Besides, most flash drive come preformatted for use with both mac and pc anyway. How to format usb flash drive on mac stepbystep tutorial. Due to the smallest userbased percentage worldwide, mac os x users are the ones who might run into these file format problems. However, unless its been designed for use with a mac, it wont be formatted using macos preferred file system either mac os extended or. This is the file system you will need if you want to be able to easily transfer files back and forth between your mac and your my passport drive. When done, quit disk utility to return to the utilities window. Usb devices that use highpower input should be connect to the usb 5v, 1a port. However, unless its been designed for use with a mac, it wont be formatted using macos preferred file system either mac os extended or apfs, depending on which version of macos youre running. Mac os extended journaled this is the default file system format for mac os x drives. Fat32 is popular but the 4gb file size limit makes it inconvenient, for instance, when you want to make a bootable macos sierra usb drive which the system file takes about 8gb of storage space according to apple. How to use a usb drive with files on ios cult of mac. How to format usb flash drive using fatfat32ntfsexfat. You can also open a finder window, select applications in the sidebar, and head to utilities.
After choosing the best format for usb drive according to your needs, you might start to wonder. Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. Youll see the drives file system displayed to the right of format under the general heading. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat.
The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os. If you are not able to login to your mac, you need to use time machine backup disk. Well, that might not be as easy as you think, especially if you are more familiar with windows. If you have files larger than 4 gb and mostly share with windows pcs, choose ntfs. Which file format to choose when formatting usb drive on mac for pcs operating on macos high sierra or newer version, you can select from two options of file formats.
Formatting is the process that erases all existing data on a usb drive and sets up the file system it will use. Every newer file system handily whips fat32 in the file size department, allowing for sometimes ridiculously large files. How to format usb to fat fat32 ntfs exfat using windows explorer. Mac os x and macos both come with a builtin compression system that can zip and unzip files.
We all make mistakes, and you wouldnt be the first person in the world to accidentally format a usb flash drive. Moving files from macformatted external hard drive to pc. Your overwhelming video files are not all created in the best mac video formats like mov, mp4 and m4v, then video conversion process from the mac unsupported videos to the video format that mac can best recognize seems to be of top priority. How to transfer files from a mac desktop to an external. How to transfer files from a mac desktop to an external hard drive. Choose either apfs or mac os extended journaled to format as a mac volume.
Exfat is not compatible with computers older than windows vista or mac os x 10. If a usb device connected to the tv is not recognized, the list of files on the device is corrupted or a file in the list is not played, please connect the usb device to a pc, format the device and check the connection. If you want to share your files with the most devices and none of the files are larger than 4 gb, choose fat32. Select your external hard drive or usb flash drive from the list on the left. Some flash drives have to be formatted first before you can store files on them. A quick look at the mac app store reveals more than 50 apps for zipping and unzipping files. How to open mac format usb devce in windows youtube. If you want to use a different file system on your usb drive, youll need to format it. In disk utility on your mac, format disks or volumes using apple file system apfs, mac os extended, msdos fat, and exfat.
All usb drive, including sd memory card, set fat32 as the default system. To format a usb flash drive using file explorer, use these steps. And when you look at volume size limits, fat32 still lets you format volumes up to 8 tb, which is more than enough for a usb drive. Fat32 is the older version of fat and cant handle file sizes larger than 4gb.
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. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. Format an external hard drive or usb flash drive for mac os x. How to transfer files from a usb flash drive to a pc on. Rightclick on the flash drive or memory card, then select format. Need winmac compatible hd format with support for large. The overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats.
I cant transfer big files to usb with over 4 gb in size. Once youve copied any files you need from the usb drive to your mac. Ive already written about how, if your external usb drive is not recognized by windows, you might have to use the exfat file format, which both windows and mac support, however, this requires formatting the drive and copying all the data back on. 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 usb drives on windows 10 by ayo isaiah posted on apr 30, 2016 apr 28, 2016 in windows if you have a malfunctioning or corrupted usb drive, formatting it may be the best way to get it back to its original working state.
Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. How to format usb flash drive on mac recoverit wondershare. There is no need to reformat the usb flash drive since you will only be using the mac to read the files. It is required to format the usb drive to mac os file system to make it fully compatible with the platform. Otherwise you should have another mac for creating a bootable usb. By default, they format disks with the maconly os x extended file system.
In this article, we are taking a closer look at the disk utility, which. When you format a disk, the file system you choose essentially. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Thankfully, exfat a strict upgrade over fat32, is a file system optimized for usb flash drives.
How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. How to format a usb flash drive on windows 10 windows. Plug the drive into a usb socket if you have a recent macbook or macbook pro. The format is also what makes the drive compatible with time machine for backup on your mac. This integrated system is relatively basic, which is why many thirdparty apps are also available. You can also export a document as a pdf file or an html file, among other choices. How to view mac files on a windows pc online tech tips. Is there a possibility to format an external usb harddrive in order to support larger files than 4 gb, and keep its compatibility with mac os x and windows vista. In the screenshot below, the drive is formatted with the exfat file system. The file system is what tells the drive how to store the data that is to be written to, read or deleted from it. Fat or fat 32 file system is the option selected by default for formatting a usb flash drive on windows xp. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks.
Finally, although an external hard drive is a good way to move files from a mac to a pc, there are other ways to do it. Format usb hard drive to exfat to transfer large files mac. File system formats available in disk utility on mac apple support. If you want to use the drive between a windows and mac machine, you can format it to fat32. The type of file system that is needed on a usb drive varies depending on the type of device it. Fortunately, there is a file system actually two, ill explain that you can format your flash.
Fat or fat32 is also the default file system most music players in cars recognise. How to transfer files from pc to mac via usb quora. Transferring a 4gb or larger file to a usb flash drive or. If you want to make your drive compatible with mac and windows, you need to format it with a common file system for mac.
Choosing the right format for your external hard drive b. If you are a mac user, here is an overview of different file system systems and how to choose the format to use for the usb drive to. How to format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility since the pc and mac are two different operating systems, they use different file systems. Meanwhile, the fat32 format has one major disadvantage. Under the devices and drivers section, rightclick the flash drive and. If you have files larger than 4 gb, but still want pretty good support across devices, choose exfat. Fat 32 doesnt work because its limited to file sizes below 4 gb, and ntfs isnt supported by mac os x i need to share an. Under file system, choose the file system you want to use. Nowadays, when you buy a usb drive, you can use it right out of the box with your mac. File system formats available in disk utility on mac. Disk drill, a premium data recovery solution for mac os x with support for all popular file formats and common storage devices, is here to help you recover deleted files from usb flash drive. How to choose the best format for usb drive on windowsmac. Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on mac and windows.
On windows 10, you can quickly transfer virtually any file format and folders from a usb flash drive thumb drive to your computer, and you can export files to. Transferring files from your mac desktop to a usb flash drive or an external hard disk seems to be a simple task, right. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. Ntfs is the default file system for windows operating system and hfs for mac operating system. Choose format type select extended mac os journaled. 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. This format can be used for almost all operating system, such as windows, mac, linux, and android. If you need to share a file with someone who does not have office for mac or who has an older version, you can save your document in a file format that a different or older application can read. Here is the difference, apfs format is not compatible with macos versions older than high sierra. How to format usb drives on windows 10 make tech easier. If you choose to format using fat32 then keep in mind that fa. To format a drive on a mac, youll need the builtin disk utility application. By default, macs use hfs, while pcs use ntfs, which are not compatible with each other. Disk utility shows the recommended mac format by default.