Buying and using an external hd is one thing, getting the most out of it is quite another. So i needed a format which is both read and write on both the systems. Thus, if you wish to format ntfs on mac, then you must be using an external storage unit. Aborted lacie setup assistant while it was formatting. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. Seagate backup plus hub is available in two models, windows and mac. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020.
You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat. After du loads select your hard drive this is the entry with the mfgr. Connect your external hard drive to your pc, and then select this drive from the list and rightclick on it. Using wd 4 tb my passport for both mac and pc external.
But compared with formatting, an ntfs for mac driver like iboysoft ntfs for mac is a better and feasible solution. How to format a hard drive windows 10, 8, 7, vista, xp. Im using disk utility to partition my external drive. How do i format my hard drive to fat32 on windows 10. Select your external hard drive or usb flash drive from the list on the left. In the file system list box, choose exfat, type in a volume label if you. It takes long 12 minutes, but does the job and is much more reliable than the mac terminal, which times out every other time. This tutorial explains how to format external hard driveusb flash drive exfat in windows 10. Format wd elements for mac and pc have your drive for both. The instructions below are for windows 10, but other versions of windows from windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exfat for use with mac as well. For a hard drive to be able to be read and written to in both a pc and mac computer, it must be formatted to exfat or fat32 file format.
After doing that neither the pc nor the imac even sees the external hd at all. I will leave windows instructions below for the benefit of windows users. Is it a good idea to format my external hard drive as exfat if i use it for both mac and windows. Apr 14, 2020 finally, an exfat partition will be created on your external hard disk so that it could be shared between mac and windows pc. You should go ahead and format your storage drive with exfat. How to format seagate external hard drive for both mac. Thus, you can make hard drive be compatible with windows and mac. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly.
Therfore, you can connect backup plus desktop to a windows pc without formatting the hard drive. You can also use exfat to format the external hard drive of yours. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on a mac. The format dialog in windows doesnt explain the difference, so we will.
Whether you are trying to backup mac to an external hard drive, wipe out any personal information and sell the computer, or even use a new operating system, you need to format the hard drive on your mac or pc. And in a few minutes your wd elements drive is exfat formatted ready for you to use on your mac and windows pc. However, ntfs is not fully compatible with mac computers. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard drive for mac. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. Fat32 has several limitations, including a 4 gb perfile limit. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. Format external hdd for mac and windows exfat partition. Before proceeding further, it is recommended to take a backup of your important files.
I recommend using it when compatibility between mac and windows is important. You can use lacie setup assistant to format your lacie hard drive when it is first connected to a computer windows or mac. Essentially, its a file system thats both readable and writable on any modern mac or windows machine sorry, leopard users. Choose this format if the size of the disk is over 32 gb. You can format an external hard drive or thumb drive to work seamlessly with both mac and windows by using the exfat file system. However, one of the main differences between fat32 and exfat is that the former will only support file sizes of up to 4gb. Macos is capable of reading and writing the various fat formats as well as ntfs.
How to format hard drive to exfat in windows 7810 three. Is it a good idea to format my external hard drive as. 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. How to format hard drive to exfat in windows 7810 three ways. The exfat format allows individual files larger than 4 gib, facilitating long continuous recording of hd video which can exceed the 4 gib limit in less than an hour. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly with macs. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice. Mar 15, 2018 once youve gotten all the data off the macformatted drive, youll probably want to format it with the exfat file system.
Yes, but you need to make sure you format the hard drive in exfat so it is both readwrite in windows pc and. But to get a hard drive to be compatible for both mac and pc, you have to choose the exfat formatting options. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. Windows will only format a drive as exfat if windows recognizes it as a removable drive. Dr version for mac os x to readwrite exfat formatted hdd, two options. Partition a hard drive for macos time machine and windows. Whether youre formatting an internal drive, external drive, usb flash drive, or sd card, windows gives you the choice of using three different file systems. In this guide, well show you how to format an external hard drive so you can not only get rid of the.
Transferring files between the two operating systems is less of a hassle, since you dont have to constantly back up and reformat each time. I called up the properties of the my passport hd and simply reformatted the wd hard drive to the exfat format using my pc as i was led to believe was needed. Nov 01, 2017 for anyone who has similar or the same problem. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux.
Macyourself blog archive how to format a drive for mac and pc. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. How to format a drive in exfat so it works on both windows and mac. If you wish to format external hard drive in exfat follow the steps below. Actually, when you connect a macformatted drive to windows computer, it will pop up a window reminds you that you need to format the disk in. So, if you want to use an external hard drive on both windows and mac, you need to format it to a filesystem that is compatible with windows pc and mac. Format external hard drive for mac and pc with exfat. Once youve gotten all the data off the mac formatted drive, youll probably want to format it with the exfat file system. Windows will format the drive as exfat and youll be able to use. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility.
This file system can be read and written by both mac and windows with support for single files of up to 128 petabytes. Want to format a hard drive for mac and pc compatibility. Is it a good idea to format my external hard drive as exfat. Jan 26, 20 i heard somewhere that if a external hard drive is formated exfat on a mac, it wont work on windows, unless it is mac os x 10. Use the exfat file system and never format your external drive again. You can select the exfat format when using the disk. Mac os journaled is the formatting option for mac and ntfs or msdoc is the. Choose this format if the size of the disk is 32 gb or less. Current digital cameras using fat32 will break the video files into multiple segments of approximately 2 or 4 gib.
Sep 12, 2019 format drive to exfat in windows 10 so it is read and write in mac os as well. Panel administrative tools create and format hard disk partitions. Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label. A window will pop up where you can choose the format ntfs, fat32, or exfat. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself. If you want to share files that you have backed up between mac and pc, now please transfer these files back to external hard drive. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. When youre reformatting a hard drive, windows will ask you what format to use. Jan 25, 2019 designed by microsoft to provide similar compatibility to fat32 without the pesky limitations, exfat is the format of choice for drives that youll share between both windows and mac computers. Dec, 2019 you can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. Feb 03, 2020 you want to quickly and permanently erase all content from your mac and restore it to factory settings, such as when youre selling, giving away, or trading in your mac. Now your usb flash drive is formatted with ntfs format. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Turns out exfat exists so that mac and windows can coexist harmoniously.
How to format your hard drive to exfat file system on windows. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. While mac os x can read hard drives formatted as ntfs, write access is. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Partition a hard drive for macos time machine and windows 10 backups. Simply follow any of the methods discussed in the article and successfully format your drive to exfat file system. Also known as fat32 on some systems, this is another option that you can choose if you want to format a hard drive that will be compatible across windows and mac. Choose format fat32 or exfat, and then set format information allocation unit size, volume label and format option. Well, if you are both mac and windows pc and one external hard disk drive for storage and backups then you. Format the other on your pc using ntfs if you wont need to write to it from the os x side or use exfat if you do. Although it is possible to format a drive as exfat from disk utility on the mac, that drive will not work with windows pcs, and thats not what. Exfat may have some limitations that cause problems it depends.
How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. The instructions below are for windows 10, but other versions of windows from windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exfat for use with mac as. How do i format my external hard drive to exfat on mac. The other is to format your drives with the exfat file system. Besides windows and mac, it can also compatible with various devices like ps3, ps4, xbox one, etc. Click the format popup menu, then choose one of the following. Although both fat32 and exfat are compatible with mac and pc, exfat is a much better choice because it has fewer limitations. Therefore, its perfect for a usb flash drive or external disk, especially when you need to save files more than 4gb in size. Boot camp software for running windows on a mac and the microsoft office productivity suite. To format external drive to file system compatible with mac and pc, connect the drive to your computer and follow the detailed steps given below take formatting hard drive to exfat in windows 7 for example.
How to format your hard drive hdd for mac os x compatibility with the correct exfat allocation unit size. How to format your hard drive to exfat file system on. Select your thumb drive in the disk utility window then click the erase tab. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Under the window of format, file system, the only option is. Format encrypted drives as exfat to make them play. Click the scheme popup menu, then choose master boot record. Hey guys, whats the best format for my external hard drive so that mac os x and windows 7 via bootcamp can readwrite to it.
Format your external drive with exfat for both mac and. Your backup plus desktop is formatted as ntfs for compatibility with windows out of the box. This is a file system limitation that affects both mac s and pcs, and the only workaround is to format the drive. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Feb 08, 2018 how to format hard drive for mac and windows and do partition for time machine backup. Your wd elements drive will be on your mac s desktop under the name you gave it. Mar 03, 2020 as you can see, exfat is the only file system that works with all versions of windows and macos and does not have any max filesize or partitionsize limits. Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well.
When it comes to formatting the drive to exfat or ntfs file system, you can do with the usual or inbuilt windows 10 formatting tool known as disk management. To sum up, it is easy to format an external hard drive for both mac and windows pc. Find out how to format an external drive or usb disk making the drive work with both windows pc and mac can read and write. You can format the drive from either the mac or the windows machine.
You want to quickly and permanently erase all content from your mac and restore it to factory settings, such as when youre selling, giving away, or trading in your mac. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. Whats the difference between fat32, exfat, and ntfs. But, you cant use the formatting tool if you would like to format fat32 windows 10. If you are a mac user, then you at least have mac os x 10. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Youre changing the format of a disk, such as from a pc format fat, exfat, or ntfs to a mac format apfs or mac.
The maximum length for the volume name is 11 characters. While its convenient to purchase the hard drive that will work with your computer right out of the box, most external hard drives can also be reformatted so youre not limited to your initial choice. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. The format is not used for the internal hard drives in mac. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb.
For reliability purposes, on smaller drives, i would stick with fat, because when os x writes ntfs, it can read it back, but sometimes windows cannot. A few of my friends said they were able to format their hd s to exfat during the win 7 install but for some reason, while my install allows me to format the hd, it does not allow me to choose the type of format. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. A drive can be formatted with exfat using either a windows or a mac. Jul 19, 2019 how to format ntfs on mac ntfs is a commonly used file format for windows systems and external devices. To format western digital my passport for mac or windows, you can rely on inbuilt applications of your system to format your wd my passport in exfat or fat32 format.
Open up windows explorer and rightclick on your drive in the sidebar. Even better, its freely included in both operating systems. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Select your drive from the list and rightclick on it. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. Because i own more windows pcs than mac, windows will end up.
How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. In addition to that, if you are a pc user, then you must have windows sp1, windows 8 or 7, or newer like windows. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc.
It isnt as efficient as ntfs windows but is cross compatible between windows os and mac os since 10. But, it is not compatible with older operating systems. You can apply the thirdparty solution to format fat32 in windows 10 even when there is no fat32 option in windows 10 explorer or disk management. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Apr 23, 2009 the os hd is a ssd so i am really interested in using the exfat format. How to format your hard drive to exfat file system on windows 10. Which mac file system is best for an external drive. Which is the best format fat32ntfsexfat for a hard disk. Nevertheless, the bridge between the two operating systems can be achieved with an external hard drive for mac and pc formatted as exfat. Format drive to exfat in windows 10 so it is readandwrite in mac os as well. Apr 17, 2020 how to format your hard drive to exfat file system on windows 10. Mar, 2020 follow the windows 10 fat32 format tutorial to format hdd to fat32 or format external hard drive to fat32 in windows 10.
For instance, you might wish to format as sd card, pen drive, external hard disk, etc. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with windows computers. Plug the disk into a windows vista sp1 or windows 7 computer. Format external driveusb exfat in windows 10 in simple steps. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. This article will show you how to successfully format hard drive to exfat in windows 1087 within few steps. Apr 15, 2020 how to format hard drive to exfat in windows 7810 three ways. Use the exfat file system and never format your external. Now your entire wd elements external hard drive is in a format. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac.
I heard somewhere that if a external hard drive is formated exfat on a mac, it wont work on windows, unless it is mac os x 10. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc. Youre changing the format of a disk, such as from a pc format fat, exfat, or ntfs to a mac format apfs or mac os extended. As formatting will going to erase everything on your drive and thats why avoid formatting. From then on, that drive should work fantastically between mac. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. To learn how to format in mac your hard drive, follow these steps. Windows will format the drive as exfat and youll be able to use the drive on both windows and mac. Lacie setup assistant helps you to quickly format the storage device according to your needs.
How to format a drive in exfat so it works on both windows. Both windows and mac os x have full readwrite support for exfat drives without any additional thirdparty software. I have numerous external hard drives that were formatted in exfat under windows xp pro but under my new system, a fully updated windows 7 professional, i cannot format external drives to exfat. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different format. You have to set it up correctly before getting starting. Jan 27, 2019 mac instructions above will now work for exfat. If you want to transfer files from a mac to windows pc and vice versa. It can be fully supported by windows systems and readonly supported by mac os.
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