In the file system list box, choose exfat, type in a volume label if you. Ive had drivers for mac on windows systems and ntfs drivers for windows on my mac and all work well. Verify volume format is set to msdos file system or exfat. You can format the drive from either the mac or the windows machine. Miniaide fat32 formatter lets you format or create fully customizable partitions in any hard drive. Whats the difference between fat32, exfat, and ntfs. Plug the disk into a windows vista sp1 or windows 7 computer. Open spotlight search, type disk utility and press enter to open. The fat formatter download is available on the provider website with a step by step guide for installation and use of the same. Jun 22, 2016 exfat is an improved version of fat32. Format external hard drive for mac and pc with exfat.
In order to maintain optimal performance over time of microsd cards up to 32gb, it is recommended to use this dedicated sd card formatter, available for mac os and windows pc. File system formats available in disk utility on mac. Mac devices on the other hand run on either mac os extended or apfs. Quickly format an external hard drive for mac and windows pc. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. Disques durs externes ou cles usb sous mac os, os x et macos. Fat32 vs windows ntfs vs mac hfs vs exfat for all my.
How to format your sd card on your computer gopro support hub. Feb 21, 2020 how to format a usb flash drive with mac to fat32. Once a fat32 or exfat partition is created on your external hard drive, you can share it. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly with macs. It isnt as efficient as ntfs windows but is cross compatible between windows os and mac os since 10.
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. I will leave windows instructions below for the benefit of windows users. If you are going to sell, donate your macdevice or just want to completely remove unwanted files and fix disk errors, super eraser for mac is the best mac disk formatting tool for you. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. Sep 12, 2019 format drive to exfat in windows 10 so it is readandwrite in mac os as well. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. Macyourself blog archive how to format a drive for mac and pc. The samsung ssd comes with exfat format by default. While mac os x includes only readonly support for ntfs, macs offer full readwrite support for exfat. If exfat would be preferable, please follow the same procedure for 16gb32gb models as the above. We here will show you the full guides on how to format fat32 and ntfs drives on mac as an example.
Sep 19, 2011 the overwhelming majority of usb flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats. Rightclick on your sd card to bring up the rightclick menu options. It is time to learn how to format your external hard drive or other external drives to a common file system for mac and windows. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. Download disk formatting software for mac doyourdata. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Your rating has been submitted, please tell us how we can make this answer more useful. Assuming that every device you want to use the drive with supports exfat, you should format your device with exfat instead of fat32. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os x, though with some drawbacks. Once a fat32 or exfat partition is created on your external hard drive, you can share it on both mac and windows pc. It merits using just for the detailed information it gives you about your computers hard drive. How to format sd cards on mac have camera will travel.
A free exfat download for windows xp is available from microsoft if its not installed. The maximum length for the volume name is 11 characters. If you only use a mac computer, you can format your thumb drive so it. Format drive to exfat in windows 10 so it is readandwrite in mac os as well. Then, you can create an exfat partition with minitool partition wizard free edition by following steps introduced in the section step 2. Use the exfat file system and never format your external.
Name the formatted disk and choose either exfat or msdosfat32 from the menu select erase to format your drive depending on the selection you have picked fat32 or exfat convertformat usb flash drive to. Your sd card should be displayed in the devices with removable storage section. Le format exfat et le format fat seront normalement lisibles partout mac pc linux. The downloading is simple and easy and the software supports formatting up to 2tb of disk space. From then on, that drive should work fantastically between mac and windows machines.
This is especially true for smaller microsd cards 16gb and 32gb. Using an external drive between mac and windows computers can be a hassle, since you constantly have to reformat it to fit which computer. Oct 29, 2019 mac systems have a different os to windows and this is where most of the problems like. How to format exfat 64gb sd card into fat32 in windows 10 duration. If you want to transfer files from a mac to windows pc and vice versa using an. To format sd card to fat32 in mac os, follow below instructions. It should be set to fat32 for 32gb sd cards and exfat for 64gb sd cards. 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. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility.
Many computer users who use a removable flash drive have the demand for formatting it to the fat32 file system. 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. Deleting files on a memory card using a mac deleting files on a cruzer usb flash drive using a mac. Download smartdisk fat32 format utility format exfat microsd cards as fat32 quickly and effortlessly using this portable application that supports over 32gbsized devices. Dec 20, 2018 as i mentioned earlier, its best practice to format memory cards in the camera, but if you want to format your sd card on your mac, this is how you do it. Unfortunately exfat is only supported on mac os 10. In the format window make sure that the correct file system is selected. I recommend using it when compatibility between mac and windows is important. Msdos fat can be used for earlier versions and smaller sizes. Most sd cards come preformatted as some variation of fat, and exfat generally works for what most electronic devices that use sd cards. Sdcard formatter format sd sdhc sdxc auto exfat, fat32. According to the sd specifications, any sd card larger than 32gb is an sdxc card and has to be formatted with the exfat filesystem.
A western digital external hard drive can be used on both windows and mac osx. By default, they format disks with the mac only os x extended file system. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. Format external driveusb exfat in windows 10 in simple steps. This option is used for erasing deleted files and formatted files on your mac, without affecting the existing data. However, you may sometimes need to format an external drive with fat32 if exfat isnt supported on a device you need to use it with. Unlike fat32, exfat doesnt have a maximum file limit. If youre using a mac, you dont need special software to format a usb drive in the fat32 format. Compare with the other commonly used ntfs file system on a flash drive, fat32 has a compatibility advantage across many operating systems. How to format external ssd for mac time machine mashtips.
How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x. You can get the software to try before you buy too. This means the official sd formatter tool will always format cards that are 64gb or larger as exfat. The microsd cards in dashcams are submitted to a large number of writing cycles. When you format data on sd card, it erases all the data. While exfat doesnt quite match fat32s compatibility, it is more widelycompatible than ntfs.
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. Most usb flash drives on sale are designed to work with windows operating systems that run on fat32. It is compatible with mac, windows, and linux, but doesnt work with the majority of other hardware devices. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. How to format usb to fat32ntfsexfat on windows and mac. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Specifically, exfat support was added to mac os x in version 10. And it is also a good internalexternal hard drive manager. When i inserted a toshiba usb flash drive into windows 10 computer and chose format, i got the dialogue box as shown below. How to format a wd hard drive to exfat or fat32 file.
Formatting an sdxc card for use with noobs raspberry pi. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac os xmacos easeus. How to format exfat 64gb sd card into fat32 in windows 10. The exfat file system is a better option when it comes to formatting wd my passport on mac.
But, if you plan on using an external drive with both macs and pcs, you should format the disk with the exfat file system instead. File system formats available in disk utility on mac apple. En effet, quel format choisir entre os x etendu journalise, msdos fat, exfat ou encore ntfs. The ssd will work for both windows and mac out of the box. Take the drive to the oldest windows pc and right click format.
Nov 12, 2011 quick tech tip on how to format an external drive to exfat on a mac. How to format an external drive to work seamlessly. No worry, actually it is not impossible to realize it no matter you use an external or internal drive of your windows system. Procedure to format on mac plug usmca1ca2 to the mac. Sep 09, 2019 those are all steps of how to format usb drive to exfat file system with the best free exfat format tool, aomei partition assistant. Quick tech tip on how to format an external drive to exfat on a mac. The first format, fat32, is fully compatible with mac os. Manuel dutilisation du disque lacie porsche design mobile. Plug the drive into the mac system choose applications utilities then disk utility from the sidebar pick usb drive from the toolbar select erase name the formatted disk and choose either exfat or msdos fat32 from the menu select erase to format your drive depending on the selection you have picked fat32 or exfat. 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. Choose this format if the size of the disk is over 32 gb. Dec 29, 2015 how to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. Tuto formater sa cle usb en fat 32 ou autre sur mac youtube. 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.
I learned that my toshiba usb drive was allowed to format to ntfs, fat32 default and exfat. You can use apples builtin disk utility before you format the drive, make sure theres nothing valuable on it thats not also backed up elsewhere, since all data will be lost. Those are all steps of how to format usb drive to exfat file system with the best free exfat format tool, aomei partition assistant. By default, they format disks with the maconly os x extended file system. From the very start, exfat was designed as the goto format for data backup, storage, and transfer. From all above, you can have a general idea of fat32 and exfat file system. Miniaide fat32 formatter free download and software. For sd card size greater than 64gb and mac os lion and greater, usually exfat is used. You will learn the easiest way to format drive on mac and windows as exfat.
Exfat is an upgraded version for the fat32 file system that limits the maximum file size to 4gb. Thus, it is advisable to backup any filesdata you want beforehand it is important to be aware of the format type you are going to perform, which will depend upon the size of sd card and the osx version you are running. Better still, it can be read from and written to on any mac running mac os x snow leopard or later and on windows. Go to applicationsutilities and launch disk utility. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Exfat, fat, and ntfs are generally broadly compatible and offer solutions for for both mac and windows pc compatibility, whereas selecting macos and os x as the format are pretty much mac compatible only. Jan 27, 2019 mac instructions above will now work for exfat. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. The file system architecture was made for the best external hard drives. Click to select sony storage media in the left panel. The format dialog in windows doesnt explain the difference, so we will.
Quit possible that you own a usbstick or usbharddrive that is 4gb or larger 8gb seems to be standard now,right. Besides exfat, aomei partition assistant also works on fat, fat32, ntfs. In the file system dropdown, choose exfat instead of ntfs. Use the exfat file system and never format your external drive. Create exfat partition with minitool partition wizard. Essentially, its a file system thats both readable and writable on any modern mac or windows machine sorry, leopard users. Data recovery for mac fat32 formatter is provided by iskysoft. Apr 14, 2020 then, you can create an exfat partition with minitool partition wizard free edition by following steps introduced in the section step 2. Step 5 thereafter, click on the erase button and let the system erase everything on the drive and reformat wd elements for mac by exfat or fat32 format.
It wont work with linux unless you install linuxs exfat drivers, but for most people, exfat is just about perfect. If you wish to have the sd card compatible with other devices, do not select the os extended formats. Ntfs is ideal for internal drives, while exfat is generally ideal for flash drives. This is enough to work the ssd as a backup drive for mac. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive. If you want to format your external hard drive to work with mac and windows computers, you should use exfat. How to format usb flash drive to fat32 on mac easily. Jul 05, 2017 macs support a variety of file systems. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself.
If its a one off like copying from a friends windows to your mac or vice versa then the trial may be the cheapest and easiest way to go. Mac computers do not usually come with inbuilt sd card readers. If your usb or external hard drive was used on windows and formatted by ntfs. Therefore, its perfect for a usb flash drive or external disk, especially when you need to save files more than 4gb in size.
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