Can an external hard drive be used with Mac and PC?

Can an external hard drive be used with Mac and PC?

Want to use one external drive for both your Windows PC and your Mac machine? Windows uses NTFS while Mac OS uses HFS, and they’re incompatible with each other. However, you can format the drive to work with both Windows and Mac by using the exFAT filesystem.

What file format can be read by both Mac and PC?

ExFAT
For a hard drive to be able to be read and written to in both a PC and Mac computer, it must be formatted to ExFAT or FAT32 file format.

Will a hard drive formatted for Mac work on PC?

A hard drive formatted for use in a Mac has either an HFS or HFS+ file system. For this reason, a Mac-formatted hard drive is not directly compatible, nor readable by a Windows computer. The HFS and HFS+ file systems are not readable by Windows.

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How do I change the File system on my external hard drive without formatting?

  1. Locate and scan the RAW hard drive.
  2. Find and preview found data in the RAW drive.
  3. Restore and save RAW drive data.
  4. Open “This PC” (Windows 10), right-click the RAW disk/partition, and choose “Format”.
  5. Select the NTFS file system and set up other necessary options.
  6. Click “Start” > “OK”.

How do I change my hard drive from read only on Mac?

Here’s how to fix it.

  1. Select the drive in the Finder.
  2. Press Command-I to display the Get Info window.
  3. At the bottom of the window, click the arrow next to Sharing & Permissions to display permissions.
  4. Click on the Privilege menu next to your username and choose Read & Write.
  5. Close the Get Info window.

Is there a way to format a hard drive without erasing everything?

Yes, It Is Possible! It’s perfectly possible to wipe your hard drive without losing all your data. The process requires you to format your drive, then use data recovery tools to salvage your data.

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Can you partition an external hard drive with data on it?

Is there a way to safely partition it with my data still on it? Yes. You can do this with Disk Utility (found in /Applications/Utilities).

How do I change the file system on my external hard drive without formatting?

How to open an external hard drive without formatting?

How to Open an External Hard Drive without Formatting 1 If you want to open your external hard drive without formatting. 2 Then download Hard Disk Recovery Wizard and install it on your Windows system. It will recover all corrupted files and folders. Save the recovered… See More….

How to have an external hard drive for Mac and PC?

Options For Having An External Hard Drive For Mac And PC Without Formatting 1 Use a Software Solution – You get a piece of software that sits on your Mac. Or one for your Windows PC. This… 2 Use a Hardware Solution – An extra external hard drive. This allows you to have your documents set up so that both… More

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What is the file system for external hard drive on Windows?

Your Windows PC reads FAT32, NTFS and ExFAT file systems. Your Mac read HFS+ (also known as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system, APFS (the apple file system), FAT32 and ExFAT file systems. You’ll also see the file system referred to as the drive’s formatting. Typically, an external hard drive that works on a Windows PC uses an NTFS file system.

How to read and write files on exFAT drive on Mac?

Format that drive to ExFAT. ExFAT is an efficient, fast, compatible file system. ExFAT works freely with both Macs and Windows PC. Plug an ExFAT drive into your Mac and you Mac can see all the files on it. Read and write document to the drive. And you can do the same on a Windows PC.