Microsoft introduced exFAT in 2006 it’s an optimized version of FAT, providing better performance advantages over FAT32. Once diskpart is loaded, type in 'list disk' to show the list of disks attached to the system. Next, type in 'diskpart' and press Enter on the keyboard. Now you’ll be able to save and copy files to your thumb drive on both Windows and OS X. Click Start, then type in 'cmd' (no quotes) wait for 'CMD.EXE' or 'Command Prompt' to appear in the list, then right click it and select 'Run as Administrator'. In the Format list box, select ExFAT, enter a Volume Label if you want, then click Erase. In Disk Management, you’ll see your external hard drive as partition or unallocated space. Open the Disk Management tool by right-clicking This PC -> Manage -> Disk Management. Connect your external hard drive to your Windows 10 PC. Select your thumb drive in the Disk Utility window, then click the Erase tab. Format external hard drive with Windows built-in tool. Launch Disk Utility press Command+Space then type: disk utility. If you only use a Mac computer, you can format your thumb drive to work on Windows systems.Ĭonnect the thumb drive to your Mac. In the File System list box, choose exFAT, type in a Volume Label if you want, and then click Start.Ĭlick OK to the format warning and wait until the process is complete.
#Format mac disk from windows how to#
Right-click your flash drive and then select Format. Part 3: How to Format Internal or External Hard Drive on Mac Step 1:To begin formatting, go to Finder > Applications > Utilities Step 2: View all the. Choose the files & folders you want to view in the HFS+ drive. Choose Load file system from device Click Autodetect to load the connected hard drive. Prepare a Thumb Drive for Both Windows and OS X or macOS Connect the Mac-formatted drive to Windows 10 PC. Before you start, though, make sure your thumb drive is formatted so it can work on both Windows and macOS. If you’re working in a mixed environment, where you might need to work on files between both systems, a handy solution is to use a thumb drive.
This makes it difficult to move data between the two unless you have them networked together. MacOS uses the HFS+ file system, while Windows uses the NTFS file system that shares little in common.