No partition scheme option when erasing a USB disk in MacOS High Sierra?

Question

In previous versions of MacOS, I recall that Disk Utility provided an option to select the partition scheme (GUID, MBR, or Apple).

If I formatted the USB key without changing the scheme to MBR, I could not read it on a Windows machine.

But now there is no option in High Sierra.

How do I format the USB key with FAT and MBR?

score 248 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 16 '19 at 23:24

248

I thought I had the same issue but it's probably because in the view options at the top left corner of the Disk Utility window, "Show Only Volumes" is selected.

In order to change the partition map, it seems you have to select the actual disk. So simply select view - show all devices, then select the actual drive you're trying to reformat, then when trying to erase, you should have the option to choose a partition scheme.

Hope this helps!

edited Aug 16 '19 at 23:24

palaniraja

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answered Nov 08 '17 at 01:00

John

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Oh my! Thanks John. It seems so easy now, i've been wracking my brain trying to solve this, it was so simple I feel stupid. I'm sharing this in other forums where people are having the same issue. I hope that's ok. Thanks so much. – Joey87 Jan 05 '18 at 00:43
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What ever happened to the Mac? It used to be simple, now it's loaded with mystery meat and unixy conventions. Apple has lost the script. – ATL_DEV Feb 02 '18 at 16:49
Thank you so much... I had a hell of a time figuring this one out... – Tracker1 May 25 '18 at 21:55
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I wasted 2 hours of my life trying to figure out why my TV could read a new USB stick, but not this one, all because this view was hidden by default. Apple logic: "Let's hide the advanced options in this advanced feature" – AgmLauncher Dec 26 '18 at 04:12
What a travesty... – frhd Mar 10 '19 at 17:12
This no longer works. See instead a [method of formatting the disk using the Terminal](https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/232996/326801). – Andrew Dunning May 16 '19 at 21:37
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@AndrewDunning I tried today and it worked fine. – Henok Tesfaye Aug 07 '19 at 08:06
Thank you sooooo much, I spent a lot of time looking for this option and I thought I'd need to connect my HD to another computer to change the partition...Apple really screwed up on this one, they should make things much much clearer. – FabioR Sep 24 '19 at 15:20
You saved my life! – roby Nov 18 '19 at 10:49
Shit, you saved me a ton of time. – Siniša Šašić Apr 08 '20 at 18:59
I thought apple removed it but you really saved me time – 0xabc Jun 28 '20 at 15:31
I don't have the option there? This is infuriating. I don't see how people think this OS is easier for users, it's less intuitive than even Windows... – Levi H Oct 18 '20 at 17:00
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Solution works in 10.15.7 Catalina – gatorback Nov 20 '20 at 01:17
Google sent me here for this issue. Lesson learnt. – JTP - Apologise to Monica Dec 13 '21 at 02:52

No partition scheme option when erasing a USB disk in MacOS High Sierra?

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