Go to Spotlight Search, type in Disk Utility, and click the first option. This will open the Disk Utility app, where you will find all the internal and external drives that are connected to your Mac. Then click View in the top-left corner of the window and select Show All Devices. Click the external hard drive you want to format. Format hard drive with Disk Utility Navigate to Applications Utilities and choose Disk Utility. Select the drive you want to format from the left-hand navigation menu. Click Erase in the bottom right-hand corner. Attach the hard drive to the system that you wish to format using Mac HFS+ file system. Download Paragon Partition Manager Free if you have not already, then install the software. While the program loads, it will scan the disks attached to the system and present a list. Now you will need to select the disk you wish to format.
You can format the external hard drive or USB drive to make it compatible with both Mac and Windows machines. This thing is still unknown for many users but doesn’t worry it’s not complex.
If you are tech savvy and use Windows and Mac computers frequently, then you might need to transfer data between Mac and PC. Windows and macOS filesystems are different and you might need to format the drive every time to use on both platforms. You don’t need to format the hard drive every time you can choose a filesystem while formatting the drive so the hard drive or USB drive work on both Mac and PC
So to get rid of these situations we bring here a guide that will help you to format your drive which works on both platforms and you don’t need to format and backup data every time. After cross-compatible formatting, simply unplug the drive from one machine and then plug it into another. Sounds good to you right? So let’s started, how this works.
Understand file systems for Mac and Windows
There are three common file system types to format an external USB or hard drive, SSD drive, SD card and etc. FAT32, NTFS, and exFAT let’s have a look what’s the difference between these formats.
![Format Format](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/y7aFpVV2mgAqm2chQRkyz6-1200-80.png)
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FAT 32 Format
This format is pretty old but supported and it’s not efficient as compared to NTFS. It doesn’t support big features but offers great compatibility which means it’s compatible with all versions of Windows. It can only support 4GB file size and up to 8TB hard drivers. It’s not capable to store files larger than 4GB.
NTFS Format
NTFS is a modern format system and Windows also uses this format for itself and for other non-removable drives by default. This format is also compatible with all versions of Windows but limited to none Windows OS as FAT32.
exFAT Format
exFAT drives are faster at reading and writing as compared to FAT32. This format can store large files and it’s also lightweight. It’s compatible with all versions of Windows and the best thing it’s along with Windows it’s also compatible with macOS, Linux, and Android, etc.
- If your drive is formatted as Windows default format NTFS then it’s only readable to macOS. You can’t do more than that or you have to install a separate app on Mac to read write the drive.
- Drive with macOS format HFS+ cant readable to Windows.
- FAT32 format works on both Windows and Mac but the problem is you can only work with files with a maximum size of 4GB.
Learn more: Copy data on NTFS drive in macOS
FAT32 is much better than NTFS and HFS+ becuase it works on both operating systems. You can also install drivers on each OS to make work your drive. So exFAT is much better than all of these formats and a simple option but this will not work on Leopard.
Format a USB Drive on Mac
Time needed: 5 minutes.
First, let’s see how to format an external hard drive or USB drive in macOS which works with both Mac and PC platforms, first plug-in your drive into a macOS machine.
- Disk UtilityOpen Disk Utility on your macOS, press
cmd + spacebar
keys, and type Disk Utility in the spotlight search. Open Disk Utility from the search results. - Erase DriveOn the Disk Utility interface, select an external drive click on the Erase button from the top of the window (make sure and backup your drive before erasing it).
- Drive formatNow enter the name for the external drive which will be used after formatting and also select the exFAT for Format option and click on the Erase. This will format the drive as exFAT format and your drive is now compatible with both platforms.
Format USB Drive in Windows
The below steps for formatting external drive is for Windows 10 and also works the same with an old version of Windows. To format your external drive hard drive in Windows to use on Mac and PC platforms, first plug-in your drive with a Windows machine. Ftp download manager mac.
Open the Disk Management tool by right-clicking on the start menu icon and then select Disk Management. Now right click on the external drive and click on the format option (double-check the drive name and capacity to make sure you are going to format the right drive.)
Now enter the Volume label as you need and change the File system for exFat and click OK. Now you are done.
Share your experience, how do you use an external hard drive on both Mac and PC. Did you format the drive as exFAT ? or use any utility that helps the system to read another type of file system. Please leave a comment below.
Related Content
When you have the need to format a hard drive under macOS 10.13 High Sierra, it typically requires the use of third-party hard drive format software like Disk Utility. In this article, we will introduce you a few tools you can use for formatting hard drive under macOS 10.13 High Sierra. First of all, get your data backed up before do the format. Now, let's start to format a hard drive under macOS 10.13 High Sierra with some easy tools.
Solution 1: format hard drive under macOS 10.13 High Sierra with Disk Utility
Step 1: Open Disk Utility
Open Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility
Open Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility
Step 2: Select the hard drive on the left.
Note: If you don't see two passages filed at that point change the view in plate utility to demonstrate the drive and the volume. The view catch is in the upper left-hand side, change to Show All gadgets. This component was presented in macOS 10.13 High Sierra
Step 3: Select ‘Erase ‘ which opens the accompanying window.
Step 4: Rename the drive
Step 5: Select OS X Extended (Journaled) for Format
Step 6: Select GUID Partition Map for Scheme
Note: If you don't see the plan choice, at that point you have chosen the volume and not the drive. Tap on the view catch in the upper left-hand side, change to Show All Devices. Select the non-indented section for your Seagate drive.
Cautioning: Formatting the drive will eradicate all data on the drive, so you should duplicate any data you need off the drive before arranging.
Step 7: Select Erase once more.
Step 8: Plate Utility will begin organizing the drive.
Step 9: Once total, click done.
Please note that the formatted data on your hard drive still can be recovered by data recovery software.
Note: If you don't see two passages filed at that point change the view in plate utility to demonstrate the drive and the volume. The view catch is in the upper left-hand side, change to Show All gadgets. This component was presented in macOS 10.13 High Sierra
Step 3: Select ‘Erase ‘ which opens the accompanying window.
Step 4: Rename the drive
Step 5: Select OS X Extended (Journaled) for Format
Step 6: Select GUID Partition Map for Scheme
Note: If you don't see the plan choice, at that point you have chosen the volume and not the drive. Tap on the view catch in the upper left-hand side, change to Show All Devices. Select the non-indented section for your Seagate drive.
Cautioning: Formatting the drive will eradicate all data on the drive, so you should duplicate any data you need off the drive before arranging.
Step 7: Select Erase once more.
Step 8: Plate Utility will begin organizing the drive.
Step 9: Once total, click done.
Please note that the formatted data on your hard drive still can be recovered by data recovery software.
![Mac Mac](https://wallpapercave.com/wp/zJji9Fi.jpg)
Solution 2: format hard drive under macOS 10.13 High Sierra with AweCleaner for Mac
Step 1: Download and install AweCleaner for Mac on your Mac.
Step 2: Run AweCleaner for Mac to format your hard drive.
Launch AweCleaner for Mac > Click Disk Manager > Select the hard drive and click on 'Format' button.
The data formatted by AweCleaner can be recovered by data recovery software. If you want to permanently erase data on the hard drive, you can try the solution 3.
Solution 3: format and erase hard drive under macOS 10.13 High Sierra with AweEraser for Mac
AweEraser for Mac is a data erasure application. It can format your hard drive and erase all the data on your hard drive, beyond the scope of data recovery. It means the data on your hard drive will be permanently erased.
Step 1: Download and install AweEraser for Mac on your Mac.
Step 2: Launch AweEraser for Mac to format your hard drive.
Mac Disk Format Types
Launch AweEraser for Mac > Choose mode 'Erase Hard Drive' > Select your hard drive > Click on 'Erase' button. Then AweEraser for Mac will format your hard drive and permanently erase all data on the hard drive. The erased data will be lost forever.