#Format Usb Exfat For Windows And Mac OS X Features#

ExFAT: Compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux OS X.The overwhelming majority of USB flash drives you buy are going to come in one of two formats: FAT32 or NTFS. Aside from that, youll also find a short description of their compatibility with other operating systems. This is a file system limitation that affects both Macs and PCs, and the only workaround is to format the drive. FAT32 has several limitations, including a 4 GB per-file limit. 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. (Windows) or HFS+ (Mac) format.

Format Usb Exfat For Windows And Mac OS X Features

A drive formatted this way can easily transfer files between Macs and PCs. Otherwise, you may need to consider one of the file formats discussed below.MS-DOS (FAT) - This is Disk Utility's name for the FAT32 filesystem.Advantages: FAT32 offers near-universal interoperability with virtually every computing system on the planet. If you're transferring files from Macs to PCs, this won't be an issue however, transferring files from PCs to Macs won't be possible if your drive is formatted in 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled).' If you will only be working with Macs and not PCs, this may not be an issue. The 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' option will have the highest degree of support for Mac OS X features, and there's no limit to the size of files you can put on the drive.Disadvantages: Windows-running PCs can read files from drives formatted this way, but they can't write to them (at least not without the same amount of work it takes to get OS X to write to NTFS-formatted drives). You can even set up an OS X startup drive if you have the right files, the know-how, and a big enough flash drive, which will allow you to boot your Mac off an external disk if something goes wrong with your built-in drive. It also includes support for features from OS X Lion, such as Versions.

If you need to transfer files between your Mac and one of these non-PC devices, you're almost certainly going to have to format your flash drive in FAT32 instead.Here's a basic rundown of which format we recommend for your USB flash drive, broken down by use case.If you absolutely, positively will only be working with Macs and no other system, ever: Use Mac OS Extended (Journaled).If you need to transfer files larger than 4 GB between Macs and PCs: Use exFAT.In all other cases: Use MS-DOS (FAT), aka FAT32. Of greater issue is that most consumer electronics (cameras, camcorders, video game systems) don't support exFAT, either.