Most of the time, when you connect an external hard drive to your Mac’s USB port, you soon see it mount on the desktop.

You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.Get an ever-growing collection of troubleshooting apps.

Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.

You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive.

AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT.

Not all Windows versions support exFAT.

Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.

You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.

AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS.

Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard.For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode).For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion).To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:.You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC).Mac OS X: Mac OS Extended format (HFS Plus) volume and file limits.To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer.To Read/Write HFS+ from Windows, Install MacDrive.Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac OS X system files.Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)

You can install MacDrive to enable that.įormat A Hard Drive Using Disk Utility (which is in your /Applications/Utilities folder) Windows cannot natively read/write to HFS+. If you install Paragon, Mac OS X can read/write to NTFS, as well. For simple file transfers, just use a USB flash drive, formatted as FAT32. Mac OS X can natively read/write HFS+, FAT32 and exFAT. Want to use external hard drive for time machine backup and media storage(iTunes). How to use external hard drive on both Mac and Windows in Parallels Desktop? Cause

Macos format external hard drive