How To Format Flash Drive For Mac And Pc Compatibility On A Mac

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Mac flash drive to pc

#3 Format a drive or USB thumb drive etc., to work with Mac or PC, on a Mac (most compatibility) Take the drive to the oldest OS X version on the Mac(s), Open Disk Utility and select the drive makers name and size on the far left, then.

I have a brand new Sandisk USB flash drive that I am trying to copy movie files onto from my Mac's hard drive. For some reason I can copy one of the movie files but not the other, even though they are both Quicktime (.mov) files. In doing some research, it seems the one file will not copy/paste likely because it is over 4 GB in size and the FAT32 filing system on the USB drive prevents files in excess of this size to be copied and pasted. My question to anyone who can help me is: How can I get files over 4 GB onto and off of this USB drive AND be able to use it for both Mac and PC computers? Thanks for any advice. Apple Footer • This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. Task Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided; every potential issue may involve several factors not detailed in the conversations captured in an electronic forum and Apple can therefore provide no guarantee as to the efficacy of any proposed solutions on the community forums.

Once the drive is formatted it will be compatible to be read and written to on both a Mac and PC, and the resulting FAT file system is compatible with all versions of Mac OS X, Windows 95, 98, Windows XP, Vista, 7, Windows 8, even Windows 10, it’s one of the most widely recognized and usable file system formats. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) - This is the default file system format for Mac OS X drives. Advantages: Formatting your USB flash drive this way will give you full interoperability with Macs.

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Quite often, when you purchase a new USB flash drive or an external hard disk, you may have to format it to ensure that it is compatible with your Mac device. This happens mostly because of the fact that they are all configured to be compatible with Windows device. While the disk may operate in a completely flawless manner, there may be some Windows components like MSDOS, FAT32, ExFAT, NTFS, and FAT formats that Mac cannot read. Therefore, formatting the external hard disk or USB flash drive can make it easier for the device to run on the Mac environment.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to format an External Hard Disk or a USB Flash Drive on Mac • Connect the hard drive to your Mac device. • Head over to Applications, then Utilities to launch the Disk Utility. • Identify your drive from the menu on the left hand side of the Disk Utility.

• Click on the name of your drive. • In the top tab, select the Erase • Click on field next to the Format From the drop-down menu, choose the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) option. • If you wish to name the drive, you can do it now. However, if you opt out of naming the drive, you can also do it any time later. • Click on the Erase button on the bottom-right corner.

• Confirm the action by clicking on Erase in the pop-up screen. • Your system will begin formatting your external hard disk. The time taken depends on the size of the drive and the volume that has been occupied. Remember, formatting a disk will result in loss of any data stored on the drive. You will also lose all disk partitioning. Therefore, create a backup of your data to ensure that you do not lose all your data.