
To make it compatible with both macOS and Windows, you need to reformat the external hard drive.

Sometimes, users need to use the same external hard drive interchangeably on Mac and PC. Out of the box, you can't read or write HFS+/APFS drives on Windows while you can read NTFS drive on Mac only but can't write it on Mac. If you don't format the external hard drive correctly, it won't work to the utmost extent.įor instance,Windows uses NTFS, while Mac uses HFS+ or APFS. It's important to know how to format an external hard drive for your Mac and PC before you use it to free up space and transfer files between computers.
#FORMAT DRIVE FOR WINDOS OS FROM MAC HOW TO#
Read more > How to format an external hard drive for Mac and PC?

Want to format your external hard drive on Windows PC? Here's a complete guide to help you initialize and reformat your external drive. Guide to initialize and format external hard drive on Windows PC Tips: To prevent data loss during formatting, make sure you haven't saved important files on the drive. Then, you need to choose the best file system for your external hard drive when erase it. To format external hard drives on Mac, you'll need the built-in disk management tool called Disk Utility. How to format external hard drive for Mac? More importantly, you will know how to format external hard drive for Mac and PC and make external hard drive compatible with Mac and Windows PC without formatting. Then, after reading this post, you'll know what is the best format for your external hard drive and what is the best format for your Mac and PC.

How to format external hard drive for Mac?.Though the default hard disk file system (also known as format) of Windows and Mac are different, there should be some ways to format an external hard drive for Mac and PC.
