But i could easily give up one of the usb a ports to use it with a dedicated mini usb flash drive. Dec 06, 2009 windows generally cannot be installed onto a usb drive due to the way it handles usb devices on startup. The simplest method of backing up files is simply to copy the files and folders to an external hard drive, a usb flash drive, a cd, or a dvd. On mac computers, usb is available with these ports, depending on your mac model.
Formatting a flash drive erases all data currently stored on it. How to open a flash drive on a macbook air computer quora. As we race ahead into the era of cloud storage, its worth keeping an eye on our friend the usb flash drive, which has by no means expired. Usb c flash drive, disain 64gb type c flash drive usb a 3. First of all extract all the files on to your desktop and thats solves some of the first problems. From a working mac open disk utility and reformat the thumb drive to guid partition map and create a mac os extended journaled partition, that should fix the thumb.
Heres what you need to know, along with our toprated applefriendly drives. Buy products related to macbook flash drive products and see what customers say. Unless you reformat its set for fat32 or exfat which wont work for macos osx. I had no issues taking files from my external hard drive and transferring them to my new macbook air. You can boot a 2018 2019 or 2020 macbook pro from usb. The best affordable usbc ssds for macbook air youtube. And is it possible to make, not just a rescue drive, but a bootable usb drive that will boot a fully updated version of the os say 10. Macbook models introduced in 2015 or later have a single usb c port. Feb 27, 2020 usb universal serial bus is an industry standard for connecting computers and other devices. Not the fastest flash thumb stick around but i got it on black.
Here, you can view the format of the selected usb drive. For maximum flexibility, the drive includes both a reversible usb typec connector and a standard usb typea connector. In most instances, a high class usb thumb drive is faster than generic level sd cards. They are, however, by no means ranked in this order. How to open an external drive thats not showing on mac. If youre having problems creating the bootable media, you can get a usb flash drive that comes with macos sierra on it with the link mentioned below. You wont be able to access the data on it on a windows or linux machine. I want to plug a usb flash drive into my macbook air is this the cable. Drag those to the usb name in the lower left part sidebar under devices. Tried this tool on my windows pc with a macbook air usb drive which i bought at a onlineshop from asia which is selling this drives. In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system. Usb c flash drive, disain 64gb type c flash driveusba 3.
If your usb thumb drive, usb based external disk or flash storage contains a usable operating system or an os x installer, you can select it at boot time using os xs builtin feature called startup manager, which can be invoked via a simple keystroke. Looking to add storage, or for a smart way to back up your mac. How to put pictures on a flash drive with pictures wikihow. To back up your data, insert the usb drive into the computer you used with the drive and copy the contents of the drive to the desktop or a folder on the computer. Storage devices such as external hard drives can also be available. All of apples latest laptops come with usbc ports, only. I cant get usb thumb drives to mount on my mac doesnt even show up. This was an easy storage upgrade for my 2014 macbook air so i love it. Apples new macbook air only has usbcthunderbolt 3 ports, as do all of apples. Bootable usb thumb drive formatted with a guid partition type and containing an os x installer or a usable operating system.
The macbook lineup only has thunderbolt 3 ports, meaning youll need usb c connectors in order to plug anything into your macbook pro. Usb flash drive 128gb usb c thumb drive photo stick usb3. Jan 15, 2019 its exactly the same procedure if you need to reformat a flash drive on a mac. While most flash drives are made to withstand years of use, take the age and previous use of the drive into consideration if you have a flash drive that cant be read anymore. I assume the drive would appear as a standard bootcamp drive and boot properly after this process, but ive never tried. Shop for all usb flash drives, from 16 32 64 128 256 gb variants and more. And since it takes advantage of usb c, the sandisk ultra usb c offers a. How to quickly create a macos bootable usb on windows 10. However, i cannot download the photos i just added from the macbook air to my external hard drive. Connect the usb flash drive or other volume that youre using for the bootable installer.
Feb 21, 2020 when your usb flash drive is not showing up on your mac, the reasons might be the usb port, or usb contains errors that make the drive undetectable. Open terminal, which is in the utilities folder of your applications folder. I have the apple usb c digital av hub that works when i have it plugged into my ipad pro but not with my. I want to plug a usb flash drive into my macbook air is this the cable i would use. Connect your device to a different usb or firewire port on your mac. Why wont my mac read my usb flash dr apple community. However, windows xp can be installed on a usb drive with some hacking. Mar 28, 2019 flag as inappropriate i want to plug a usb flash drive into my macbook air is this the cable i would use. If the usb drive you want to encrypt is formatted properly, the process only takes a couple of clicks.
Select that option, and after moment or so the drive icon will disapper from the desktop meaning you can now safely remove the usb device itself. Installing windows 7 with usb flash drive on macbook air. This video will show you how to install windows 7 via bootcamp on you macbook air with out a dvd drive. The homespot usb c hub is also compatible with 2016 and 2017 macbook pro and 15 models so chances are, itll work with yours if you bought it. You can then double click any external drive that shows up on your desktop, in order to open it. How to start up your mac from a bootable cddvd, usb thumb. Use external storage devices with mac apple support. Trying to copy a file to my usb drive gives an icon indicating that you cannot copy files to the volume. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag. The pictures will be copied to your usb main folder.
When you try to plug in the drive again, your mac no longer sees it. Apples 2018 laptops dont come with regular usba ports. Sep 14, 2015 bootable optical media cd or dvd on macs equipped with apples super drive or a usb thumb drive formatted with a guid partition type and containing an os x installer or a usable operating system. Lets see how to boot a mac from a bootable usb drive and what to do if your mac doesnt start up from it. If you want to copy the pictures to a folder on the usb device, you can open a second finder window, showing the usb contents. I do not want to erase my external hard drive as it has many many files on it from computers past. The best usb flash drives for apple macbook in 2020 january 31, 2020 january 31, 2020 the days of floppy disks are long past, and while cdroms are still around very few people use them for anything besides the occasional mixtape or digital photo album. Macbook air boot from a usb flash drive macrumors forums. Type or paste one of the following commands in terminal.
Use usb c with displays and other devices that connect using a usb c cable. If you have already saved anything on the drive, back up the data before you format the flash drive. Again, formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. How to connect an iphone, display, hard drive, and more to a macbook pro or macbook air make room in your laptop bag. May 23, 2017 apples made it difficult to boot nonmac os x operating systems off of usb drives. Usb flash drives are unquestionably one of the most convenient portable storage devices for transporting business files between unconnected computers. Its available with many types of ports, and each type has a unique shape. At the risk of stating the obvious, your first move should be to try the device in an alternate usb port available on your machine. Usb universal serial bus is an industry standard for connecting computers and other devices. How to boot a mac from usb drive with pictures wikihow.
Plug your thumb drive or generic mass storage medium into your mac. A memory stick also known as flash drive or thumb drive is used to store data in a convenient, portable way. Mar 16, 2020 this is easily the best usb drive for newer laptops, like the macbook air and the macbook pro, that have only usb c ports. Apple advises against booting from external storage containing a version of mac os x earlier than the one your mac shipped with.
If so how on a macbook air 11, and how big a usb stick will this require. Copying files to a usb drive on a mac is easy to do. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. Transferring data to or from these devices is quick and easy. Generally when you want to delete files and folders from your flash drive on computer it was big issue. External hard drives, thumb drives, usb drives, flash memory cards, and devices like ipod are examples of storage devices that you can connect to your mac using thunderbolt, usb, or firewire cables, or connect wirelessly using bluetooth. I seem to have a really strange issue with my macbook 12.
May 31, 2019 we will go over how to use a usb drive, thumb drive, flash drive, pendrive, etc, on a mac computer aka apple macintosh like a macbook pro, imac, mac mini, or mac pro. While formatting a pen drive, users get an option to change its format. A jump drive, also known as a usb thumb or flash drive, offers one of the most convenient and universally compatible methods for transferring data from your. Belkin in the new macbook air, apple also removed the regular usb a ports weve been using for the. How to delete files from flash drive on mac keepthetech. I have a macbook air 20 1,7 ghz intel core i7, 8 go 1600 mhz ddr3. If you use an external hard drive with your macbook, you can easily drag backup files to it from your internal hard drive. Please back up all your data before you format the usb drive. You can find it on the desktop or in the sidebar of a finder window under devices. How to create a bootable installer for macos apple support. It helps if you know how to set your finder preferences.
Apr 18, 2019 keep in mind that using finder to encrypt a thumb drive will restrict its usage to macos. How to start up your mac from an external usb storage device. I want to plug a usb flash drive into my macbook air is. When your usb flash drive is not showing up on your mac, the reasons might be the usb port, or usb contains errors that make the drive undetectable. Usb flash drive memory card not detected on mac usb port.
The sandisk ultra dual drive usb c flash drive takes advantage of usb c speeds to rapidly transfer files to and from your mac. If you have a device that doesnt connect to this port, you might be able to use an adapter to connect it. You can also connect a usb c power adapter and cable to charge your notebook computer. How to transfer files from a mac onto a usb 2019 youtube. Do i have to plug this into my macbook air then put my flash drive into that.
Oct 29, 2019 this will display a popup with crucial details related to the connected pen drive. Sandisk 64gb ultra dual drive usb typec previous gallery image. Starting in 2018 the macbook pro includes a secure boot chip that prevents your macbook from booting windows, linux, bsd, gentoo, fedora, atlas supervisor, other mac oss on a usb, etc. How to connect your existing accessories to usbc on the. Syntech usb c to usb adapter2 pack, usb c to usb 3. How to connect your existing accessories to usb c on the macbook pro and macbook air imore. Mac tips using a usb drive on a mac diy in 5 ep 99. Jul 21, 2019 how to connect your existing accessories to usb c on the macbook pro and macbook air. If youre looking for as much space as you can get at a great value and reliability, the pny turbo 256gb usb 3. Ideally, mac supports different pen drive formats for a usb drive that you can pick from, as per your convenience.
We will go over how to use a usb drive, thumb drive, flash drive, pendrive, etc, on a mac computer aka apple macintosh like a macbook pro, imac, mac mini, or mac pro. Mar 19, 2020 you can also connect a usb c power adapter and cable to charge your notebook computer. If the usb flash drive is not detected on other computers or if other usb devices are working properly on this mac then most likely the usb drive is not functional. Usb thumb drives not working on mac macrumors forums. So your first move is to make usb can be recognized again, and then you can use mac hard drive data recovery software to recover files if the usb becomes inaccessible. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or instore pickup. Solved how to remove flash drive safely from a macbook air. Macs can read and write to fat32 and exfat formatted drives which is the default format for most usb drives so you can share files between.
Dec 05, 20 right click on the destop icon for the usb flash drive. Make sure that it has at least 12gb of available storage and is formatted as mac os extended. Jun 20, 2012 copying files to a usb drive on a mac is easy to do. Every time i plug in my iphone, it sounds like it reads it but nothing. Plug the drive into a usb socket if you have a recent macbook or macbook pro that only has usbc connectors, youll need a usbc to usba adaptor. We approximate your location from your internet ip address by matching it to a geographic region or. Jan 31, 2020 luckily sandisk offers 256gb ultra dual usbc drive, which contains plenty of storage while allowing you to use a newer macbook without dongles. I have a macbook pro inch retina, and it worked fine, but now it wont read anything that i plug in through the usb ports. This usb c dock lets you plug in devices with varied ports into a single usb c port on a macbook. Kindly note that all the products recommended below are chosen based on the criteria above plus our own personal preferences. Modern macbooks, like the newer macbook air and the macbook pro may not have a fullsized. After the process completes, which can take up to an hour, connect the usb flash drive and power on your mac holding down the option key, select the usb drive to begin the installation of macos. Back up to an external hard drive or usb flash drive.
While you can connect an external cddvd drive to your mac and boot from standard linux live cds and usbs, simply connecting a linux live usb drive created by standard tools like universal usb installer and unetbootin to a mac wont work. Sometimes our macbooks, macbook pros, or macs dont recognize our external drives or external thumb drives. If the usb drive appears nonfunctional per the above troubleshooting, please contact sandisk support for further assistance with warranty. If you have an older usb flash drive thats been beaten around, it may not work even if you reformat it. I made a bootable sierra usb but it cant detect it. The first thing to check if your thumb drive is not showing up on a mac is if the problem is with the particular usb port that you are using. This video shows you how to transfer files such as. How to transfer files from macbook air on apple community.
It can be done so save you money and dont buy a dvd drive. If your integral usb has a security or zip software preloaded integral splash, secure. Because lot of time when you connect your flash drive to another computer its receive some virus that effect your flash drive. This situation often occurs after you initially eject the external drive and unplug it from your computer. Jul 04, 2011 format the macbook air usb restore key. Mac tips using a usb drive on a mac diy in 5 ep 99 youtube. Macs can read and write to fat32 and exfat formatted drives which is the default format for most usb drives so. I believe you meant usb ports macbook air have 2 usb ports one on each side, see the image below btw, this is what usb drive is and no laptop have usb drives in build but usb. Im skipping the card slot ones because i find myself using the slot a lot with my camera cards. If you right click the drive and select get info, you can see at the bottom of the info window under the sharing and permissions twirl down, you only have permission to read from this drive and nothing else.