12-29-2010, 05:15 PM

This may sound so dumb but recently I moved some files of my USB into Trash but my USB said no files were on it but all the space was taken up that the files I recently moved to Trash were taking up- help please?

But mainly, I got a new USB a couple of weeks ago now and just took it out of the packet today. Any idea how I'd format it on mac? Thanks.


Oh, and PS- (THIS SOUNDS SOOO DUMB BUT PLEASE FORGIVE ME) Is there a similar thing to 'MY COMPUTER' on Mac, I know when you put your USB in it pops up on your desktop but yeah just wanted to know and if there is what's it called.


Thankyou! missgiraffe
a.k.a the dumb question asker

as you can plainly tell 1. my dad installed the programs on my mac and 2. i am a complete and utter newbie to macs!

12-29-2010, 05:19 PM

I had the same issue. It's a common sense one, but easy to forget.

You have to empty the trash to clear the space on the usb drive.

Edit: Forgot the other questions.

Finder would be your "My Computer" with all of the drives listed in the left pane.

And depending on the USB drive, it is likely already formatted in FAT32, which would make it universal to both PC and Mac. That's been my experience, anyway, using Sandisk Cruzers.

12-29-2010, 05:20 PM

Originally Posted by missgiraffe

But mainly, I got a new USB a couple of weeks ago now and just took it out of the packet today. Any idea how I'd format it on mac? Thanks.

In your Utilities Folder there is something called Disk Utility. That is how you would format any USB powered device for Mac. Make sure the format is Mac OS X Extended (journaled), or FAT (if you want it to be usable on Mac and PC).
Oh, and PS- (THIS SOUNDS SOOO DUMB BUT PLEASE FORGIVE ME) Is there a similar thing to 'MY COMPUTER' on Mac, I know when you put your USB in it pops up on your desktop but yeah just wanted to know and if there is what's it called.
Finder is like Windows Explorer. It is found on the far left of your dock. If you open Finder then go to Finder (at the top) -> Preferences, check the boxes next to "Hard Disk" and External Disks and then your "My Computer" and any external USB devices will pop up on the desktop.

Answers in red.

12-29-2010, 05:22 PM

Thanks that was really helpful, I feel so dumb!