Method 3: Format external hard drive for Mac and PC. Want to use external hard drive under both Windows PC and Mac? In this case, you should consider the hurdle that these operating systems support different filesystems. The default file system in Windows is NTFS, while Mac OS users HFS. How to format a drive for Mac and PC compatibility Posted by Ant on March 11th, 2012 43 Comments If you have an external hard drive or USB flash drive that you’d like to use on both Macs and Windows PCs, choosing the right file system to format the drive can be confusing.

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• Formatting Disk For Mac And Pc
• Formatting For Both Mac And Pc

In Disk Utility on your Mac, you can format an external disk for a Windows computer.

WARNING: Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. Save any files you need to another volume before formatting.

Once you have done with formatting, your external hard drive will be able to write and read files from both a PC and Mac. The resulting FAT32 file system will be compatible with all versions of Mac OS X, and Windows including Windows 10 back to 95. This is one of. If you need to work with Mac-formatted drives on a regular basis and you want the operating system integration, speed, and write access, Paragon HFS+ is a great choice and will be worth it for you. But, if you just need to get some files off a Mac-formatted drive occasionally, this is overkill and you can save $20 by sticking with HFSExplorer.

1. In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose View > Show All Devices.

2. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to format to use with Windows computers.

3. Click the Erase button .

4. Click the Scheme pop-up menu, then choose Master Boot Record.

5. Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose one of the following:

   • MS-DOS (FAT): Choose this format if the size of the disk is 32 GB or less.

   • ExFAT: Choose this format if the size of the disk is over 32 GB.

6. Enter a name for the volume.

   The maximum length for the volume name is 11 characters.

7. Click Erase, then click Done.

Formatting Disk For Mac And Pc

You can also partition a disk using the Master Boot Record partition layout, which is compatible with Windows.

Formatting For Both Mac And Pc