- #Format a usb for mac & pc compatibility mac os x#
- #Format a usb for mac & pc compatibility movie#
- #Format a usb for mac & pc compatibility install#
- #Format a usb for mac & pc compatibility windows#
#Format a usb for mac & pc compatibility mac os x#
It works with all versions of Mac OS X and Windows. The most universally supported way to format your drive is with the FAT32 file system. However, you won’t be able to move files in the other direction, from Mac to PC. So if you need to get files from a PC to your Mac, NTFS is a decent option. Macs can read files on NTFS drives, but it cannot write to them.
#Format a usb for mac & pc compatibility windows#
The native Windows file system is NTFS, which is only partially compatible with Mac OS X.
This isn’t a good solution if you need your drive to work on any PC without installing software, though.
#Format a usb for mac & pc compatibility install#
When you install MacDrive on a Windows PC, it will be able to seamlessly read & write to HFS+ drives. If you’re only going to be using your external or USB flash drive with certain PCs – such as at home or the office – you might be interested in a program called MacDrive. But while HFS+ is the best way to format drives for use on Macs, Windows does not support it. Mac OS X’s native file system is HFS+ (also known as Mac OS Extended), and it’s the only one that works with Time Machine. In fact, there are four ways you can format an external or USB flash drive to achieve varying degrees of compatibility between Macs and PCs. Since Mac OS X and Windows use totally different file systems, the way a drive is formatted can determine what type of computer it will work with. Need to access or transfer files between Mac and PC? As simple as this task sounds, it’s not very straightforward for inexperienced users.
Learn a few ways to make your drive Mac and PC friendly. This helps data integrity by recording the changes to files before they take place. The only other downside to exFAT is it’s not supported by Apple’s Time Machine software.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. One downside to exFAT is that it doesn’t have any journaling functionality, which is a system whereby any changes to the files on the disk are noted in a log before they’re actually performed. For swapping or sharing large files, especially between OSes, exFAT is the way to go. Though it’s a proprietary Microsoft technology, Apple licensed it for use in its OSes so you’ll see it as an option when formatting a drive in OS X. It debuted in Windows Vista SP1, it has a maximum file size of 16 exabytes (EB) (it’s going to take us a while to hit that), and it’s compatible with both Mac and PC. If you’re just sharing small files between computers, however, it’s a fine system to use.ĮxFAT: This is an updated file system created by Microsoft to replace FAT32. The biggest limitation is that it has a file size limit of 4GB, which can be a problem with today’s Blu Ray rips and 4K video files. The reason for its ubiquity is that it will work on any PC you plug it into, including both Macs and PCs, Linux boxes, and vintage machines that use USB 2.0. Though Windows file systems work the same regardless of drive type I wanted to expand on his piece a bit by including the system called exFAT, so in this piece I’ll discuss the three file systems, their pluses and negatives, and which one to use according to your needs.įat32: This is the old standby, and the file system that is usually pre-installed on any USB key you buy from the store. My colleague wrote about this previously in regards to external drives, but he was discussing high-capacity hard drives you plug into your PC. In dealing with this it occurred to me that Majid probably isn’t alone, and people might not be aware of the fact that you can format a USB key in Windows using one of three available file systems, and that each system has both advantages and limitations. He sent me a screenshot that clearly indicated the problem, as it read “The file is too large for the destination file system.” I replicated the issue quite easily by trying to move a 10GB file to a Fat32 disk, as Fat32 can’t handle any file larger than 4GB.įAT32 has a 4GB file size limitation, making it tough to copy HD or 4K video footage.
#Format a usb for mac & pc compatibility movie#
Majid was unable to copy a movie from his PC to his newly acquired 32GB USB key, and wondered why.
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