#Format external hard drive for mac and pc on windows 7 how to

#Format external hard drive for mac and pc on windows 7 how to

If it’s at all possible, begin by backing up and rescuing everything of importance, or clone your hard drive by using one of our guides: How to clone a hard drive.

Then click OK button to go on.How to Format a Hard Drive on Windows or Mac | Avast Logo Ameba Icon Security Icon Security White Icon Privacy Icon Performance Icon Privacy Icon Security Icon Performance Icons/45/01 Security/Other-Threats Icons / 32 / Bloatware removal Icons / 32 / Registry Cleaner Icons / 32 / CleanUp Icons / Feature / 32 / Mac Icons / 32 / Browser cleanup Icons/32/01 Security/Malware Icons/32/01 Security/Viruses Icons/32/01 Security/Other-Threats Icons/32/01 Security/Passwords Icons/32/01 Security/Ransomware Icons/32/01 Security/Business Icons/32/02 Privacy/Browser Icons/32/02 Privacy/IP adress Icons/32/02 Privacy/VPN Icons/32/02 Privacy/Proxy Icons/32/02 Privacy/Streaming Icons/32/03 Performance/Celaning Icons/32/03 Performance/Drivers Icons/32/03 Performance/Gaming Icons/32/03 Performance/Hardware Icons/32/03 Performance/Speed Icons / 32 / Bloatware removal Icons / 32 / Registry Cleaner Win Icons / 32 / CleanUp Icons / Feature / 32 / Mac Icons / 32 / Browser cleanup Icons/60/02 Privacy/02_Privacy Icons/60/01 Security/01_Security Icons/60/03 Performance/03_Performance Icons/80/01 Security/IoT Icons/80/01 Security/Malware Icons/80/01 Security/Passwords Icons/80/01 Security/Ransomware Icons/80/01 Security/Viruses Icons/80/01 Security/Other-Threats Icons/80/03 Security/Business Icons/80/02 Privacy/Browser Icons/80/02 Privacy/IP adress Icons/80/02 Privacy/VPN Icons/80/02 Privacy/Proxy Icons/80/02 Privacy/Streaming Icons/80/03 Performance/Celaning Icons/80/03 Performance/Drivers Icons/80/03 Performance/Gaming Icons/80/03 Performance/Hardware Icons/80/03 Performance/Speed Icons/80/03 Performance/03_Performance Icons/80/02 Privacy/02_Privacy Right-click on the drive you want to format, select Format to see the list of configurations including file system. Press Win+X, then hit K key to open Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc). Option 2: Format a USB drive as EexFAT in Disk Management. Under File system box, select exFAT for this drive. Right-click on the drive you want to format, click on Format. Press Windows logo key + E to open File Explorer. Option 1: Format a USB drive as EexFAT in This PC. Note: If you have important data on your USB flash drive, you should backup your drive before formatting it. There are several ways to format drive in Windows PC, you can do that in This PC or in Disk Management. How to format a USB flash drive as exFAT on Windows PC Be sure to eject the disk before you remove it from your Mac. This will erase all the files on the drive. Click the Erase button when you are done and the Disk Utility will format your disk with the settings you specified. Then select the default GUID Partition Map (GPT) scheme. You will be asked to provide the disk name and then select the file system as exFAT. If you have a USB flash drive inserted in your Mac, you can see it under the External in the Disk Utility. Go to Open Disk Utility, which is located under Applications in the Finder menu. To format a drive on a Mac, you'll need the built-in Disk Utility application. You will see the drive's file system shown on the right “Format”.įormatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. Right-click the drive icon in the Finder sidebar (or on the desktop) and select Get Info. So how do you know if your USB drive is in the correct format? You do not need to do anything special on the 'Disk Utility' - simply insert the USB drive and open Finder. How to format a USB drive as exFAT on Mac

Part 2: Format a USB drive as exFAT on Windows.

Part 1: Format a USB drive as exFAT on Mac.

You can format the drive on your Mac or Windows computer. If you plan on using an external drive with both Macs and PCs, you should format the disk with the exFAT file system instead.

By default, Macs use HFS, while PCs use NTFS, which are not compatible with each other. Since the PC and Mac are two different operating systems, they use different file systems. How to Format a USB Drive as exFAT for Mac and Windows Compatibility