How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac
This wikiHow teaches you how to remove all of the files from a flash drive in Windows and macOS. Plug the flash drive into your PC. You can connect your flash drive to any working USB port on your computer.
Method 1 of 2:
Windows
- Plug the flash drive into your PC. You can connect your flash drive to any working USB port on your computer.
-
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 1
Double-click This PC. It's the computer icon on your desktop.- If you don't see this icon, press ⊞ Win+E to open the File Explorer, then double-click This PC in the left sidebar.
-
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 2
Right-click your flash drive. It's under the 'Devices and drives' header in the right panel. A drop-down menu will appear. -
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 3
Click Format…. The Format window will appear. -
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 4
Click Start. It's at the bottom of the window. A confirmation message will appear, letting you know that all data on the drive will be erased. -
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 5
Click OK. Windows will now remove all of the data from your flash drive. You'll see a message that says 'Format Complete' once the drive is cleared. -
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 6
Click OK. This closes the window.
Method 2 of 2:
macOS
- Plug the flash drive into your Mac. You can connect your flash drive to any working USB port on your computer.
-
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 7
Open FinderHow to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 8
-
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 9
Open the Applications folder. Click Applications in the left sidebar, or double-click Applications in the right panel. -
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 10
Double-click the Utilities folder. -
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 11
Double-click Disk Utility. -
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 12
Select your flash drive. It's in the left panel.[1] -
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 13
Click the Erase tab. It's at the top of the right panel. -
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 14
Select a format. The default formatting option is OS X Extended (Journaled) should work for most people.[2]- If you want to erase all of the files and use the drive on a Windows PC, select MS-DOS (Fat) instead.
-
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 15
Click Erase…. It's at the bottom-right corner of the window. A confirmation message will appear.[3] -
How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac Picture 16
Click Erase. This removes all of the files from your flash drive.
5 ★ | 2 Vote
You should read it
- Instructions on how to fix a computer mouse click double click
- How to Transfer Data from a Flash Drive to a Computer
- Causes of mouse Double Click and how to fix it
- How to Remove a Flash Drive from a Windows 10 Computer
- Difference between Flash drive and Pen drive
- How to use flash drive on Windows 10
- How to Download Movies and Transfer Them to a USB Flash Drive
- 5 quick and effective ways to fix mouse double click errors
- Steps to fix mouse error Double click
- How to Install Windows from a USB Flash Drive
- How to Place a Google Doc on a Flash Drive
- The fastest top 5 USB flash you should buy