Comments on: How to clean up a Thumb Drive

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:57:44 +0000

The info was very helpful. I DO hate that clearing the memory from my flash is a 2-step process. Deleting From Drive, then Emptying the Entire Computer’s Trash. PLUS, when using a friends computer, I’m not comfortable deleting their trash (I’ll use the disk utility I guess.)

Still, there really isn’t a simple 1 step permanent deleting contents from flash drive? Not a fan of the current set up.

By: David

David — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:00:55 +0000

The problem may be the partition map scheme. Disk Utility is probably using GUID by default. Your device is probably expecting Master Boot Record.

Click on the disk (not the volume) in the left pane
Click the Partition tab in the right pane
Select 1 Partition layout
Click Options underneath the Partition Layout box
Select Master Boot Record and click OK
Select MS-DOS (FAT) format
Click Apply

By: deb

deb — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:19:05 +0000

I had the same error message. Try switching to mac OS extended on (not journaled). That did the trick for me. THANKS for the GREAT tip!

By: Zoe

Zoe — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:18:29 +0000

Thank you so much!

By: Michele

Michele — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 13:38:24 +0000

Thank you! This was VERY helpful, and took only a few seconds, not only to understand it (very clear!) but also to execute.

By: Stacie

Stacie — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:04:06 +0000

Beautiful! Thanks! My 4G thumb drive is 4G again. <3

By: Stacie

Stacie — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:03:44 +0000

That is because you didn’t fully delete. If you use Disk Utility as the post explains, the thumb drive will be removed of all its data remnant. It is very easy. Takes thirty seconds. Which is the same amount of time it takes to delete large files from a thumb drive into the waste basket…

By: Miraz Jordan

Miraz Jordan — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:55:37 +0000

Denny, is it possible something on the thumb drive is still in use? Did you open a photo or a document directly from the thumb drive, for example? If you did, and then closed the file but didn’t quit the app, that could cause a problem.

What happens if you try to simply eject the thumb drive? Do you get a message that a file is in use?

Try quitting all apps and then try to erase.

By: Denny Slaton

Denny Slaton — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:09:28 +0000

This was easy to follow, but did not work. I got the following error message–
Volume Erase failed with the error:
Could not unmount disk

Any thoughts on what to do next?

By: Miraz Jordan

Miraz Jordan — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 18:43:01 +0000

Thanks, Peter. I’m so glad it helped you out.