A USB flash drive can become a useless storage device if your device doesn’t support the drive format. Chances are that your Windows or macOS computer doesn’t read or write the USB drive for imposed limitations. However, there’s a way out of this. All you have to do is to use a FAT format tool to change the drive’s format and make the drive compatible with the system.
Since most operating systems support exFAT or FAT32 file format, using a FAT formatting tool is convenient to avoid discrepancies. And, it will make your USB flash drive or SD card usable again. In addition, formatting tools let you create a bootable USB to reinstall your operating system.
However, picking up the right formatting tool can be hard sometimes. We have the best and most trusted formatting software to help you format your external storage devices and create disk partitions. Let’s review them.
FAT Format Tools You Can Rely on
Formatting an external storage device using built-in software on the operating system might not be fruitful every time. Therefore, you might depend on third-party FAT format tools for secure FAT32 partition data recovery, safe formatting, and many more actions.
Here are some FAT format Windows and Mac software for your USB flash drives, SD cards, and more. Let’s get started:
1. MiniTool Partition Wizard
This is a go-to FAT format tool to handle formatting and partitioning requirements. MiniTool Partition Wizard has 3 different versions to choose from. And, every version offers competent format options, cloning your disk, partitioning your disk, and more.
However, start with the free version if you want to format your USB flash drives, SD cards, and similar devices. Additionally, the free version is ideal for personal use. You will need paid subscriptions for complex tasks such as data recovery, data backups, and more.
Therefore, you can invest in the tool’s paid subscription version if you want to use it for school, organisation, and others. On top of that, you can manage dynamic disks on servers and PCs with MiniTool Partition Wizard apart from only formatting a USB drive into FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, and more supported file formats.
However, there’s a small hiccup. You can use MiniTool Partition Wizard only on Windows-powered devices, not macOS devices.
2. SD Memory Card Formatter
Are you looking for a compatible FAT format tool that you can use on both Windows and macOS devices? SD Memory Card Formatter is a worthy tool that can help you format your SD memory card.
Another best part of this software is that it offers support for many SD cards and their brands. In addition, you can experience a fast formatting speed with this dedicated SD card formatting tool.
So, you can opt for this tool instead of integrated operating system tools for formatting. Alongside this, the tool supports the following types of SD memory cards:
- SD cards
- SDHC cards
- And, SDXC cards
However, this software can’t format locked SD cards regardless of type. Besides this, the software can still format closed partitions of an SD card. It simply removes the content and formats the SD card.
3. FAT32 Format GUI
A hassle-free formatting software is a big thump-up for those who dislike installing or setting up such applications. The advantage of this GUI software is that your computer remains junk-free and uncluttered. So, you can try FAT32 Format GUI to format FAT32 driver partitions way easier.
You can simply download the software, and it’s ready to work. Additionally, the software will guide you through the creation of FAT32 file systems in minimal duration. So, you can format your USB flash drives or existing file systems because of a malware or virus attack.
However, this FAT format tool can only format disk drives into FAT32 format and nothing else. Therefore, this might not be your primary option to format different file formats into versatile ones. Additionally, this formatting tool works on Windows devices only. You can manage partitions of only sizes up to 130GB.
4. EaseUS Partition Master
A user-friendly interface might be on your list while searching for the best FAT format tool. EaseUS Partition Master can be your destination for formatting your USB drives. The software lets you format your storage devices with a few clicks.
On the other hand, the software is useful for versatile purposes apart from formatting only. For example, you can format USB drives into the following file formats:
- FAT32 or NTFS
- FAT16/32
- exFAT
- EXT2/3/4
On the other hand, you don’t have to convert your USB from NTFS to FAT32 or vice versa if you have downloaded this software. It can easily convert your device into the required file format without erasing anything. Additionally, you can recover corrupted or lost USB volumes with this particular FAT formatting software.
Besides this, EaseUS Partition Master lets you inspect your USB speed and health with just a click. Though it supports all Windows versions and servers, it doesn’t cover macOS devices.
5. Windows File Explorer (Integrated FAT Format Tool)
You can try Windows’ default FAT format tool to format USB flash drives and external hard drives. When you connect a USB flash drive, your PC’s Windows File Explorer identifies the device. You can choose whether to format the drive or take other actions from there.
However, this FAT format tool Windows doesn’t provide professional results like third-party ones. It’s not built for solving corruption issues. Still, you can consider formatting your USB drives if they malfunction. This free built-in Windows FAT formatting tool supports the following file formats:
- exFAT
- NTFS/FAT32
On a contrary note, it can’t format USB drives to Ext4/3/2 formats.
6. AuthorSoft USB Disk Format Tool
This FAT format utility can help you get a speedy format for your USB pen drives and SD cards. AuthorSoft USB Disk Format Tool is a straightforward and lightweight formatting tool that almost every Windows server system supports.
In addition, you can format your USB drives into the following file systems:
- FAT
- FAT32
- exFAT
- NTFS
Moreover, the software can create FAT32 partitions in size of more than 32GB. Interestingly, this software is completely free to use on any Windows version. However, you can’t use this on Mac computers.
7. IM-Magic Partition Resizer
We got you an all-in-one disk management tool for Windows PCs. IM-Magic Partition Resizer is everything you need for disk operations, such as:
- Format
- Convert
- Copy
- Partition
- Repair
First, you can download the trial version before committing to it. Even the software assists you to free up some extra space by re-arranging the disk data. Thus, you can manage your files and handle defragmentation. Overall, it helps in maintaining your system performance.
On the other hand, this FAT format tool can resize a drive or create disk partitions without formatting it. Therefore, you can keep your data safe and secure while converting the file system format with this precious formatting software.
Summing up…
FAT or FAT32 format is one of the most compatible file systems. People prefer formatting their USB drives into this file system format. However, it can’t support files larger than 4GB for individual files. Still, you can keep these FAT format tools handy for emergency formatting and better portability among different devices.
