Format external hard drive for mac and pc with exfat. Connect the usb fash drive to the mac os x computer. Limited support outside windows and mac os x operating systems as of 2012, when most consumer electronic devices could only handle fat12fat16fat32, rendering exfat and flash memory formats using it impractical as a universal exchange format. Would be pleased to format exfat to ntfs but exfat does not allow such.
There is nothing difficult to format it to fat32 or exfat. However, a simple switch in disk utility is preventing you from selecting the device rather than the. Nov 01, 2017 for anyone who has similar or the same problem. If you use your stick also on windows machines running xp sp2, vista sp1 or windows 7 you can use the very new file system exfat. Dec 21, 2018 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. Select your drive from the list and rightclick on it. Windows 10 pro released in july 2015 microsoft windows server 2003 datacenter edition 32bit x86. It takes long 12 minutes, but does the job and is much more reliable than the mac terminal, which times out every other time. However, a simple switch in disk utility is preventing you from selecting the device rather than the volume. Fat32 vs windows ntfs vs mac hfs vs exfat for all my. Besides all the backup options shown, if the 2t bytes disk is full maybe some of the methods expressed can not be done unless you partially zip it.
I have a question about formatting drives for maximum compatibility between a macbook pro and 2 pcs one running vista 64 bit and the other running windows 7. Oct 23, 2017 the three systems are fat32, exfat, and ntfs. I was also unable to format the drive on my vista computer. I didnt found a way how to check cluster size on mac so i boot in windows and run chkdsk on that drive. If you need to write files that will be larger than 4 gb, then fat32 is out. I am referring to using the disk utility in mac os to do the formatting. The reason that im asking is that i remember people recommending not using exfat formatted by a mac in the past. To this day, it remains the default file system for mechanical and hybrid hard drives, both while installing macos and while formatting external drives. Reformat exfat with specific device block size and cluster. Exfat software free download exfat top 4 download offers free software downloads for windows, mac, ios and android computers and mobile devices. Formatting would erase data completely, make sure that you have a data backup. While mac os x includes only readonly support for ntfs, macs offer full readwrite support for exfat. Apr 23, 2020 fat32, ntfs, and exfat are the three file systems users commonly use for windows system.
Keep in mind, however, that fat32 is only supported by sdusd cards with capacity less than 32gb, and it does not support storing or transmitting any single file that exceeds 4gb in size. Tuto formater sa cle usb en fat 32 ou autre sur mac youtube. Fat32 is a rather old file system, so it is not as efficient as the most modern, which is ntfs. Windows snapin formatting tools are helpful in formatting exfat on windows 10. Dec 30, 20 limited support outside windows and mac os x operating systems as of 2012, when most consumer electronic devices could only handle fat12fat16fat32, rendering exfat and flash memory formats using it impractical as a universal exchange format. It isnt as efficient as ntfs windows but is cross compatible between windows os and mac os since 10. Flash drive formatted in exfat is stuck in write protect. Hee yo les gens, aujourdhui nouveau auto sur mon mac, pour formater sa cle usb en fat 32 ou autre.
How to format usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x admfactory. Sep 10, 2016 tuto formater cle usb en fat 32 ntfs fat ou exfat chaine secondaire moto. Rightclick on the drive you want to format, click on format. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself.
How to format usb to fat32ntfsexfat on windows and mac. The main difference is it can store files over 4gb. While exfat doesnt quite match fat32s compatibility, it is more widelycompatible than ntfs. Most sd cards come preformatted as some variation of fat, and exfat generally works for what most electronic devices that use sd cards. Mac os extended was the default file system used by every mac from 1998 until 2017, when apfs replaced it. I will leave windows instructions below for the benefit of windows users. If you are not sure whether your device supports exfat, we recommend formatting the memory card to fat32. Googled and binged and tried eveything, most of which was rather useless.
My book 8tb exfat formatting question external drives for. To format a usb flash drive to fat32 in mac os x follow these steps. A common problem people have been reporting is the inability to reformat an apfs drive as something other than apfs. If your usb or external hard drive was used on windows and formatted by ntfs. Creating windows 10 bootable usb on mac is a common task for people who have multiple computers at home. Format external driveusb exfat in windows 10 in simple steps. Any reason not to format an external drive with exfat. Jan 27, 2019 mac instructions above will now work for exfat. Seagate backup plus hub user manual optional formatting and. Today, we are sharing how to format your usb or external hard drive to fat32 or exfat on mac os x. How to convert a 2t hard drive fat32 to exfat without. A window will pop up where you can choose the format ntfs, fat32, or exfat. Exfat ou fat32 pour macpc resolu comment ca marche.
The good news is that formatting usb on mac is also as easy as on windows 10. It appears in disk utility that you can only erase a disk and keep it as apfs. Formatting large volumes exfat on windows tends to default to an allocation unit size read block size of larger than 1024. Once you select the volume, you can reformat however you like. Use the exfat file system and never format your external. Fat32, ntfs, and exfat are the three file systems users commonly use for windows system. Choose this format if the size of the disk is 32 gb or less. Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label. Feb 04, 2016 hee yo les gens, aujourdhui nouveau auto sur mon mac, pour formater sa cle usb en fat 32 ou autre. For 32bit mac os x, install ntfs3g for mac os x free does not work in 64bit mode. To make it happen, lets open disk management by rightclicking this pc in windows 10 or my computer in windows 87, select manage. To readwriteformat ntfs from mac os x, here are some alternatives. Essentially, its a file system thats both readable and writable on any modern mac or windows machine sorry, leopard users. Click the format popup menu, then choose one of the following.
The file system architecture was made for the best external hard drives. Repairing a corrupted mac osx exfat partition craig smith. Format a usb drive as exfat for mac and windows compatibility. Whats the difference between fat32, exfat, and ntfs. 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. Some distributions of linux have begun to include support for exfat. Le mac le reconnait tres bien, formate en exfat comme souhaite. Tuto formater sa cle usb en fat 32 ou autre sur mac. How to reformat an apfs drive as something else a common problem people have been reporting is the inability to reformat an apfs drive as something other than apfs. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac. If you do not have the ability to update to the newest os, then we recommend purchasing a 32 gb or smaller microsd card. You can specify the partition label at next prompt if you want to. The exfat file system was released by microsoft to address fat32s. Which format to use exfat vs fat32 vs hfs apple community.
Jun 22, 2016 exfat is an improved version of fat32. My book 8tb exfat formatting question external drives. Both windows and mac can read drives formatted with this. Plug the disk into a windows vista sp1 or windows 7 computer. Seagate backup plus hub user manual optional formatting. Apr 03, 2011 if you use your stick also on windows machines running xp sp2, vista sp1 or windows 7 you can use the very new file system exfat. There may be a kind of risky way to do it without backup. A file system uses a set of rules to control how data is stored and retrieved on a storage device.
You can help protect yourself from scammers by verifying that the contact is a microsoft agent or microsoft employee and that the phone number is an official microsoft global customer service number. First, you need to delete the exfat partition off from your drive and then create a new ntfsfatfat32 volume. Tech support scams are an industrywide issue where scammers trick you into paying for unnecessary technical support services. Unfortunately exfat is only supported on mac os 10. For apple mac users, the easier way to format usb flash drive to fat32 is using the disk utility. From the very start, exfat was designed as the goto format for data backup, storage, and transfer. You have to format the drive to exfat or fat32 if the burning process failed due to the wrong partition scheme. Best for mechanical drives, or drives used with older macos versions. Backup your external drive, reformat it on windows with a block size of 1024, then copy everything back.
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. This article will illustrate to the differences between the three, analyzing their pros and cons, compatibility and usage in an allrounded way. Choose this format if the size of the disk is over 32 gb. I recommend using it when compatibility between mac and windows is important.
The maximum length for the volume name is 11 characters. As you can see 1072 bytes in each allocation unit that is my current cluster size being created by mac diskutil default. For all intents and purposes, there is no file size limit, and the format is both readwrite in windows and os x without the need for any third party software to. Under file system box, select exfat for this drive.
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