Usb External Hard Drive Format For Both Windows And Mac

When you work (or live) in an environment that consists of both Mac and Windows computers, it becomes a constant headache negotiating the different filesystems and their compatibility. First, there is the lack of NTFS write capability on Mac’s.

WD 4TB Elements Desktop USB 3.1 Gen 1 External Hard Drive. Table), it has since been used because it is compatible with modern and older systems. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on Mac and Windows. The overwhelming majority of USB flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats: FAT32 or NTFS. The first format, FAT32, is fully compatible with Mac OS X, though with some drawbacks.

Then there is the inability to write files greater than 4gb on Fat32 and of course the complete lack of support on Windows for a Mac drive formatted with HFS+. There are two answers. One is to use a paid 3rd party tool to add NTFS write support to a Mac, such as tool. The other is to format your drives with the exFAT file system. This file system can be read and written by both Mac and Windows with support for single files of up to 128 petabytes! Even better, it’s freely included in both operating systems. Install jvm 1.8 for mac. A drive can be formatted with exFAT using either a Windows or a Mac computer.

From what I understand, Windows doesn’t always like the way Mac’s do the formatting on some larger drives, though, so give it a try and if your Windows machines don’t like it, just format the drive with Windows. If you need to be sure without the time to test it, it is best to do the formatting on Windows since there don’t appear to be any compatibility problems that way.

So how do you do it? First, make sure anything important from the drive has been backed up. You don’t want to accidentally lose it when you format the drive. Windows • Right click on the external drive in “My Computer”, and then click “Format”. • In the “File System” drop-down select “exFAT”.

• Click “Start”. Select ExFAT when formatting an external drive with Windows. Mac (OS X Sierra) • Open Disk Utility and click the drive you want to format. • Click “Erase” and from the “Format” drop-down select “ExFAT”. • Click “Erase”. Select ExFAT when formatting an external drive in Mac OS X Sierra.

Both operating systems will go through and setup the file system on the drive. Once complete you can close the dialogue windows. Now you are all ready to go.

Photo by Sharon Vaknin/CNET If you need to expand your storage space with an external hard drive and you use both Mac and PC, you'll likely run into a few obstacles. Hard drives advertised as being compatible with Windows and Mac OS may have misled you into thinking you could actually use one hard drive for both computers. You can, but not out of the box. Most external hard drives (HD) are sold in a format called NTFS, which is designed to work with Windows. Macs read and write to a different format, called HFS+. Another format, called FAT32 is compatible with both OS platforms. Here's a look at how the different HD format types function: FAT32 (File Allocation Table) - Natively read/write FAT32 on Windows and Mac OS X.

- Maximum file size: 4GB - Maximum volume size: 2TB NTFS (Windows NT File System) - Natively read/write NTFS on Windows. - Read-only NTFS on Mac OS X - Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and above but has proven instable. Onedrive for mac alternatives.

- Maximum file size: 16 TB - Maximum volume size: 256TB HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, aka Mac OS Extended) - Natively read/write HFS+ on Mac OS X - Required for Time Machine - Maximum file size: 8 - Maximum volume size: 8EiB Isn't FAT32 the obvious solution? According to the list above, formatting your hard drive to FAT32 so that you can read and write on either OS seems like the obvious solution. The video and directions below will guide you through the process, but before you format your HD to FAT32, beware of these drawbacks: • FAT32 offers no security, unlike NTFS, which allows you to set permissions.

If your HD gets into the wrong hands, that person will be able to access your data. • The max size for any given file stored on a FAT32-formatted HD is 4GB. So, for example, if you want to store a 9GB movie, it will be impossible. • In general, FAT32 drives are more susceptible to disk errors. • It's not a huge issue, but FAT32 is less efficient at storing files. Its large cluster sizes waste disk space, unlike the other HD storage formats. If you've considered these issues and would still like to use FAT32, this video will guide you through the process of formatting your HD to FAT32 using a Windows or Mac PC: OK, what are my alternatives to using FAT32?