You have options when it comes to formatting a USB drive for use in a PC: FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS. We'll explain what they are and how to choose the best file system for your needs.

Mac OS X prefers the Mac OS Extended format (HFS Plus) file system and can only read NTFS (Windows file system). Windows prefers the NTFS file system and can not read HFS Plus file system (Mac OS X file system).

ExFAT file system, on the other hand, works on Mac OS X (requires Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or later) and Windows (requires Windows XP SP3 or later). Warning: Reformatting your external drive to ExFAT will erase your data. Make a backup copy of your data before commencing. How to format ExFAT on Mac OS X: 1.

Plug in the external drive. Open Disk Utility on your Mac by clicking Spotlight search, then type Disk Utility, and press enter. Select the external drive you wish to format. Select the “Erase” tab in Disk Utility.

Select ExFAT as the Format option, and type a name for your external drive. Project management software for mac os x. Click “Erase”. A pop-up window will open asking you to confirm. Click the “Erase” button to confirm. The formatting process will then begin.

The time it will take depends on the size of your external drive. Larger drives take longer time to format. How to format ExFAT on Windows 7 1.

Plug in the external drive. Click on the Windows Start button and open the Computer windows.

Right Click on the external drive to be formatted, and select “Format”. How do you do a mail merge in word 2011 mac for envelopes free. Select exFAT as the File system option, type a name for the external drive in ‘Volume label’ box, click “Start”, then Click OK to format the disk. The time it will take is dependent on the size of your external drive. Larger drives take longer time to format. Once Format is completed, click OK.

Ever run out of storage space and start wondering if it would be possible to take a crowbar to your new unibody MacBook Pro to pry it open and put another hard drive in? Neither do I. However, it is frustrating that you have to sacrifice storage space because you spent the extra money to get a solid-state drive instead of the cheaper hard disk drive. So you figured, “Fine, I’ll just get an external hard drive. I’ll store my media files on it while keeping the internal hard drive clear for apps and the OS.” While browsing the Internet for your external hard drive, you come across weird terms like NTFS, HFS+, FAT32, and exFAT. While your instinct may be to find out if it’s some weird slang acronym defined only on scandalous websites, you may fare better by reading below. NTFS If you own a Windows computer, the hard drive in your system is probably running the format, which stands for New Technology File System.

While the “New” is originally referring to the year 1993, it has since been improved and updated over the years. NTFS has limits for file size and partition that are theoretically so large, you probably don’t have to worry about them in this lifetime.

It also has a lot of additional features, such as security permissions to files and folders, hard links, a change journal, and more. WD 4TB Elements Desktop USB 3.1 Gen 1 External Hard Drive While NTFS works natively with Windows, it doesn’t work quite as well with other operating systems. By default, Macs can only read NTFS and not write to them. Some versions of Linux can write to NTFS while others may not.