How to format a flash drive, memory card or external drive on an iPhone

The developers of iOS 18 have added a useful feature to the standard file manager on iPhone – the creation of external drives. The gadget may ask you to erase all data on the drive and change its format.

Now let’s look at the features and limitations of this process.

What you need to format a flash drive on an iPhone

▶ iPhone With iOS 18 and newer or iPad With iPadOS 18 and newer.

▶ Cable for connecting a flash drive or other external storage device. This can be a Type-C or Lightning cable, a hub, or flash drives with a USB-C connector can be connected directly to the corresponding iPhone and iPad models.

▶ Flash drive or other external storage device.

The iPhone will be able to format even a drive that was previously formatted in NTFS format, but the smartphone will not see a drive with an unallocated area.

How to format a flash drive on iPhone

Attention! During the formation process, all data from the drive will be deleted. If there are any important files on a flash drive or disk, transfer them to your iPhone or iPad for formation.

1. Connect a flash drive or any other storage device to your iPhone or iPad.

2. Open the Files application. If the standard manager file is deleted, you can restore it from the App Store.

3. Find the connected drive on the tab Review.

4. Press your finger on the flash drive to open a menu with other actions.

5. Select PropertiesView disk parameters and current system files. Select Eraseto go to the formatting menu.

6. Adjust formatting options. You can select a volume label and one of three forms: FAT32, ExFAT And APFS.

When formatting in APFS You can enable data encryption.

7. Click EraseConfirm the action in the next window and after a few seconds the flash drive will be formatted.

After this, you can continue working with the drive or disconnect it from the device.