to newer formats like NTFS and ExFAT:

* 1 petabyte is about 1 thousand terabytes
** 1 exabyte is about 1 million terabytes

Note that the maximum drive and file size of NTFS and ExFAT is so large that there's basically no limit. (But it would be nice to have a 128 PB USB drive, wouldn't it?)

On the other hand, FAT32's max file size of 4 GB is almost nothing now that phones can record 4K videos. Also, it's a little more difficult to format a drive larger than 32 GB to FAT32 on Windows 10.

These days, the only reason why you'd choose to format a drive to FAT32 is for compatibility. For example, if you need to boot up an old computer, maybe with a different operating system, and backup some of its files. But you'd need to be sure that none of those files are greater than 4 GB.

If you're sure you want to go with FAT32, here's how to format a storage drive on Windows 10.

Important note: Before you format a drive, make sure that you backup all of your important files. In fact, make two backups, and keep one on a remote service like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Formatting a drive will delete all of the data that's currently on it.

How to use Windows File Explorer to format a USB drive to FAT32

A quick note about this method: it only works on USB flash drives that are less that 32 GB. If your USB drive is larger than 32 GB, check out one of the later methods.

With that out of the way, plug your USB drive into your computer and open Windows File Explorer.

Next, right-click on the drive on the left hand side of the File Explorer window and click 'Format':

In the window that pops up, ensure that 'FAT32' is selected. Also, feel free to rename the USB drive whatever you'd like:

You can leave the rest of the options alone. Just click start to format your drive.

Once it's done, your USB drive should be formatted to use the FAT32 file system.

To double check this, open File Explorer, right click on your USB drive, and click 'Properties'.

A window will pop up and you should see that the file system is now FAT32:

How to use Rufus to format a USB drive to FAT32

If your USB drive is larger than 32 GB, you'll need to use a third-party program like Rufus to format it.

There are lots of other programs that can format USB drives, but Rufus is really small and portable. This means you can stick Rufus right on a USB drive, plug it into any Windows computer, and format other drives on the go.

After you download Rufus, double click on the .exe file to start the application.

Make sure your USB drive is selected. Then, click the 'Boot selection' dropdown and select 'Non bootable':

Next, click the 'File system' dropdown and select 'FAT32'.

Also, feel free to change the name of your USB drive under 'Volume label':

Then, click the 'Start' button to format your drive. After a few seconds it'll be formatted to FAT32.

How to use PowerShell to format a USB drive to FAT32

While this method works with drives larger than 32 GB, it's really slow – even formatting a 32 GB drive can take up to an hour depending on your computer.

But, if you aren't able to use the previous two methods for some reason, this will work in a pinch.

First, click on the Windows Search Bar and type in 'powershell'. Then, click 'Run as administrator' to launch PowerShell with elevated privileges:

In the PowerShell terminal, enter the following command:

format /FS:FAT32 DRIVE_LETTER:

Use the File Explorer to double check your drive letter. My drive letter was D, so I entered format /FS:FAT32 D:.

Press Enter, make sure your USB drive is plugged in, and press the Enter key again to start the process:

Then go run some errands or something – it will take awhile.

Once the format command is finished, your drive should be formatted to FAT32.

In closing

Now you should be able to format a USB drive of any size to FAT32 on Windows 10. And with just a little modification, any of these methods can be used to format your drive to another file system like NTFS or ExFAT.

Now get out there and format all your USB drives. (But only after you backup everything important!)

Was this helpful? Is there a better method that you know of? Tweet at me and let me know how you format things on Windows 10.

Have you ever been faced with the need to install a new operating system on a crashed PC but realize that you don't have the installation disc? For most people, such a case is always discouraging and disheartening because they know that the only way to install a new OS is to use an installation disc. Actually, all you need is a USB with a good capacity and a utility like Rufus. Rufus is a free, portable open-source utility that you can use to create bootable USB flash drives. Rufus is small in size, but it surprisingly has everything you need as far as the above are concerned.

Does Rufus Have a Mac Version?

Rufus is primarily a Windows application and currently, it supports 64 or 32 bit Windows XP/7/8/10 only. This means that you can not use Rufus on the normal Mac computers. If you need to run Rufus on a Mac, then it will be imperative for the computer to have a dual boot Windows installed on Mac. However, this is not an easy task at all.

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To those in the dark, this simply means that you will need to have a Windows Operating system installed in your Mac computer. However, if you didn't want to have two operating systems running on the same machine so that you can access Rufus, there are quite a number of alternatives you can use to achieve the same functionalities of Rufus on Mac.

Rufus for Mac Alternative 1: UUByte ISO Editor

UUByte ISO Editor is by far one of the best ISO toolkits for those who want a seamless process in creating, burning, extracting and editing ISO images. Unlike Rufus, it has both Windows and Mac versions so you don't have to worry about not having Rufus for Mac or the need to install two operating systems in your Mac.

This ISO editor can effortlessly burn ISO image to DVD, CD or USB which you can then go ahead and use as a bootable disc for new installation. The tool is also versatile enough to create an ISO archive from folders or external sources, in addition to extracting or mounting ISO files to Mac or Windows computers. With over 220,000 users worldwide, it is a clear winner among the ISO toolkits available in the market today.

Why Choose UUByte ISO Editor

• Full ISO toolkit for Windows and Mac.
• Easily create bootable USB or DVD from Windows ISO.
• 5X faster burning speed.
• Excellent customer support.

How to burn ISO to USB on Mac using UUByte ISO Editor: Please download UUByte ISO Editor for Mac and install the app. Then drag and drop the app icon to Application folder so you can open the app from Launchpad. After that, insert a USB stick and click 'Burn' button at the first screen. Now import Windows ISO to the program and start burning ISO to USB by clicking 'Burn' button at the bottom of the Window. Finally, wait for 10 minutes to get the job done.

Rufus for Mac Alternative 2: UNetbootin

Unetbootin (Universal Netboot Installer) , is another cross-platform utility toolkit that makes a great alternative to Rufus on Mac. It has the ability to load and install various Linux distros on Mac. It is easy to use and supports a myriad of platforms. All you have to do is select an ISO file or the specific distribution you want to download and then simply choose the target drive. It also comes with a nice GUI, which further adds to the user experience during use.

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Pros:

• Support Windows, Mac and Linux.
• Able to download Linux ISO within the program.
• Easily create ISO image from files or folders.

Cons:

• Non-native user interface.
• Lower success rate on new USB drives.
• Lack support for CD or DVD.

Rufus for Mac Alternative 3: Etcher

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Etcher is another great Rufus alternative for Mac. It has been designed to allow you to easily and comfortably burn ISO images to USB drives and SD cards. The utility comes with an advanced interface which may be intimidating on first glance, but after going through the simple user guide, getting around to use the utility becomes a breeze.

Simply download this tool, launch it, and then choose the IMG file you are interested in burning. You will then select the location of the target USB drive or SD card and then wait for it to do its magic. It is lightweight and relatively fast, so you won't have to wait for a whole day for the burning process to end.

Pros:

• Polish user interface.
• Support USB drives as well as SD cards.
• Easy to use.

Cons:

• Being loaded slowly on startup.
• Get stuck at burning process easily.
• Poor support for Windows 10 ISO.

Verdict:

Rufus is a great application for burning ISO to USB. Unfortunately, there is no Mac version yet. So for burning ISO to USB on Mac, you have to use third-party alternatives like UUByte ISO Editor to get it done. The suggestions in this post almost do the same thing as Rufus on Windows so don't worry about the functionality. Go ahead and pick up the best rufus alternative according to your experience.