Click the Finder Icon to open Finder and select.Format Flash Drive For MAC And PC: It’s no surprise that PCs and Macs do not work well with each other, due to differences between the two operating systems (Windows vs. Tuxera has a pay version and an open-source free.Description: This article will show how to format a USB drive so that it will work on both Mac and PC computers. Paragon is pay only with a 10 day trial. Paragon & Tuxera have solutions to do this. In order to write or format NTFS, you need a third party app. And it also can permanently erase all data from the USB flash drive to avoid data recovery.How to format a usb flash drive on a windows 10 pc for mac os x & windows pc compatibility If you need to transfer files larger than 4 GB between macs and wi.1.7 Author’s Opinion regarding the Format Flash Drive For MAC And PC Guide: Formatting A USB Flash Drive For Mac & PC CompatibilityAnswer (1 of 2): How do I format a flash drive to NTFS on a Mac macOS supports NTFS, but read-only.Note that there is another file system called FAT32 that pretty much does the same thing but with one major flaw. In other words, you can access the drive and transfer data without any hassles.That file system is — exFAT. What do I mean?If your disk was initially formatted to NTFS on a PC (or HFS+ on a Mac), most likely you’ll suffer limitations, for example, the data on your drive can’t be read or written on one of your computers.Fortunately, there is a file system (actually two, I’ll explain) that you can format your flash drive to be fully compatible with Mac and PC. By default, Macs are with HFS+ (since 2017 there’s new Apple File System, APFS, optimized for flash storage), while PCs are with NTFS.If you have a USB drive, and you plan to use it on both a Mac and PC, things can get a bit tricky here.How to know what current file system your flash drive is with, and how to format it to exFAT?Read on for step by step instructions… How To Check A USB Drive’s File System?First of all, plug your flash drive into the USB port on your computer. This is because an NTFS-based drive can be read by macOS but you can’t write data to the drive.Now that you’ve learned exFAT is the ideal file system to go. You should go ahead and format your storage drive with exFAT instead of FAT32, assuming that all devices you want to use the drive support exFAT.You may notice that in NTFS is marked “Partially” under the Compatible with macOS column. Therefore, it’s perfect for a USB flash drive or external disk, especially when you need to save files more than 4GB in size. How to Format a Drive for Mac & PC CompatibilityAs you can see, exFAT is the only file system that works with all versions of Windows and macOS and does not have any max file-size or partition-size limits.Part 1: Formatting USB Drive On MacPlease note: since OS X 10.11 El Capitan (the latest is 10.13 High Sierra), Apple made a few changes to Disk Utility (see details from this ComputerWorld article). The first part is for Mac users, and the second part is for PC users (Windows 10 based). Because the process of reformatting a disk drive will very likely erase all content and make recovery impossible.Also, since I don’t know whether you are on a PC or Mac to perform this operation, I’m here to break down this guide into two parts. Note: since I’ve formatted my Lexar drive on my Mac, now it shows exFAT.How To Format Your USB Flash Drive To ExFAT?Important: make sure you have at least one backup of all the data stored on the device before you proceed. That means my Lexar disk is currently with the FAT32 file system.Go to This PC, under “Devices and drives,” highlight the disk that represents your USB flash drive, right-click and select Properties.In the new Properties window, check General > File system and you’ll see what type of file system your flash drive is currently with. I’m here to use a 32GB Lexar USB key as an example.Once the Lexar disk shows up on the desktop, right-click on the drive icon and select “Get Info.”Alternatively (in case the disk does not show up on your desktop), open Finder, on the sidebar menu locate your USB drive under Devices, right-click and select “Get Info.”In the new dialogue, pay attention to General > Format, where it says “MS-DOS (FAT32)”.
![]() Flash Drive Format In Windows Windows 10 Pc ForThen hit the “Erase” button to continue. You may also change the device name if you want. In the new pop-up window, choose the format to be “ExFAT”. In my case, I can see it’s a 32GB volume in MS-DOS(FAT) file system.Step 3: Now click the “Erase” button at the top. Note: right below your device name, it also shows information about the drive e.g. The quickest way is to search on Spotlight and click the result under “TOP HIT.” Alternatively, you can access it via Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.Step 2: Under “External” tab, highlight your flash drive. The screenshots may look slightly different. If you are on an earlier operating system like Windows 7, XP, etc. And yes … it’s now with the exFAT file system.Please note: I’m here to use a Windows 10 based HP laptop to format my Lexar drive. I saved several files to the disk, and open Disk Utility again. I’m showing this to verify that the USB drive has been reformatted to the file system I wanted. It should be very quick (only a few seconds to format my 32GB Lexar drive).Step 5: This step is optional. Topaz labs serial keyClick “OK.”Pro tip: chances are that you may encounter some issues formatting a flash drive on a PC or the disk is malfunctioning. Once again, make sure you’ve backed up all important data stored in the drive. The only thing you have to check is under “File system,” make sure you have chosen “exFAT.” You may also rename the device drive under “Volume label.” Then click the “Start” button to continue.Step 3: You’ll see this warning. Author’s Opinion regarding the Format Flash Drive For MAC And PCThe Format Flash Drive For MAC And PC has very strong features, while considering the security purpose, priority is very high. Once again, as a kind warning: formatting a flash drive will likely erase all files and data stored in the device, it’s vital to ensure you have made at least one copy of the data before you get started. Like I said, if you want to use the device for both a PC and Mac, you should consider reformatting it to exFAT once you figure out the drive isn’t with another file system.Hope the above guide is helpful to you. FAT32 is popular but the 4GB file-size limit makes it inconvenient, for instance, when you want to make a bootable macOS Sierra USB drive which the system file takes about 8GB of storage space according to Apple.Thankfully, exFAT — a strict upgrade over FAT32, is a file system optimized for USB flash drives. That makes using the drive a bit troublesome on Mac machines. ![]()
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