Formatting an SD card: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:43, 2 October 2023

The process to format an SD card to FAT32 is different for Windows, Linux and macOS.

ChromeOS is not an option and formatting an SD card with its built-in formatter may result in it becoming unusable by consoles.

Choose your operating system

Windows Linux Mac

Optionally, if you have a 3DS with custom firmware, you can instead use GodMode9.

If you have an unpatched or modchipped Switch, you can instead use TegraExplorer

Note: If you do not wish to create an emuNAND, e.g. for a sysCFW setup or for other consoles, select Only Fat32 instead of Fat32 + EmuMMC

If you already understand how to use the tools in the above guides, here are direct links to their pages:

Windows: SD Memory Card Formatter + guiformat
Mac: Disk Utility
Linux: GParted + dosfstools

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 The process to format an SD card to FAT32 is different for Windows, Linux and macOS.
+ChromeOS is not an option and formatting an SD card with its built-in formatter may result in it becoming unusable by consoles.
 {{OS selector|w=1|l=1|m=1}}
-{{critical|text=ChromeOS and Android are not an option and formatting an SD card with its built-in formatter may result in it becoming unusable by consoles.}}
+Optionally, if you have a 3DS with custom firmware, you can instead use [[3DS:GodMode9 Usage#Format an SD card|GodMode9]].
-{{info|text=iOS/iPadOS cannot format SD cards.}}
+If you have an unpatched or modchipped Switch, you can instead use [[switchguide:user_guide/emummc/partitioning_sd|TegraExplorer]]
-=== Alternatives ===
+* Note: If you do not wish to create an emuNAND, e.g. for a sysCFW setup or for other consoles, select Only Fat32 instead of <code>Fat32 + EmuMMC</code>
-* If you have a 3DS with custom firmware, you can instead use [[3DS:GodMode9 Usage#Format an SD card|GodMode9]].
-* If you have an unpatched or modchipped Switch, you can instead use [[switchguide:user_guide/all/partitioning_sd_syscfw|Hekate]] or [https://github.com/suchmememanyskill/TegraExplorer TegraExplorer]
-** Note: Under TegraExplorer, if you do not wish to create an emuNAND, e.g. for a sysCFW setup or for other consoles, select Only Fat32 instead of <code>Fat32 + EmuMMC</code>
 ----
@@ Line 17: / Line 16: @@
 * Windows: [https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/ SD Memory Card Formatter] + [http://ridgecrop.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm guiformat]
 * Mac: [https://support.apple.com/guide/disk-utility/format-a-disk-for-windows-computers-dskutl1010 Disk Utility]
-* Linux: [https://github.com/dosfstools/dosfstools dosfstools]
+* Linux: [https://gparted.org/download.php GParted] + [https://github.com/dosfstools/dosfstools dosfstools]
 [[Category:General guides]]