Dec 03, 2020 • Filed to: Windows Computer Solutions • Proven solutions
That’s pretty much all you need to do, you should now be able to read Mac HFS formatted storage drives on a Windows PC. How to Format a Mac Formatted Drive from Windows. If you’re not concerned about losing the data or contents of the drive and just want to use it with Windows, you can easily format the drive to a Windows-supported format. To format a hard drive in Windows, you'll use the Disk. How to format a hard drive on a Mac. And choose 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' as the operating system. The process for formatting a drive is different depending on the system you’re using. Let’s see how to format USB drive on a Windows PC first. Format USB drive on Windows Operating System. To format USB drive in Windows operating system, it is recommended to use the free USB formatter MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition. Although there are solutions to read Mac formatted drive on Windows or read a Windows formatted drive on Mac, formatting drives to exFAT is still a convenient thing and an economical choice. Tip: Microsoft released exFAT in 2006 to replace the older FAT32 format, providing cross-platform compatibility.
Whenever you are trying to partition a hard drive, you are presented with the decision of choosing its file system. A file system is required to determine the procedure of retrieval and storage of data on the storage media. Each operating system has a different set of file systems that it supports. While in earlier days the choice of the file system was limited, there are multiple options available to you nowadays. Each file system available has its own strengths and benefits to offer you. While some file systems are ideal for one type of hard drive, others are best suited for another hard drive type. You can pick any of these file systems for your hard drive depending on its type.
APFS:APFS is the short form of Apple File System which has been recently released as a new feature for the latest operating system developed by Apple, macOS High Sierra. While this file system is primarily designed and optimized for flash drives and SSDs (Solid State Drives), it can be used for hybrid or mechanical drive without encountering much trouble.
Mac OS Extended: Mac OS Extended is the oldest file system that is compatible with all versions of Mac OS dating back to 1998. It is also referred to as HFS+ or HFS Plus and is the default file system that is used by older Mac OS versions for any storage device. The macOS High Sierra, however, only utilizes this file system for hybrid and mechanical drives.
ExFAT: AFPS and Mac OS Extended only work on Macs and can’t be used for other operating systems. ExFAT is the file system that is compatible with both Macs and Windows. It is thus a cross-platform file system that can be used for external drives either plugged to a Windows PC or a Mac with consummate ease.
How to Choose the File System
So, you have three different file systems that you can use for partitioning your hard drives. The following are some tips on how you can choose the best file system for different types of storage media.
1. APFS: Best for Solid State and Flash Drives
APFS is the file system that is most appropriate for flash drives and SSDs. In fact, the macOS High Sierra uses it as the default file system for these two drives. This new file system by Apple has considerable advantages over other file systems particularly Mac OS Extended. For starters, it is much faster at copying and pasting folders than the older file systems and doesn’t take much time in determining the space occupied by a folder on the drive. Moreover, Apple has made extensive reliability improvements for this file system which ensures lesser instances of file corruption than in previous file systems.
While there are countless advantages of APFS, it does have its downsides as well. For instance, you need to have the latest Mac OS, macOS High Sierra, in order to write to this file system. Macs running on older versions of Mac OS won’t be able to utilize this file system. So, if you want the drive to be used on Macs which don’t have macOS High Sierra then you should not format them using APFS. Also, keep in mind that APFS isn’t compatible with Windows so drives formatted with this file system can’t be read by Windows PCs.
2. Mac OS Extended: Best for Mechanical Drives or Drives Used with Older macOS Versions
Before the release of APFS, Mac OS Extended was the file system used by all Macs as their default file system. Even macOS High Sierra utilizes this file system as default for mechanical and hybrid drives. The reason for this is that APFS is not optimized for those drives and doesn’t offer the same benefits as it does for flash and solid-state drives. Even when formatting external drives, it is a better option to go for Mac OS Extended than APFS. Another advantage that this file system has over APFS is its compatibility with Time Machine. Thus, Mac OS Extended is the most suitable file system to be used for formatting backup drives.
So, if you have a drive that is to be used with Macs running on earlier versions of Mac OS than macOS High Sierra, then you should only format it using Mac OS Extended. Moreover, all mechanical drives should be formatted using Mac OS Extended too.
3. ExFAT: Best for External Drives Shared with Windows Computers
If you make use of both Windows PCs and Macs and have an external drive which is to be plugged to both, then you can neither use Mac OS Extended or APFS. In such circumstances, you need a cross-platform solution that can be read and written to by both Windows and Mac OS. ExFAT is the best option available to you in this regard. This file system was developed by Microsoft in the year 2006. It allows you to format external drives that need to be used by both Macs and Windows PCs. This file system doesn’t have partition and file size limitations like FAT32, which is the older file system that offers cross-platform compatibility.
While ExFAT is definitely the best cross-platform file system, it does have its faults. For instance, it is vulnerable to file corruption and doesn’t support features like metadata offered by APFS and Mac OS Extended.
File systems are important for making full use of a storage device and determine how data is to be retrieved and saved on them. When you are partitioning or formatting drives, you need to choose a file system of your choice. Usually, there are three options available which include APFS, Mac OS Extended, and ExFAT. Each of these file systems has its own strengths and weaknesses and are different from each other. You need to decide which one is more suitable for your needs and then use it to format your drive.
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Yo just got a new external hard drive and want to use it on your Mac. However, the Mac OS does not allow you to write data to the drive. You may wonder how to reformat an external hard drive on Mac. Follow the tutorial below, you'll get everything covered.
Bonus: How to Recover Data from Formatted External Hard Drive on Mac
Reformatting an external hard drive for use with Mac OSX is not as difficult as it might seem. In a few simple steps you are ready to go and can save your back-up files to the external drive, keeping your information safe and giving you peace of mind. Keep in mind that a MAC can generally read other file formats, but for the best performance and to create a bootable disk, formatting exclusively for MAC is required.
Part 1: Which File Format You Should Choose?
Using Flash Drive On Mac
Before you begin formatting the drive, there are a few things to do. The most important, you should decide which format to use.
There are a few file formats you can use, but it depends on the purpose you want to use the drive for. Which one is right for your circumstance? We'll describe them here, you'll know your choice after reading the details.
Format Flash Drive Mac Os Extended Journaled In Windows Media Player
APFS: This is the default file system in Macs with High Sierra. It is efficient and reliable. However, it won't be readable and usable on machines that are not running Mac High Sierra, and Windows or Linux PCs. What's more, it is compatible with SSD and flash storage devices only.
Mac OS Extended (Journaled/HFS+): If you didn't update your Mac OS to High Sierra, the default file system on your Mac shoule be Mac OS Extended. Mac OS Extended (encrypted) would be an ideal option if you probably carry your laptop or external drive here and there. You can encrypt it so that no one can access the contents on your drive.
MS-DOS FAT (aka FAT32): In addition to Mac, it can also be written and read by Linux and Windows. It enables you to regularly share files with your friends who own a PC. Nevertheless, this older file system is limited to no more than 4GB and there might be security issue and disk errors.
ExFAT: It is similar to ExFAT which can be read by both Windows and Mac, but it can store more than 4GB files.
NTFS: As the default file system in Windows, it can only read by Mac OS, writing to it is not available. Luckily, there are third-party tools to help you do so.
Part 2: Format External Hard Drive for Mac with Disk Utility
Formatting an external hard drive would erase everything on it. Hence, you must backup your important files before reformatting the drive if you want to save them. The easiest way is to drag it from one drive to another.
All is set, then you can go ahead to format the drive on your Mac. Disk utility - the MacOS utility application can help you with this. Just follow these steps below:
Step 1. Connect the external drive or the USB drive to the MAC.
Step 2. Start the Disk Utility, located under Applications > Utilities.
Step 3. Find the name of the drive in the left side of the Utilities window and select it. And click Erase button.
Step 4. Follow on-screen prompts to choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system and allow the disk to format.
Bonus: How to Recover Data from Formatted External Hard Drive on Mac
In case you forgot to backup files before formatting the external drive. Here comes the cure - iMyFone AnyRecover - a one-stop solution to recover deleted, lost or formatted files from Mac.
Follow these simple steps using AnyRecover to get your files back!
Get Ready!
First, download and install AnyRecover, following on-screen prompts to accomplish the task.
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Get Set!
1. After loading AnyRecover, plug your external hard drive into your Mac directly or via USB.
2. Next select the drive under 'External Removable Devices' tab, click 'Start' to begin scanning lost files on the drive.
Go!
1. AnyRecover takes a moment to scan your drive. Once done, it will list out all scanning results by file type.
2. Double click a single file to preview it before recovery.
3. Select the files and press Recover to get them back.
What If?
What if my files were not found? Fear not. We can take this a step further. Enable 'Deep Scan' to try one more time, follow the steps above just as before to locate and recover your files.
It is plain to see that AnyRecover for Mac is a tool worthy of top shelf treatment in your arsenal of items that are used to defend, recover and keep your system up and running. Don't get caught without the file you need for that meeting or stumbling looking for baby photos that were stored on disk and suddenly 'hid' from your view. Allow AnyRecover to find and recover your lost files. AnyRecover is easy to use but provides sophisticated results that mean you know what you're doing!