landing.fyiStorage how-to
How to format an SD card or USB drive to FAT32
Your avionics wants FAT32. Here's the exact path on Windows and macOS.
You probably don't need to. SD cards 32 GB and smaller almost always ship FAT32 already. Reformat only if:
- your EFIS doesn't see the card, or
- it came formatted exFAT or NTFS (common on cards 64 GB and up).
Same steps for an SD / microSD card or a USB flash drive (Dynon SkyView logs to a stick). Formatting erases the drive — copy off anything you want to keep first.
Use a 32 GB-or-smaller card — it formats FAT32 by default and dodges the Windows size limit below. Most avionics cap at 16–32 GB anyway.
Format it to FAT32
Do this on a computer (see the phone note below). Pick your OS:
Windows
- Plug in the card and open File Explorer (Win + E).
- Right-click the drive under This PC and choose Format…
- Set File system to FAT32, leave Quick Format ticked, and click Start.
- Confirm the wipe warning.
Windows won't offer FAT32 in the dropdown for drives over 32 GB — only exFAT/NTFS, which most avionics can't read. Fix it either way:
- Use a 32 GB-or-smaller card.
- Or run a free tool that does FAT32 on big drives — FAT32 Format / guiformat (a single
guiformat.exeby Ridgecrop, no install): pick the drive, click Start.
Verify: right-click the drive → Properties — File system reads FAT32.
macOS
- Plug in the card and open Disk Utility (Applications › Utilities, or Spotlight).
- Choose View › Show All Devices.
- In the sidebar, select the top-level device (the card's hardware entry, not the volume nested under it).
- Click Erase in the toolbar.
- Set Format to MS-DOS (FAT) and Scheme to Master Boot Record.
- Click Erase, then Done.
MS-DOS (FAT) is FAT32 on a Mac (for a 32 GB-or-smaller card). And you must pick Master Boot Record for the Scheme — the GUID default won't be read by avionics. If Scheme is greyed out, you selected the volume — go back and pick the device above it.
Verify: Disk Utility shows the volume's format as MS-DOS (FAT32).
Formatting from a phone? Use a computer instead
Phones read a card fine for uploading a log. Formatting is the weak spot:
- iPhone / iPad: older iOS can't format a card at all; recent iOS added an erase option, but it's easy to land on the wrong file system.
- Android: some phones can (Settings › Storage › the drive › Format), but the path varies and Android often picks exFAT, which avionics won't read.
Read on a phone all you like — format on a Windows or Mac computer.
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