- #Best format for usb drive for mac and pc how to#
- #Best format for usb drive for mac and pc windows 10#
- #Best format for usb drive for mac and pc Pc#
You can then insert it into a Windows PC and read or write to it without any problem. Exit Disk Utility and you can copy the files to your newly formatted USB drive as usual. Once done, click "Done" and you are good to go. After this step, all data on the drive will be lost.ĭisk Utility will erase and format the USB drive to exFAT. Warning: Before clicking “Delete”, make sure that the USB drive you are formatting is empty or that the data on it has already been backed up. If necessary, type a name for the USB drive in the “Name” box, then click “Delete”. In the “Erase” pop-up window that appears, click the drop-down menu labeled “Format”.įrom the file system format menu, select “exFAT” from the list. Everything on this disc is about to be erased.Īfter selecting the USB drive, click "Erase" in the toolbar at the top of the window. Warning: Check three times that you select the correct drive from the Disk Utility list. When Disk Utility opens, look at the sidebar in the "External" section and select the USB drive you just inserted. (Or, you can open Launchpad, type "disk," then click the Disk Utility icon.) To run it, press Command + Space on your keyboard and type "disk utility," then click the Disk Utility icon. To format a USB drive with the exFAT file system on a Mac, you will need to use a tool called "Disk Utility" created by Apple and shipped with macOS.
#Best format for usb drive for mac and pc how to#
How to format USB drive to exFAT on Macįirst, find a free USB slot on your Mac and plug in the USB drive you want to configure as Windows and Mac disk. You can copy data to the drive as you normally would, and the drive will also be readable and writable on a Mac. The next time you open File Explorer, you will see the formatted USB drive in your "Devices and drives" list.
When you see a "Format Complete" window, click "OK." Windows will format the drive with the exFAT file system. First make sure that the USB drive is blank or that you already have a backup. Warning: You are about to lose all data on the drive. Then you will see a warning reminding you that you are about to lose all data from the drive that you are going to format. Then type a name for the drive in the "Volume Label" box (if desired) and click "Start." In the "Format" window that appears, click on the drop-down list labeled "File System" and select "exFAT". Warning: Make sure you choose the right drive, otherwise you might accidentally erase important data. In your "Devices and Drives" list, right-click on the USB drive you want to use as a universal drive and select "Format" from the list. If Windows recognizes the drive, open File Explorer and navigate to "This PC". Make sure you have backed up your important files first. Warning: The contents of the drive will be erased when you click “Format Disk”. If Windows says it doesn't recognize the drive (and you've already backed up data on it), click "Format Disk," then skip the next step.
How to format a USB drive to exFAT on Windowsįirst, plug in the USB drive you want to format as Mac / Windows universal drive to your Windows machine. If the USB drive is formatted as a Windows drive, it is probably best to back it up with a Windows machine. If the USB drive is formatted with the Mac file system, you will need to use a Mac to transfer the data out of the drive. Formatting a drive always erases all data on the drive. If the USB drive you want to use as a universal transfer drive has data that you want to keep, you will need to back up that data to another drive or cloud backup service first. This process of setting up disk preparation is called "formatting." Before you start: back up the USB drive first Below we will show you how to setup USB stick as exFAT for Windows and Mac. This file system is called exFAT and is designed for cross-platform compatibility with flash media. If you frequently use Macs and PCs with the same drive, the ideal solution is to set up a USB drive with a file system that both operating systems can read. And similarly, if you format a USB drive to NTFS on Windows, Macs can read it but not write to it (although there are ways around this).
#Best format for usb drive for mac and pc windows 10#
So here's the problem: If you format a USB drive as APFS on a Mac, Windows 10 won't read it without third-party tools (and will actually ask to format it). Windows 10 uses a file system called NTFS, and macOS currently uses APFS by default.
A file system determines how an operating system writes data to a hard drive or USB flash drive. Windows 10 and macOS use two different file systems by default. How to format USB drive to exFAT on Mac.How to format a USB drive to exFAT on Windows.Before you start: back up the USB drive first.
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