Expanding Storage Options: Using an iPad to Format External USB Devices Effortlessly

With how “computer-like” Apple is trying to make its tablets, the iPad is still, at its core, just an oversized phone. iPadOS is still based on iOS and lacks many of the features that we expect from a large-screen device. But if you’re the kind to use external drives with your iPad, you’ll be glad to know Apple is finally adding something we’ve long needed.

Apple’s iPadOS 18 beta has introduced a significant enhancement to its Files app, allowing users to reformat external drives directly from their iPads. This feature, previously exclusive to macOS’s Disc Utility, is something that should have debuted years ago, given Apple has wanted users to use iPads as their main or secondary computers (and that includes power users to some extent).

Nevertheless, drive reformatting is now coming to users as a part of iPadOS 18 later this year. With this feature, you can now access options to reformat drives into APFS (with Case Sensitive or Encrypted variations), ExFAT, and MS-DOS (FAT) formats. This mirrors the functionality of Disc Utility on macOS, excluding macOS-specific extension formats.

Kaleb Cadle

The introduction of options for renaming and erasing external drives in iPadOS 17 hinted at the possibility of further enhancements, and it looks like we’re getting those with this new main update. This development is important as it helps to further bridge the gap between iPadOS and macOS functionalities, particularly for users who rely on external drives for their workflows.

This also raises the question of whether additional Disc Utility features, such as “Restore” and “First Aid,” might be incorporated into iPadOS in future updates. We also have a feature called “Keep Downloaded,” which will allow you to keep files downloaded into your main storage rather than automatically offloading those files to the cloud.

For now, if you want to check it out, you can do so by signing up for the beta. We don’t really recommend downloading the beta for most users, and especially not right now, since we’re in the very first public beta. A stable version of iPadOS 18 will be available by the end of this year, probably in September.

Source: Kaleb Cadle (Substack) via MacStories

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