Trying to scan to USB but getting asked to reformat USB stick.

[AlthePal]

Trying to scan to USB stick using a stick I've used successfully many thimes before. Today the printer tells me it's using an unsupported file system and I need to reformat it using a FAT file system. Any help on how to sort this outwould be appreciated.

[senan6806]

@AlthePal

A warm welcome to HP Support Community!

HP Printers typically requires USB flash drives with FAT32 file system. Backing up the existing data from the flash driver and then formatting the flash drive with FAT32 file system should resolve the issue. I believe we can use Disk Utility to format USB flash drive to FAT32. 

Here is how to do it:

1.) Backup any data from the USB flash drive.

2.) Connect the USB flash drive to your Mac.

3.) Go to Applications > Utilities > Double click and open Disk Utility.

4.) Select your USB flash drive on the sidebar, choose Erase.
5.) Rename the USB flash drive, choose the format as MS-DOS (FAT) for Format, Master Boot Record for Scheme.
Then click Erase.

6.) Wait for the process to complete, once the format is complete, connect the USB flash drive to the printer and try to scan.

Let me know how it goes!

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Have a great day!

[AlthePal]

Sorry Senna, I should have mentioned that I’ve tried doing that several times, but I get the same error every time. I bought a new flash drive and was able to scan to that with no difficulty, so I guess the old one is useless now. Just baffled as to why it should stop working!

[senan6806]

@AlthePal

No worries, glad to hear that the printer is able to detect and save scans on a new flash drive. 

I'm not really sure what could have caused the flash drive to fail.

If you ever require any technical assistance, feel free to reach out to us. Have a great day!