If you have an external hard drive or USB flash drive that you’d like to use on both Macs and Windows PCs, choosing the right file system to format the drive can be confusing. Learn a few ways to make your drive Mac and PC friendly. Need to access or transfer files between Mac and PC?
As simple as this task sounds, it’s not very straightforward for inexperienced users. Since Mac OS X and Windows use totally different file systems, the way a drive is formatted can determine what type of computer it will work with. In fact, there are four ways you can format an external or USB flash drive to achieve varying degrees of compatibility between Macs and PCs. Let’s take a look at them: HFS+ Mac OS X’s native file system is HFS+ (also known as Mac OS Extended), and it’s the only one that works with Time Machine. But while HFS+ is the best way to format drives for use on Macs, Windows does not support it. If you’re only going to be using your external or USB flash drive with certain PCs – such as at home or the office – you might be interested in a program called.
Besides, you can format an external hard drive for Mac and Windows by converting HFS+ to FAT32 or exFAT without losing any data. Step 1: Backup Data in HFS+ Partition on Mac Just transfer all useful files out from the external hard drive to other devices on Mac.
When you install MacDrive on a Windows PC, it will be able to seamlessly read & write to HFS+ drives. This isn’t a good solution if you need your drive to work on any PC without installing software, though. NTFS The native Windows file system is NTFS, which is only partially compatible with Mac OS X. Macs can read files on NTFS drives, but it cannot write to them. So if you need to get files from a PC to your Mac, NTFS is a decent option. However, you won’t be able to move files in the other direction, from Mac to PC. FAT32 The most universally supported way to format your drive is with the FAT32 file system.
It works with all versions of Mac OS X and Windows. Case closed, right? Well, not so fast. Unfortunately, FAT32 is a very old file system and has some technical limitations.
For example, you cannot save files that are larger than 4GB on a FAT32-formatted drive. This is a deal-breaker if you work with huge files. The other limitation is the total size of the partition. If you format your FAT32 drive in Windows, the drive partition cannot be larger than 32GB. If you format it from a Mac running 10.7 Lion, the drive partition can be up to 2TB.
Much better, except for that pesky 4GB limit. ExFAT The exFAT file system eliminates the two major deficiencies of FAT32: the largest partition and file sizes it supports are virtually unlimited by today’s standards.
Awesome, it’s perfect! Almost since exFAT is fairly new, it isn’t compatible with older Macs and PCs. Any Mac running 10.6.5 (Snow Leopard) or 10.7 (Lion) supports exFAT, while PCs running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows 7 are compatible.
If you know you’ll be using computers running updated versions of these operating systems, exFAT is the clear best choice. Format a drive using Disk Utility on a Mac.
Launch Disk Utility (Applications Utilities). Select your external hard drive or USB flash drive from the list on the left. Click on the Erase tab.
Select the format – Mac OS Extended (HFS+), MS-DOS (FAT32), or exFAT – then name the drive. Click the Erase button and the drive will start formatting. Be aware that formatting a drive deletes all of the files on it, so back up anything important before completing this step. Format a drive using Windows.
Go to Computer (or My Computer in Windows XP). Select your drive from the list and right-click on it. Choose Format from the contextual menu. A window will pop up where you can choose the format – NTFS, FAT32, or exFAT. Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label.
Click Start to format the drive. I did exactly what you said to do in order to format a LaCie 160gb external hard drive to exFat for use on a Mac (OSX 10.7 Lion) and a PC (Windows 7). Unfortunately, now my Mac doesn’t “see” the hard drive anymore and my PC tells me the device is not working properly (error Code 43 in Device Manager).
Before reformatting from a NTFS, the LaCie worked fine on my Mac and my PC “saw” it but I couldn’t access it. It is connected via USB 2.0 and AC/DC power. Where could I go or what resource(s) is/are available for me to solve this problem? I heard using a firewire might help.
I just got a Seagate GoFlex Desk External Drive, and after reading your article, I tried to format it for ExFat but got an error: Invalid Option. Seagate tells me that they do not support ExFat. They say “Reformatting a drive in ExFAT is something that we don’t support. It can be an unstable format that can cause data corruption without warning.” Have you found that other hard drive manufactures say they don’t support this format for the same reason?
Should I turn the hard drive back in, and get a different one, where the manufacturer supports this format. Is what Seagate says true? I just got two Western Digital 3TB external hard-drives. I want to be able to use them on both Mac & PC. When i go to format it on my Mac, FAT32 is not an option, and every time i try exFAT i also get an “error: Invalid Option”. I then tried to do this on two other Macs & it still wouldn’t work, but then I tried it on a work-mate’s Mac today & it formatted in exFAT fine How unstable is exFAT?
I don’t want to lose the media i store on this drive. I don’t mind formatting it in FAT32, but it’s not an option when trying to format this hard-drive. Any suggestions? Is there a free formatting application that is good to use instead of using the “Disk Utility” on Mac.? I have an IMAC running OSX 10.7.5 I recently bought a Trekstor DataStation pocket light 500 GB external portable hard drive 2.5″ I need it to transfer 190 GB of video and audio files to give to an editor. I received it and a small paper inside said it’s not compatible with my IMAC. Only to READ files.
I’m not sure what system the editor will use and after reading all the comments above, I’m really hesitant to re-format the disc before moving the files onto. Now the files are on another TrekStor external drive that the camera guy lent me. I am not very technical and don’t want to screw anything up. Can anyone help? I do hope you can help me with this I was using my sisters Mac temporarily and before giving it back to her I copied all my files onto a thumb drive.
Tonight I copied those files to the hard drive of my PC laptop and removed them from the thumb drive. For whatever reason I am trying to open a few of the files in a certain program, but it keeps telling me that the file I am trying to access is not supported.
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Someone mentioned that maybe it has something to do with the thumb drive. I have no idea what to do and I am praying that I didn’t lose any of my files. Thanks so much!!
I’ve read too many posts from people having all sorts of problems using exFAT to consider using it. Maybe one day, but for now, “not ready for prime time!”. The best solution I found was: 1.
Format your hard drive, or every partition on it, using NTSF. You’ll end up with a drive that is: – Stable, so your data is relatively safe (priority #1) – Capable of handling large files – Readable/writable in Win 7+ – But only readable in Mac OS X 2. Make the NTSF drive both readable and writable in Mac OS X.
There are different ways to do that. Method 1: Mac OS X is actually capable of writing to a NTSF drive, just not by default (don’t ask!). So you need to activate it: 1. Go to “utilities” and start the “terminal” app.
(enter your password if prompted) 2. Type (copy/paste): sudo nano /etc/fstab Press “return” Type: LABEL=TEST none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse Press “return”, CTRL+O to save, CTRL+X to exit the terminal.
Unmount your drive, then plug it back in. It won’t show up anymore. Back in the terminal, type: open /Volumes press “return” There’s your NTSF drive! Now you can do whatever you want with it in Mac OS X.
(tip: create an alias of the volumes so you don’t have to go back to the terminal every time) Another free method: “EaseUS ALL-IN-ONE Partition Manager” software I’ve not tried it myself, but I’ve only heard good things about it. You can download it here:. Make sure to download the “free for home user” version. The other methods involve using 3rd party drivers such as: Paragon NTFS or Tuxera NTFS. They’re not free, but they won’t break the bank.
I hope this helps. Thank you so much for this easy to follow and understand explanation. I have OS X 10.7.5 running Lion. Bought the new Passport 1T today and even though the package says it can run on MAC OS X, when I tried to format with the company instructions it wouldn’t let me and stated “It will only run on 10.8 or above”. I looked at my old passport in Utilities and it was formatted as NTFS (Mac OS Extended) and wanted to follow the exact same since my old Passport has been excellent for my needs. I formatted the new Passport with NTFS and it works like a charm.
Really appreciate how you explained everything in simple terms, so not only was I able to do the formatting, I also understand what I am doing and why. I can now drag and drop files on to the new passport and they copy fast. Thanks a bunch. About MacYourself MacYourself was established in July 2008 by founders (and Apple enthusiasts) Ant and Frankie P., who wanted to create a tips & tricks site geared towards the average or new Apple product user. The name itself was an accident, shouted by Frankie P. In a moment of frustration when he couldn’t think of anything clever.
Immediately, a light went off in Ant’s head and he eventually convinced Frankie P. That it wasn’t as ridiculous as it first seemed. About us or send a friendly message. It's great to hear from people! Need some guidance? To our RSS feed.
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ExFAT format in Windows 10 When you format a partition or drive in Windows 10, there are three types of file system you won’t be unfamiliar, NTFS, FAT32 and exFAT. NTFS, a modern file system, is used in system drive by default due to its advanced features what benefit system running. FAT32 is most compatible file system format that can be read-and-write in many different operating systems. Why not and settle troubles once and for all? That is because FAT32 has inherent limitations, maximum 4GB in size for single file and maximum 8TB in size for single partition or volume. Under such condition, exFAT comes into being. ExFAT integrates the advantages of FAT32 and NTFS.
That is to say, you can use your external drive or USB flash drive on other operating systems and have no restriction in file size and partition size. It has lower compatibility compared with FAT32, yet strong enough for common use. When format exFAT on Windows 10? Usually, when you plug a removable device in Windows 10 for the first time, it would format that device to NTFS by default.
However, sometimes, we need exFAT format in Windows 10. For example, you have created and stored files on NTFS-formatted flash drive in Windows 10. One day, you want to share that data with your friend who owns a machine with Mac OS. Your USB drive will be read-only on OS X. On the contrary, the partition created by your friend’s Mac OS with HFS+ formatted won’t even be read by Windows 10. Really inconvenient!
For example, again, you have a game file larger than 4GB stored on your external drive with NTFS-formatted because FAT32 does not recognize file larger than 4GB as covered. Now you want it connected with PlayStation 4 (PS4) to read it.
What should you do since PS4 only reads FAT32 and exFAT? Guess you want Windows 10 to format external drive exFAT before you store files. Free exFAT formatting tool for Windows 10 is a free exFAT formatting utility you won’t want to miss in Windows.
It formats partition to exFAT no matter the partition is on external drive, USB stick, SD card, Pen drive, or internal hard drive (system drive is an exception) in Windows 10 as well as Windows 8/7/XP. In addition, this software will format large removable device to FAT32, which makes up for the drawback of Windows formatting utilities. For more information about formatting exFAT to FAT32 in Windows 10, please refer to. AOMEI Partition Assistant is small tool with no bundle software.
With its user-friendly interface, any user is capable of formatting. The freeware to take a closer look. How to format hard drive exFAT on Windows 10 in three steps? Before you start, connect the hard drive to your Windows 10 and make sure it is detected. Download and install the free formatting tool. Please note that all data on selected partition or volume will be lost.
Back up important data beforehand if any. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, right click the partition you want to format and select Format Partition.
Choose exFAT file system at this page. You are allowed to edit partition label and select cluster size at the same time. Preview the result. Click Apply and then Proceed after your confirmation. The process will be completed in a short while. Tips: If there is no partition on the hard drive, right click the unallocated space and select Create Partition to create a volume with exFAT format in Windows 10. Format drive exFAT in Windows 10 using Command Prompt It is quite easy to have exFAT format in Windows 10, isn’t it?
It worth mentioning that Windows 10 has built-in formatting tools as well, Disk Management and Diskpart. If right click a particular drive in Windows 10 File Explorer, you can format the drive to exFAT directly as well. Now, let’s get to know how to let Windows 10 format USB exFAT from NTFS via CMD. Press Windows key and R key to open Run. Type cmd and hit Enter. Run as administrator.
Type: format F: /FS: exFAT (where F: is your drive letter) and hit Enter. If it asks for confirmation, type Y. You can specify the partition label at next prompt if you want to. The formatting process will be completed soon. Type: exit when it finishes.
Conclusion Windows snap-in formatting tools are helpful in formatting exFAT on Windows 10. Nevertheless, they may disappoint you sometimes. For instance, you may find Windows 10 no exFAT option. In that case, AOMEI Partition Assistant is of great help.
Apart from formatting partition, AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard is capable of and securely erasing SSD to restore performance. Surely, you can do Disk Copy to transfer data after formatting a drive.