Mac and windows compatible format usb
- #MAC AND WINDOWS COMPATIBLE FORMAT USB HOW TO#
- #MAC AND WINDOWS COMPATIBLE FORMAT USB MAC OS#
- #MAC AND WINDOWS COMPATIBLE FORMAT USB DRIVERS#
You can choose this from the drop-down menu in Windows’ Format dialogue, or in the Erase pane of Disk Utility. To use your USB disk on both Windows and OS X, therefore, you’ll need to use a different filesystem.
#MAC AND WINDOWS COMPATIBLE FORMAT USB DRIVERS#
There are free drivers available, but again these are limited to read-only access. However, neither is suitable if you want to move files back and forth between Macs and PCs: OS X can read NTFS volumes, but it can’t write to them, while Windows in its default configuration can’t access HFS+ disks at all. These formats are sensible defaults because they support all the features of their respective operating systems, such as native compression and encryption.
#MAC AND WINDOWS COMPATIBLE FORMAT USB MAC OS#
If you follow the instructions above then Windows will, by default, format your disk using Microsoft’s NTFS filesystem, while a Mac might suggest the Mac OS Extended filesystem. To reformat your USB disk, click on its name in this pane, then switch to the Erase tab in the main interface (if it’s not already selected) and hit Erase to wipe the Drive just as we did above. When Disk Utility opens you’ll see a list of drives in the left-hand pane, with the partitions on each one nested beneath each entry. You’ll find this tool in your Applications folder, within the Utilities subfolder – or simply search Spotlight to find it (press Cmd+Space, then type its name).
To format a USB on a Mac, you can format your drive using Disk Utility. If you don’t have the issue described above, simply follow these steps: Let the process complete and your USB Drive will appear. Type ‘This PC’ into the Cortana Search Bar.
#MAC AND WINDOWS COMPATIBLE FORMAT USB HOW TO#
How to format a USB drive on a Windows PCįormatting a USB drive in Windows is normally very easy, here’s how it is done. Now that we have a very basic understanding of your options, let’s get right into reviewing how you can make the appropriate changes. The ExFat format is the one to use if you need to store larger files across various platforms. NTFS does give you more options for encryption and compresses large files.ĮxFAT – The Extension File Allocation Table Format is compatible with later versions of macOS, Windows, and Linux systems. NTFS – This stands for New Technology File System and is not compatible with all operating systems. This format uses less disk space while also making the disk writing procedures run faster. As you follow the steps below you’ll notice a few formats most daily users aren’t familiar with.įAT(16/32) – This stands for File Allocation Table, a format compatible with macOS, Windows, and even Linux. Whether you’re a macOS user or a Windows user, this article will help you! Format Variationsīefore getting into how you can format your USB Drive it’s important to know what the available options actually mean. It’s a fairly simple process that shouldn’t take more than a few seconds. Formatting a USB Drive entails a lot more than simply making your USB Drive compatible with your OS.