Formatting an SD or a Micro SD card on Mac is a super simple process that will not take you longer than 3 minutes.

The only little stumbling block is some Macs don’t have an SD card reader (post-2015 MacBook Pros) and some do.

To get around that you’ll most likely need a thing called an SD card adapter which can wonder at times to save the in-deficiencies on Macs. (you don’t need to get one if your Mac has an SD card slot)

If you have an SD or micro SD card you want to reformat with your Mac it’s a pretty easy process. Read on to learn how. Before you start, you need to mount the SD or micro SD card on your Mac. SDHC and SDXC are commonly used SD cards. Sometimes, you need to format the SDHC/SDXC card on Mac to remove all data information, or just want to create new file system on the SDHC/SDXC card. And in some cases, you not only need to format the SDHC/SDXC card on Mac, but you need to permanently erase all data information on the SDHC/SDXC card to prevent data recovery. However, when your SD card is full of unwanted files, or SD card is unreadable or corrupted, formatting becomes very common to solve this solution. The way that you format an SD card has been the same for a number of years. Nevertheless, this page collects the comprehensive guide to format SD card on Windows, Mac and Android.

The one I’m using personally is the Anker 8-in-1 card reader which at US$9.99 is a pretty good deal on Amazon. You can carry it around wherever you travel and most importantly it can last.

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In this guide, I’ll show you how you can format an SD card or a Micro SD card on your Mac.

Note ⚠️

Formatting an SD card or Micro SD card means it will erase all the data on the card too. So even though you’re dying to re-format your card to a different file system format as quickly as possible, it’s important that you backup all of the data (if any) just in case if you need them in the future.

Let’s dive right in.

How to Format an SD or Micro SD Card on Mac: 7 Steps

Connect the SD card or microSD card that you’re trying to format to your Mac.
Next, open up your Applications folder (it’s on your Mac’s dock). Then look for the Utilities. Inside the Utilities folder, click on Disk Utility.
Good. Now find and select your SD card from the column on the left. Do you see it?
Next, simply click the Erase tab at the very top menu under the page heading “Disk Utility”.

Let’s choose the format we want to format our SD card. From the pop-up menu which says Erase “your_SD_Card_name”? you can rename the SD Card as well as choose the format from the dropdown list of formats available.

Once you’ve chosen your format, simply hit the Erase button. This will now begin the process of formatting your SD card or microSD card.
Finally, once the formatting is done, make sure to get too excited and pull out the damn SD card like your pulling out, urm, I can’t really think of an analogy to put here. Just be sure to find the formatted SD card from the left-hand sidebar and then press the Eject button.

If you‘re asking the question “Why am I not allowed to format my SD card or microSD card to MS-DOS?” then know that you really can’t. This is because the Disk Utility tool will not allow you to format SD cards or microSD cards which are 32GB or smaller in size. You’ll find that the option for MS-DOS will be grayed out.

You should try and go with exFAT instead of in this case. 🙂

Don’t forget to share this guide.

Sep 28, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

'Case: How do I format a Sandisk SD card on a Mac? This morning while I was trying to access my Sandisk SD card, I found that it was not working smoothly like before. It became completely unresponsive and I was wondering about fixing it by formatting the card. So, can anyone guide me on how to format memory card on Mac?'

Sound familiar to you? Well, there is no denying that if you want to extend the storage space of your devices than SD cards are of great help. But certain issues sometimes call for SD card formatting. Even if you have bought a new card, it is recommended to format it before using it. Read on to understand how to format memory card on Mac and recover the formatted data from it.

Part 1- Situations When Formatting Memory Card on Mac

Formatting an SD card on Mac is easy. All thanks to the in-built Disk Utility application. It leads to the deletion of all the saved content on the memory card, including the protected files, and more. Once Mac completes the formatting, new directories, and file systems are created and the performance of SD cards like its functioning and speed also improves with it.

Various reasons are there for which a user wants to format a memory card on mac:

For quickly removing all information
To reuse memory card
Permanently deleting data before selling or disposing of it
Format it to a new file system
For solving errors, crash, virus issues, or other troublesome issues

After formatting, none of the files are left on the SD card. So it is recommended to take back up before initiating the formatting of memory card. This helps in restoring essential files to the SD card.

Part 2- How to Format Memory Card on Mac Safely

Some of the Mac systems have an in-built SD card slot; here you can directly insert an SD card to access it from Mac. If the SD card slot is missing in your Mac, then you can also use a USB card reader. For micro SD cards use SD adapter cartridge to put the card into the slot of Mac. Once you are ready with your SD card for formatting, follow these easy steps to format and make it reusable.

Step 1- Connect SD card with Mac

Insert the card into the SD card slot or connect it with a USB card reader.

Step 2- Open Disk Utility

Disk utility is in-built in Mac. Use the spotlight or follow the following path to reach 'Disk Utility' Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility

Step 3- Locate SD Card

Find your SD card from the left sidebar of Disk Utility. It shows the Mac's internal as well as external drives. You can see your SD card in the external section. If your card is never formatted before it shows up as 'Untitled' or 'No Name.'

While selecting the memory card, double-check it that you are choosing the right Drive from the list. Click on it to view the storage space and ensure that your inserted SD card's memory matches the one that is showing up. If you see some mismatch then probably you have selected the wrong drive. Carefully make the selection again in this case.

Step 4- Click on Erase Tab

Select the 'Erase' label located at the top in the menu bar of Disk Utility. When you click on it a pop-up will appear to warn you that you are going to delete all the files saved on your card.

Step 5- Write SD Card Name

Name the SD card as shown in the image below and select the format of the file system. The ExFat format is generally compatible with SD cards.

It's not mandatory to name the SD card here; you can leave it as 'No Name' or 'Untitled.' Naming it will only act as a convenience to you at a later stage when you view it in 'Finder' or while importing things. Screamer radio for mac.

The file system here is dependent on the size of the card. Like if its storage capacity is 64GB or more than that, select ExFat and if it's 32 GB or lesser than select FAT32.

Step 6- Click Erase

After naming and selecting the format of the SD card, click on the button displaying 'Erase.'

Format For Sd Card Mac