Formatting your drive to exfat file system is very easy. This will prompt a new window asking you to select a partition style for your disk. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at the same time and type in disk utility to find the program. Mac os lets me format this internal drive as exfat but windows 7 wont let me format it. Windows will choose ntfs for you because thats microsofts native filing system. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system.
Choose this format if the size of the disk is over 32 gb. This is a file system limitation that affects both mac s and pcs, and the only workaround is to format the drive. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a mac, you should choose exfat, which is an upgraded version of fat32. Macyourself blog archive how to format a drive for mac and pc. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. How to format a hard drive on mac to work on mac and pc. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. 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.
My hard drive 1218th times or so works, the others do not and i restart my computer, open disk util, repeat till it somehow works. Sometimes, you may want to try format directly to format your external hard drive partition to exfat for mac and windows. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. 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.
Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows. How to format a usb flash drive as exfat on windows pc. You can select the exfat format when using the disk. I am considering formatting this drive as exfat so that both windows 7 and mac os can both read and write to this drive without the need to partition the drive. Rather than use a mac formatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfat formatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs. If this is the case for you, rightclick the drive you want to format and click initialize disk. To format the drive to work with both platforms you will need use a windows computer to format the disk as exfat. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Right click on start and select command prompt admin.
However, fat32 has a maximum 4gb file size limit whereas exfat can work with files as large as 16eb. Using apples free disk utility app, you can easily format the drive, give it a label, or even partiti. How to format hard drive for mac and windows and do partition for time machine backup. Fat32 has several limitations, including a 4 gb perfile limit.
Give your settings a final lookover and click apply. However, it is not possible to format hard drive to exfat, the only option under the window of format file system is ntfs default. How to format an external hard drive for windows 10. If you have an external hard drive or usb flash drive that youd like to use on both macs. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesnt worry its not complex. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. If you are techy and use windows and mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between mac and pc. Once youve backed up all data on the macformatted drive, you can format it with the exfat file system on your windows computer. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. How to format an external hard drive to work with mac and.
Your wd elements drive will be on your mac s desktop under the name you gave it. Whats the difference between fat32, exfat, and ntfs. How to format a drive in exfat so it works on both windows and mac. Format your external drive with exfat for both mac and. But if you have formatted the external hard drive under the windows system, it would cause some inconvenience. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. And in a few minutes your wd elements drive is exfat formatted ready for you to use on your mac and windows pc. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. To learn how to format in mac your hard drive, follow these steps. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below.
You can format drive to exfat with windows file explorer. If you want to transfer files from a mac to windows pc and vice versa using an external portable hard drive then you have to have the external drive formatted in a file system both oss can read. Then click the second partition, name it mac, and change its format to mac os extended journaled. You can format the drive from either the mac or the windows machine. In the file system list box, choose exfat, type in a volume label if you. In general, windows builtin tools disk management and diskpart can format drive to exfat easily. Which mac file system is best for an external drive.
Make external harddrive compatible with mac and windows computer, how to format using disk utility on mac. Well, if you are both mac and windows pc and one external hard disk drive for storage and backups then you. 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. Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. Is it a good idea to format my external hard drive as exfat if i use it for both mac and windows. Thus, many users would like to use exfat instead of fat32 to make external hard drive for mac and windows interchangeable. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to format hard drive to exfat in windows 7810 three. So, i bought a 2tb drive a week or two ago and formatted it to exfat so it would work on both mac and pc. How to make external hard drive compatible with mac and pc. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac duration. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Fat32 and exfat can be compatible with mac and windows and you can choose one after realizing their respective merits and defects based on your demands.
Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. External data storage devices such as usb flash drives, external hard disk drives hdds, and solid state drives ssds provide one of the easiest ways to transfer files between separate computers without accessing the internet. 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. Now your entire wd elements external hard drive is in a format both computers can use. Therfore, you can connect backup plus desktop to a windows pc without formatting the hard drive. Dr version for mac os x to readwrite exfat formatted hdd, two options.
How to format your hard drive to exfat file system on windows 10. The maximum length for the volume name is 11 characters. If you have important data on your usb flash drive, you should backup your drive before formatting it. Some people are asking for a way to format a hard dr ive for mac. Just like windows, macos also gives us a seamless option to format hard drive for mac and pc.
Once you have it, your first task is to pick a suitable file system for that drive depending on your intended usage. You can format the external hard drive or usb drive to make it compatible with both mac and windows machines. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. If you want to transfer files from a mac to windows pc and vice versa using an. Select the external hard drive on the lefthand side. The operating system has an inbuilt tool, which is known as disk utility. How to format your hard drive hdd for mac os x compatibility with the correct exfat allocation unit size. Open disk utility and click the drive you want to format. The exfat file system eliminates the two major deficiencies of fat32. But here id like to discuss what kind of file system you should format seagate to for mac and pc. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple.
How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Open up windows explorer and rightclick on your drive in the sidebar. However, in disk management, youll find that there is no exfat option when you right click the partition that you need to format and choose format partition, if the partition is on an internal or external hard drive. Now, click on the top partition, name it windows, and change its format to msdos. Fat32 is another option, but it limits file transfer to 4gb, so choose exfat.
If youre going to be using the drive with a version of windows prior to windows vista, youre going to want to go with mbr. How to format a hard dr ive on mac to work on mac and pc. The easiest way to add storage to your mac is to buy an external hard drive. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. Your backup plus desktop is formatted as ntfs for compatibility with windows out of the box. Change the partition layout from current to 1 partition. How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Is it a good idea to format my external hard drive as. There are several ways to format drive in windows pc, you can do that in this pc or in disk management. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. If you need to make the external hard drive be compatible with window and mac, you need to format hard drive to exfat or fat32. How to format your hard drive to exfat file system on. It can be fully supported by windows systems and readonly supported by mac os.
In the file system dropdown, choose exfat instead of ntfs. From then on, that drive should work fantastically between mac. But to get a hard drive to be compatible for both mac and pc, you have to choose the exfat formatting options. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020. Yes, but you need to make sure you format the hard drive in exfat so it is both readwrite in windows pc and. Boot camp software for running windows on a mac and the microsoft office productivity suite. Learn a few ways to make your drive mac and pc friendly. Click erase and from the format dropdown select exfat. Select your thumb drive in the disk utility window then click the erase tab. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. Usually, to format the external hard drive as fat32 or exfat, you are advised to do this on a mac computer via disk utility.
If you want to make your drive compatible with mac and windows, you need to format it with a common file system for mac and windows. Heres how to correctly format the drive to work on both. Format wd elements for mac and pc have your drive for both. Exfat may have some limitations that cause problems it depends. At the time of the original posting in 2011, there were some problems getting a mac formatted exfat drive working with windows, it had trouble recognizing those drives. Now your usb flash drive is formatted with ntfs format. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. You can also set up allocation unit size and volume label here. Use the exfat file system and never format your external. Simply follow any of the methods discussed in the article and successfully format your drive to exfat file system. How to format seagate drive for mac and pc quickly and. How to format hard drive to exfat in windows 7810 three ways. Using it, you can erase a hard drive, create new partitions, and even repair your disk as well.
How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. But, it half of the times works and the other, does nothing. Your innov8 is formatted as exfat for compatibility with windows and mac out of the box. How to format an external hard drive on windows formatting a hard drive on windows is a simple affair, especially if you leave everything as default.
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