How to Clear a Flash Drive on PC or Mac

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An easy guide to empty your USB flash drive

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: August 23, 2022 Tested

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This wikiHow teaches you how to remove all of the files from a flash drive in Windows and macOS.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Windows

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1

Plug the flash drive into your PC. You can connect your flash drive to any working USB port on your computer.
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2
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.
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It’s under the “Devices and drives” header in the right panel. A drop-down menu will appear.
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The Format window will appear.
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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.
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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.
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This closes the window.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

macOS

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1

Plug the flash drive into your Mac. You can connect your flash drive to any working USB port on your computer.
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Open Finder

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. It’s on the Dock.
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Click Applications in the left sidebar, or double-click Applications in the right panel.
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It’s in the left panel. ^{[1]
X
Research source}
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It’s at the top of the right panel.
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8
Select a format. The default formatting option is OS X Extended (Journaled) should work for most people. ^{[2]
X
Research source}
- If you want to erase all of the files and use the drive on a Windows PC, select MS-DOS (Fat) instead.
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It’s at the bottom-right corner of the window. A confirmation message will appear. ^{[3]
X
Research source}
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This removes all of the files from your flash drive.

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