you might often format an SD card with whatever unit you’re using it in.
Here’s how to handle your card-formatting needs on macOS.
Connecting an SD Card to Your Mac
First, youll need to plug in your SD card.
The approach you take will depend on your Macs capabilities and your cards format.
The easiest and most convenient method is to insert the card into a built-in SD card slot.
However, this is not available on every model.
Over time, Apple has flip-flopped its SD card support across its entire line.
The miniSD and microSD formats are physically smaller cards that Mac SD slots do not support natively.
The SDHC, SDXC, and SDUC formats provide larger capacities for both SD and microSD sizes.
Additionally, the standard SD and the less popular miniSD sizes support SDIO.
Although these details are largely unimportant, you should be aware of what actual capacity (e.g.
32 GB) your card is if you intend to totally reformat it.
Using Disk Utility to Format an SD Card
Disk Utility is an app shipped with macOS.
It should be present in your/Applications/Utilitiesfolder.
You canuse Disk Utility for many different disk-related tasks, on both internal and external storage devices.
Begin by selecting your SD card from the list on the left-hand side.
If youre using a Mac with a built-in SD card slot, it should show up in theInternalsection.
An SD card plugged into an external reader will show in theExternalsection.
double-check you go for the card itself, by name, rather than the physical unit.
Its easier to do this if you selectShow Only Volumesfrom theViewmenu in the top left.
after you snag the card selected, confirm that its the one that you want to format.
you’re able to check the capacity and used space, for example.
Then click theErasebutton at the top of the window.
you’re free to specify aNamefor the card and itsFormat.
UseFATif the card is 32 GB or less, as all SD and SDHC cards are.
UseExFATif the card is greater than 32 GB, such as an SDXC or SDUC card.
However,SD Card Formatteris a friendlier alternative, dedicated to the task of formatting SD cards.
Its also free to download and use.
The app has a very simple interface with few options.
First, opt for card using the first dropdown menu.
Typically, youll be working with one SD card at a time, which the app will pre-select.
Check the capacity is what youd expect.
There are twoFormatting optionsavailable:QuickandOverwrite.
Quick is the faster option because it frees up the space without actually erasing the raw data.
Using the Command Line
Do not use this option unless you are very confident!
You should have a deep understanding of terms such as file system format and partition before proceeding.
You should also recognize exactly which disk you are dealing with when shown a volume identifier such asdisk2.
Be very careful not to accidentally format the wrong drive!
However, if something does go wrong, it will probably have one of the following causes.
If a card is in read-only mode, you wont be able to format it.
