Im be using this hard drive for both my mac and windows rigs. Step 2 follow the steps above to format the drive, and then you can use it with time machine on your mac system. Locate your external drive from the list of devices and drives. In the file system dropdown, choose exfat instead of ntfs. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer.
When you format a partition or drive in windows 10, there are three types of file system you wont be unfamiliar, ntfs, fat32 and exfat. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Well, if you are both mac and windows pc and one external hard disk drive for storage and backups then you. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. I use exfat on my external drives and it can readwrite on both mac and pc. Ntfs, a modern file system, is used in system drive by default due to its advanced features what benefit system running. 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 internal and or external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers. How to format an external hard drive the easy way in 2020. I got my hands on a new adata hd710, 1tb external hard drive. The maximum individual file size for exfat is 16 eb.
How to format your hard drive to exfat file system on windows. Please like, sub, share if you find this video helpful. Thats all because its been initialized with windows nt file system ntfs, which is primarily for pcs. A window will pop up where you can choose the format ntfs, fat32, or exfat. So if you want your external hard drive to be backward compatible with both oss then you need to reformat it with fat32 or exfat. This is useful if a drive is being used under both operating system osto.
Should i reformat this drive to exfat or just keep it as ntfs and install a program like tuxera or. Format your external drive with exfat for both mac and. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. How can i reformat my external hard drive without losing data. This is a file system limitation that affects both mac s and pcs, and the only workaround is to format the drive. But to get a hard drive to be compatible for both mac and pc, you have to choose the. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Like yourself, the same external hard drive can be readwritten on a different imac also mojave. A drive can be formatted with exfat using either a windows or a mac computer. Now that you know which format to use, check out our guide on how to format your hard drive on. 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. You should create multiple partitions on your external hard drive, in order to have enhanced file organization. Now, im in limbo as to the format i should have on this drive. In order to get started and partition your external hard drive, follow the simple instructions below.
Because mac os x mountain lion does not natively support writing to an external ntfs drive, you must erase your hard disk and format it. How to format an external hard drive for windows 10. This will format the drive as exfat format and your drive is now compatible with both platforms. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with. Please, backup any data you are interested in keeping which is already. Under file system, choose the file system you want to use. Both fat32 and exfat can be used on windows pc and mac. The following tutorials will teach users how to format an external hard drive for both mac and pc to exfat on mac osx and windows 10. Mac os x and windows can both read and write to disks in the fat or exfat format. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Rightclick on the external hard drive and click format. 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. The hard drive with fat32 file system is unable to store large file beyond 4gb. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac.
The mac drive may have an efi system partition on it. I hope you enjoyed my article on how to make an external hard drive compatible with mac and pc without reformatting. Mac os x sierra open disk utility and click the drive you want to format. You can then rightclick in the empty space and select new simple volume to create a partition and format it with the windows ntfs or fat32 file systems.
Open up windows explorer and rightclick on your drive in the sidebar. Seagate backup plus slim, especially for largecapacity removable storage devices. Bonus tip data recovery from formatted hard drive on mac. How do i format my external hard drive to exfat on mac.
Here we take an example of formatting external hard drive to exfat in a. Ntfs has quite a lot of strong advantages, which may actually make it a good format choice for certain external hard drives, depending on the circumstances. While you have bought this drive, you will find the drive already formatted for your mac or windows system. Fat32 is another option, but it limits file transfer to 4gb, so choose exfat when formatting your drive.
Feb 08, 2018 how to format hard drive for mac and windows and do partition for time machine backup. In general, it is necessary to change a hard drive to exfat file system in windows 1087 under the cases listed below. Click go on the top tool bar, and select utilities. Oct 18, 2019 this wikihow teaches you how to change an external usb hard drive s format on windows and mac computers. Format external hdd for mac and windows exfat youtube. Click erase and from the format dropdown select exfat. To sum up, it is easy to format an external hard drive for both mac and windows pc. Most drives come formatted in fat32 which is also readwrite by both mac and pc, but that has file size limitations i think 4gb limit per file. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Choose this format if the size of the disk is over 32 gb. Select exfat when formatting an external drive with windows. This is very easy to carry out, and only requires a few moments of your time. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. Now you can use your external hard drive with both windows and mac os x.
Seagate backup plus slim 2tb external hard drive portable hdd silver usb 3. Ive reformatted it to apfs on the macbook pro, set ignore ownership permission on the drive, but its still readonly as far as finder is concerned. Mar 15, 2018 rather than use a macformatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfatformatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs. Backup disks you can use with time machine apple support. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. Formatting a hard drive can change the file system to make it compatible with your computers operating system, as well as fix any nonphysical errors on the drive itself. Dec, 2019 now enter the name for the external drive which will be used after formatting and also select exfat for format option and click on the erase. By default, windows computers will choose ntfs new technology file system for you because thats the native microsoft filing system. Formatting an external hard drive will remove all the data already present on it. Fat32 is most compatible file system format that can be readandwrite in many. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop. Use the exfat file system and never format your external. How to format or partition an external hard drive for mac. The speed over the usb connection will physically be the same for both formats, but the ntfs format is smaller in length than the exfat format.
Feb 08, 2020 so, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac. As the default file system in windows, it can only read by mac os, writing to it is not available. Dec 29, 2015 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. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. Either way there is a solution to having an existing external hard drive for mac and pc. How to format or partition an external hard drive on mac. Format external hard drive for mac and pc with exfat. The below steps for formatting external drive is for windows 10 and also. Before digging in, select a primary format youll use the most. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. How to format an external hard drive with pictures wikihow.
How to format an external hard drive for mac and windows. Dec 25, 2016 so if you want your external hard drive to be backward compatible with both oss then you need to reformat it with fat32 or exfat. 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. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. However, you have to reformat the drive to make it functional with your mac computer. Format external driveusb exfat in windows 10 in simple steps. Sep 12, 2019 when you format a partition or drive in windows 10, there are three types of file system you wont be unfamiliar, ntfs, fat32 and exfat.
How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. External hard drive compatible with mac and pc without. Transferring data from a mac to pc via an external hard drive. Choose the exfat file system in the list and click start. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a mac, you should choose exfat. Macos extended if you primarily use mac with a secondary exfat partition, or. After upgrading to mojave on my macbook pro, my external hard drive is now readonly.
Select your drive from the list and rightclick on it. Apr 17, 2020 there are various methods to format your external hard drive to exfat on windows 10. If youre worried about the exfat file systems reliability factor, or a lack thereof, there is a way to format the secondary windows partition to ntfs, but it requires connecting the hard. This means its the format of choice for system drives on windows computers. 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. After youre done, dont forget to remove the external hard. 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. So, you just bought an external hard drive or a portable ssd and wanted to use it on your mac. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods revealed. Luckily, there are thirdparty tools to help you do so. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. You can format the drive from either the mac or the windows machine.
Also, if your current hard drive is more than 5 years old, it probably is nearing the end of its service life and needs to be replaced. Not sure if there are any other limitations to this format, but it seems to work for me thus far. If you require single files to be larger than 4gb, use exfat instead, though you. Mar 31, 2020 if youre worried about the exfat file systems reliability factor, or a lack thereof, there is a way to format the secondary windows partition to ntfs, but it requires connecting the hard. A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. 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 to format drive with compatible file system for mac. From what i understand, windows doesnt always like the way macs do the formatting on some larger drives, though, so give it a try and if your windows machines dont like it, just format the drive with windows. How to format external hard drive mac 2 simple methods. But, remember, your mac will only be able to write to the os x partition while your pc can only write to the ntfsformatted windows partition. Jun, 2012 i got my hands on a new adata hd710, 1tb external hard drive. That said, if you are using smaller file sizes fat32 can suffice.
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. I have got a 1tb external hard drive and it has been formatted with ntfs file system. The best format for your external hard drive the hellotech blog. How to format internal andor external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers. Most drives come formatted in fat32 which is also readwrite by both mac and pc, but that has file.
Now enter the name for the external drive which will be used after formatting and also select exfat for format option and click on the erase. 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. Oct 16, 2019 the best format for external hard drives. It is similar to exfat which can be read by both windows and mac, but it can store more than 4gb files. Apr 17, 2020 to format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. If youre lucky, you can just rightclick each partition on the mac drive and select delete volume to remove the partitions. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file system. This is a file system limitation that affects both macs and pcs, and the only workaround is to format the drive. Whether you go the software or hardware route depends on your situation. To format external hard drive for mac with time machine, you must follow the steps below. If it is not ticked, you will lose all of your data. Dec 22, 2019 how to format external hard drive mac.
I believe ntfs is typically faster for readwrites to the disk. How to format external hard drive to use on mac and pc. Step 1 open finder, applications, then go to utilities and disk utility. How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. But compared with formatting, an ntfs for mac driver like iboysoft ntfs for mac is a better and feasible solution. Fat32 has several limitations, including a 4 gb perfile limit. 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. How to reformat an external hard drive without losing your. Under the window of format, file system, the only option is. How to format hard drive to exfat in windows 7810 three. To format the drive in windows, rightclick it in the file explorer window and select format. How to format hard drive for mac and windows and do partition for time machine backup. In the main interface, right click the partition on that need. Well, if you are both mac and windows pc and one external hard.
Which format is faster in a data transfer for a 1tb external. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. There are various methods to format your external hard drive to exfat on windows 10. If you insist to move the file to the hard drive, you need to format it to ntfs or exfat. With exfat, you can store files of any size, and use it with any computer made in the last 20 years. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. Rather than use a macformatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exfatformatted drives for moving data between macs and pcs. We dont recommend you to use any paid tool for this purpose, as there are betterintegrated features with windows 10 that can help you with the process of formatting your hard drive to exfat file system.
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