How many times have we founds ourselves with a USB that only works with our computer and no one else! Often resorting to emailing that massive Powerpoint file 30 minutes later. Today, this is going to end as we have created a fantastic step by step guide on how to make your drive compatible for both Mac and Windows.
Format USB Drive in Mac If you want to use the USB drive on your Mac computer only, formatting it to be entirely Mac compatible file system is highly recommended, such as HFS+ file system. If you want to use the drive between a Windows and Mac machine, you can format it to FAT32. By default, Macs are with HFS+ (since 2017 there's new Apple File System, APFS, optimized for flash storage), while PCs are with NTFS. Zip browser mac. If you have a USB drive, and you plan to use it on both a Mac and PC, things can get a bit tricky here.
I bet you have seen many formats on your computer but understand that your Windows PC and Mac understand one format well and that is exFAT. The exFAT file system eliminates the two major deficiencies of FAT32: the largest partition and file sizes it supports are virtually unlimited by today's standards. Awesome, it's perfect! Almost… since exFAT is fairly new, it isn't compatible with older Macs and PCs. Any Mac running 10.6.5 (Snow Leopard) or 10.7 (Lion) supports exFAT, while PCs running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows 7 are compatible. If you know you'll be using computers running updated versions of these operating systems, exFAT is the clear best choice.
Format a drive using Disk Utility on a Mac
1. Launch Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities).
2. Select your external hard drive or USB flash drive from the list on the left.
3. Click on the Erase tab. Select the format – Mac OS Extended (HFS+), MS-DOS (FAT32), or exFAT – then name the drive.
4. Click the Erase button and the drive will start formatting. Be aware that formatting a drive deletes all of the files on it, so back up anything important before completing this step.
Now you are ready to conquer the Windows world!
Format a drive using Windows
1. Go to Computer (or My Computer in Windows XP).
2. Select your drive from the list and right-click on it. Choose Format from the contextual menu.
3. A window will pop up where you can choose the format – NTFS, FAT32, or exFAT. Make sure the allocation unit size is set to default and type in a volume label.
4. Click Start to format the drive.
Windows Usb Format Tool
Now you are ready to conquer!
Format Usb For Windows And Mac
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