How to Format a Hard Drive on Mac to make it work with Mac and PC

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How to Format a Hard Drive on Mac to make it work with Mac and PC
How to Format a Hard Drive on Mac to make it work with Mac and PC
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There are several advantages to making hard drive formatting for Macintosh (Mac) also compatible with Windows Personal Computer (PC), including the ability to move files between computers or share data. PC and Mac have different operating systems, the procedure for formatting a hard drive on each computer varies greatly, however, you can use the File Allocation Table (FAT) file system to properly format a hard drive and make it work on both computers. While this procedure supports files up to 4 gigabytes (GB) in size, it is compatible with any operating system on all Mac and Windows computers. Read on to learn how you can format a Mac hard drive to run on Windows too, without having to download third-party software.

Steps

Format a Hard Drive on Mac to Work on Mac and PC Step 1
Format a Hard Drive on Mac to Work on Mac and PC Step 1

Step 1. Access Disk Utility

  • Open Finder, then Applications, then Utilities.
  • Choose Disk Utilities.
  • Or use Spotlight: Click the spotlight icon at the top right of the desktop and type Disk Utility.
Format a Hard Drive on Mac to Work on Mac and PC Step 2
Format a Hard Drive on Mac to Work on Mac and PC Step 2

Step 2. Select the HD you want to format

Click on the name of the HD you want to format from the left panel

Format a Hard Drive on Mac to Work on Mac and PC Step 3
Format a Hard Drive on Mac to Work on Mac and PC Step 3

Step 3. Format the disk

  • Click the Delete button at the top of the window. You will find a list of different formats in the drop-down menu.
  • Choose MS-DOS (FAT) or MS-DOS File System.
  • Click Clear at the bottom to begin formatting. The application may ask you if you really want to format the disk.
Format a Hard Drive on Mac to Work on Mac and PC Step 4
Format a Hard Drive on Mac to Work on Mac and PC Step 4

Step 4. Use your disk on Win and Mac

Once formatted, you will have the option to use HD on both Windows and Mac.

Advice

You can also format a Mac and Windows PC compatible hard drive from a Windows computer. Open "My Computer" from any Windows desktop, then right click directly on the hard drive you want to format. Select the format from the menu and choose "exFAT" from the "File System" menu. By clicking on the "Start" button, the PC will start formatting the hard drive

Warnings

  • Make a copy of the files you want to keep on another HD. Formatting will erase all data.
  • Make sure you have made a backup to avoid data loss.
  • Check that the files you use are smaller than 4GB, otherwise they may not work.

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