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You’d like an external hard drive where both your Mac and your PC can interchange files or listen to the same MP3s?
Or is it that your household has a few Macs and PCs.
Macs and PCs you use for various jobs. And you’d like a central external hard drive to share and pop files onto.
The Good News!
The good news is. You can shape pretty much any external hard drive that can plug into both your Mac and your PC.
And change your drive so that both Mac and Windows can read and write to it.
And all you need is a little know how.
Format Hard Drive For Mac And PC Overview Of The Steps
1. You format your external hard drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system.
2. You format your external hard drive to ExFAT.
3. Then you can share the drive.
Now, you can go ahead without step 1.
But to be honest I’ve seen Macs get picky about formatting the drive to ExFAT without formatting to Mac OS first.
It’ll only take you a few minutes. You’ll find out how, so why worry about it?
External Hard Drive Compatible With Mac And PC
To start you plug your external drive into your Mac.
External Ssd Storage For Mac
You format your external hard drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system first.
Note: If there are files already on your hard drive
You will need to copy them off as formatting will erase the files.
But if you can’t and you still need to make your hard drive interchangeable with Mac and PC.
Take a look at this document. “External Hard Drive Compatible with Mac and PC Without Reformatting“.
Ready? Here are the steps.
1. Power Up And Sign Into Your Mac
Connect the USB cable to your hard drive and plug the other end into your Mac. If the drive needs an external power supply, plug that in ahead of connecting up the USB cable.
2. Find The External Hard Drive Icon On Your Desktop
Your hard drive icon will look like this.
If your drive icon hasn’t shown up on your desktop. And you’re not sure what to do next. Take a look at my article “Connecting up an external hard drive on a Mac“.
3. Open Up Disk Utility
Disk Utility is the software on your Mac that will format your external hard drive for Mac and PC.
You can find Disk Utility by clicking on the Application folder.
Then click on the Utilities folder inside the Application folder.
In the Utilities folder you can double click on Disk Utility to start it up.
Or you can search for it using spotlight search. The icon for Spotlight search should be at the top of your desktop.
Type in Disk Utility.
You click on Disk Utility to start it up.
4. Pick Your External Drive From The External Disk Section In The Window
Be sure to click on your external drive at the top level. As you see in the picture above.
Can’t see two levels?
Look at the top of your screen at the Disk Utility menu. Click on View. And make sure ‘Show All Devices’ is picked.
5. Look At The Options Across The Top Of Your Disk Utility Window
You’ll see the option to Erase. You use this option to set up the formatting of your external hard drive.
6. Click On Erase To Format
You’ll now have a screen where you’ll be able to give the external hard drive a name.
You can also select the formatting – the file system you want.
Your first time through these steps pick Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system.
Use the up down arrows at the end of the format field.
Then be sure to pick GUID Partition Map for Scheme.
Then click erase at the bottom right of the window. Wait a few minutes and you’ve done your formatting.
7. Now Format As ExFAT
When you’ve already formatted your external hard drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system. You’re ready to format as ExFAT.
Go through steps 1 – 5 above again but this time.
Pick ExFAT for your format.
Pick GUID Partition Map for Scheme.
Then you click on the Erase button at the bottom right of your Disk Utilty window.
And in a few minutes you’ve formatted your hard drive to ExFAT.
And you’re done!
Hurray.
Both your Mac and PC can read and write to your entire external hard drive.
You can drag and drop files and create folders as you wish.
And it only took a few minutes.
You can go ahead now and put some files on your drive with your Mac.
But remember before unplugging your hard drive read step 8. And Eject your external hard drive to properly disconnect your newly compatible drive.
![Best Best](https://www.macworld.co.uk/cmsdata/slideshow/3600870/best_ssd_for_mac_thumb800.png)
8. Ejecting Your External Hard Drive From Your Mac
If you just pulled out your USB cable from your Mac or your PC you risk corrupting your drive.
Corrupting your hard drive would make it unreadable by your Mac.
This is because both Mac OS and Windows holds information in its memory. And this information only gets written down to the hard drive when you tell it to.
Ejecting your external hard drive. Tells Mac OS to write that information from memory down to the drive. Then you can safely plug out your drive from your Mac.
You eject your external hard drive from a Windows PC as well. So that your PC can write down all data to your drive. And then it’s safe to take out your USB cable.
To Eject Your Hard Drive;
1. Hover over the Icon for the external hard drive on your desktop. Right click and pick Eject.
Or Go to a finder window. And click on the arrow to the right of your drive name to eject your drive.
2. Wait a few seconds for your drive icon to disappear.
3. Wait till the fan stops moving if your external drive has a fan or for the light on the hard drive to go off.
4. Then you’re free to disconnect your USB cable.
Format External Hard Drive For Mac And Windows YouTube Video
Still feeling in the dark about creating an external hard drive for Mac and Windows?
Would you like to see the reformatting done?
I have chosen this YouTube video as one of the best to view.
Video Credit: Acquevara
Here’s some useful information. On the why is and what is of making your drive interchangeable with Mac and windows.
The Little Known Beauty Of ExFAT
Apple bought the rights from Microsoft. Rights that allow their computers to format and read ExFAT file systems. This means a Mac can read and write to an ExFAT formatted hard drive.
A Windows PC can also read and write to an ExFAT formatted hard drive.
Hurray! ExFAT is the one common factor.
Both Macs and PCs can read from and write to ExFAT file systems.
This means that as long as you can plug your hard drive’s USB cable in. You only need to adjust the formatting of your drive.
Then your Mac and Windows PC can read and write to that drive.
What Can You Share?
Documents, music, photos pretty much all your files.
What Can’t You Share Between A Mac and A Windows PC?
What Can’t You Share between a Mac and a Windows PC?
You can’t share Applications and Program files. These files are also known as executables.
Applications made for a Windows PC must run on a Windows PC.
In the same way an application made to run on Mac must run on a Mac.
You can store program files on a shared hard drive. But when you run these programs they must run on the computer they’re meant for.
Why Does An External Hard Drive That Works For Mac And PC Seem So Hard?
Well the thing is, it’s not,
As long as you understand a few basics.
Either you buy a drive already formatted as ExFAT. Like the Samsung T5 SSD.
Here is a link to a review where you can take a look at the Samsung T5 SSD.
Or you take a few minutes to format your external hard drive for both Mac and PC.
Why Can’t You Share An External Hard Drive From Mac To PC By Default?
Because your Windows PC’s use NTFS (New Technology File System) to store your files.
What Is A File System?
A file system is the structure the computer expects to see and read. This file system is how your PC finds its operating system, your documents, photos, mp3s… In fact anything you’ve saved.
File Systems A Windows PC Can Read
NTFS
NTFS has been around since Windows NT back in 1993. And has been the default file system for Windows based computers since then. Of course it has gone through a few iterations and upgrades since that time.
FAT32
FAT32 an MSDOS based file system preceeded NTFS. And backwards compatibility means that Windows PCs can read and write FAT32 drives.
ExFAT
The ExFAT file system was introduced in 2005 for Windows NT and XP systems. It got over some the file restrictions of FAT32.
For example the largest file size on FAT32 is 4GB.
ExFAT is a much better performing file system than FAT32. The ExFAT file size limit is 16 Exibyte.
Which is enough for most of us.
Now you’ve a little PC file system history. What about your Mac?
File Systems An Apple Mac Can Read
Mac OS Extended (Journaled) File System
Macs pre High Sierra. And without SSD drives have Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file systems on them by default.
This file system is also known as HFS+ (HFS plus).
APFS
In 2017 Apple introduced a new file system called APFS (Apple File System). It was part of the 10.13 release of the Mac operating system called High Sierra. APFS is faster and more secure than Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system.
APFS is the default file system installed on Macs as long as they have Flash drives or SSD (solid state) drives. Your Windows PC cannot read a drive formatted as APFS.
ExFAT
Apple Macs can format external hard drives to the ExFAT file system. Macs can also read and write to ExFAT drives thanks to the agreement made with Microsoft.
Is NTFS Compatible With Mac?
A Mac can read files on NTFS. A Mac can see a NTFS formatted external hard drive but cannot write to it.
This means you can copy files from an external hard drive formatted in NTFS to your Mac and use them there. But you can’t write them back out to the NTFS Windows PC drive.
Which is not that helpful when you want a shareable external hard drive for Mac and Windows.
A Mac cannot create a formatted NTFS drive.
So there you have it.
Your Mac can read but can’t write to NTFS. And your Windows PC cannot see, read or write to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file systems. Or HFS+.
Or for that matter the new Apple File System.
An ExFAT External Hard Drive Is The Middle Ground
Luckily there’s a compatible middle ground and that middle ground is an ExFAT file system.
Formatted as ExFAT you can share a whole external hard drive between a Mac and a Windows PC. An ExFAT external hard drive means you can freely interchange files.
External Hard Drive For Mac And PC Interchangeable What You Need
Your Mac will need to set up your chosen drive before it’s shared. Macs are very choosy about the drives they will write to.
You will need:
1. An external hard drive attached to your Mac via USB.
USB 2.0, USB 3.0, USB 3.1 or USB C are the common external hard drive standards.
You should buy an external hard drive that will fit the ports your Mac and PC have. And think about the speed you want for that drive.
USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 are physically different ports. But are backwards compatible.
You may need a cable adaptor if say your Mac has a USB-C port but the Windows PC you want to share with has a USB 3.0 port.
Not sure on the differences between USB ports have a look at my article on connecting up an external hard drive. There’s an explanation in that article with pictures of the different USB standards.
Or you might need a USB C hub. Does your newer MacBook not have enough USB C ports for you to plug everything you need in at the same time?
Then you might want to take a look at this USB C hub reviewed on this site.
2. A large enough external hard drive. One big enough to hold everything you want to put on it. Don’t scrimp here, you’ll regret it later.
You can take a look at my run down here.
It doesn’t matter what format your chosen hard drive is currently in.
You just format to ExFAT to share with your Mac and PC.
Partition A Section Of Your Hard Drive For Mac And Windows
Are you interested in having just a section of your external hard dedicated to sharing?
Partitioning allows you to divide a part of your external hard drive for PC and Mac.
Perfect when you’ve a large drive. Then you can set up sections for specific things.
I have an article on the site that tells you how. If you follow this link.
Other Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can You Use The Same External Hard Drive For Mac And PC?
Yes!
And in this post you’re shown how to take a drive. Format it. So that it’ll work for PC and Mac. And make it shareable.
But there are other alternatives.
a. Buy a hard drive already formatted as ExFAT. For example the Samsung T5 Portable SSD is ExFAT formatted and you can use straight away.
You can go over and take a look at the Samsung T5 Portable SSD on Mac Review using this link.
b. Some drives come with downloadable software that provides compatibility. The only thing is, when you upgrade your Mac or PC’s operating system. Is the software still compatible?
Often it isn’t.
Which is why you’ll find formatting the drive yourself is the safest way to go.
2. Best Format For External Hard Drive For Mac And PC?
The best format when you want to share a hard drive between a Mac and a Windows PC is ExFAT.
Both operating systems can read and write to that external hard drive format.
You can share and watch the same videos and photos. Listen to the same MP3s. Work on the same files – as long as you’ve suitable applications that can read those files.
For example a pdf reader to read pdf files. Microsoft Word to read word files. etc.
In Closing
Now you’re fully up to speed on how to create an external hard drive. A drive that is interchangeable between a Mac and a PC.
With the help of this article, you will happily swap files back and forth between your Mac and Windows PC.
Related Articles
You can find some other related articles on the site.
Buying an external hard drive or SSD for your Mac is not all that different from buying one for your Windows PC. Most laptops with either operating system now come with at least one oval-shaped USB-C port, and it's the one you'll want to use for connecting your external drive. The main difference is that many drives made specifically for Macs use the upgraded Thunderbolt data transfer protocol, which promises super-fast data transfers for photographers and video editors who need to store mountains of footage and access it very quickly. As a result, they are typically external SSDs, or even multidrive RAID arrays, which means they also tend to be expensive.
So what's a Mac user to do who just wants to back up his or her files using Time Machine, or stash a large video collection? Spoiler: A Thunderbolt drive isn't your only option; far from it. In fact, in many cases it makes sense to choose an inexpensive non-Thunderbolt drive that isn't targeted toward Mac use. Read on as we solve this and all of your other Mac external-storage quandaries.
File-System Considerations
Before we get to Thunderbolt, we need to address a basic building block of hard drives that has always affected compatibility, and probably always will: the file system.
An external drive's file system is the most important factor that determines whether or not it's readable by Macs, PCs, or both. Starting with macOS 'High Sierra,' Cupertino ditched its venerable Mac OS Extended file system, commonly abbreviated as HFS+, and switched to an entirely new file system. It's simply called the Apple File System (APFS), and it's the first format to be used across both Macs and iOS devices.
There are many benefits to switching from HFS+ to APFS, including better security thanks to native encryption, but the most important thing to note for external-drive shoppers is backward-compatibility. Any drive formatted with HFS+ will work just fine with a Mac that's running High Sierra or later.
Neither Apple File System nor HFS+ works with Windows, however. If you plan to use your external drive with computers that run both operating systems, you should consider formatting your drive with the exFAT file system. You won't get the security and efficiency of APFS, but you will get the convenience of being able to transfer files back and forth between Windows and macOS simply by plugging in and unplugging your drive.
Of course, you can easily wipe and reformat most external drives, so you're not limited to buying only those intended for use with Macs. If you really fancy a consumer-oriented drive formatted for Windows (which will usually come pre-formatted in the NTFS format), you can use the Disk Utility in macOS to reformat it after you bring it home from the store. Some highly specialized external drives might not work with Macs even if they're formatted correctly, but consumers looking for extra space simply to store backups or large video collections aren't likely to encounter them.
External Drives: SSDs vs. Spinning Platters
Once you've settled on a file system, you then have to determine which storage medium you want: solid-state or spinning disk. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and—unlike the file system—the type you buy is the type you're stuck with for the life of the drive.
A solid-state drive (SSD) offers quick access to your data because it stores your bits in a type of flash memory rather than on spinning platters. SSDs are often smaller and lighter than spinning external drives, as well, which is also thanks to the lack of moving parts. Their small size means they can often fit into a jacket or pants pocket, which makes them a better choice if you're looking for a portable external drive that you'll be carrying with you frequently. (See our overall picks for favorite external SSDs.)
One major downside, however, is that they're more expensive. You could pay more than 20 cents per gigabyte for an SSD, while spinning drives can be had for less than 10 cents per gigabyte—and often much less. External SSDs also have lower capacity limits, with most drives topping out at 2TB. Compare that with external spinning drives, which are easy to find even in capacities in excess of 8TB for desktop-style drives, or up to 5TB for portable ones.
Portable Ssd External Hard Drive Mac
For professional videographers who edit lots of 4K footage and gamers or movie buffs who have large libraries of multi-gigabyte titles, an external RAID array made up of multiple platter-based drives is worth considering, since it combines the near-speed of an SSD with the gargantuan possible capacities of spinning drives. An array contains two or more drives that all work together to increase throughput, or guard your precious files against corruption via drive redundancy if one of the drives fail. (Or both; it depends on how the array is set up.) The result is that you can get SSD-like speeds, with throughput of more than 400MBps, and capacities that top out close to 50TB. You'll pay handsomely, of course—some Mac-specific arrays cost thousands of dollars.
Portable Ssd External Hard Drive Mac Not Recognized
On the other hand, if you're looking to buy an external drive mainly to back up your files (which you should definitely do), and it will rarely leave your home office, an inexpensive spinning drive will work just fine. These come in both portable and 'desktop' versions.
The portables are obviously smaller, and are based on the kinds of 2.5-inch platter drives used in laptops. Desktop-style external hard drives are larger, are based on the beefier and more capacious 3.5-inch drives used in full-size desktop PCs, and require their own AC power source. Portable drives don't have a power plug; they get the juice they need to run through their data interface.
Does Thunderbolt Matter, or Will USB-C Do?
So, to recap: Faster, smaller (both physically and in terms of gigabytes) solid-state drives come at a premium, while spinning drives offer a much better value while sacrificing speed. But what happens when you throw yet another variable into the mix: the connection between your drive and your Mac? As you might have guessed, the answer is more trade-offs.
Every current Mac comes with oval-shaped USB Type-C ports that support Thunderbolt speeds. MacBook Pro models released in 2021 come with the latest Thunderbolt 4 interface, while other recent Macs use the older Thunderbolt 3. Both have the same maximum 40GBps maximum throughput, many times the speed of regular USB-C ports.
Unfortunately, you won't find all that many Thunderbolt 3-compatible drives on the market, and even fewer that support Thunderbolt 4. There are even some Mac-specific drives still sold with USB 3.0 connectors. Moreover, the Thunderbolt drives you can buy are constrained by the maximum throughput of the drive itself, rather than the Thunderbolt interface. Until recently, most external SSDs topped out at around 600MBps, for instance, due to the traditional bus types used by the drives inside the chassis. That's more than fast enough for backups and occasionally transferring multi-gigabyte files, but many times lower than Thunderbolt's maximum throughput.
However, that speed ceiling is rising. While older external SSDs have been limited by the internal electronics (generally a drive and controller using the older Serial ATA bus inside the drive), late-model drives use different internal components, based on PCI Express drives using the NVMe protocol. These kinds of components in newer drives help Thunderbolt reach more of its speed potential. Drives with rated peak reads and writes in the 1,000MBps to 3,500MBps range indicate one of these newer-tech drives. (Again, see our roundup of the best external SSDs for more discussion of this.)
You can insist on Thunderbolt support if you know you need all the speed you can get, but a USB-C drive will be a better pick if you're more price-sensitive, or need to also use the drive with a PC. With USB-only drives, some manufacturers include a USB Type-C cable for people who own a USB Type-C-only Mac, and you can always pick up a converter for a few dollars online if the drive you're eyeing doesn't offer one. And don't forget that the 27-inch iMac and Mac Pro still come with USB 3.0 ports, so they won't require adapters.
Other External-Drive Considerations
Drives intended for PCs sometimes come bundled with software that will automatically back up your files to the drive when it's connected, but such software isn't as much of a consideration for Mac users, who already have an excellent built-in backup option in the form of Time Machine. (See our guide to using Time Machine for backups.)
The first time you plug in an external drive, Time Machine will ask if you want to use it as a backup drive. While you can customize backup options in System Preferences, such as asking Time Machine to exclude certain folders, there's no action required on your part if you're happy with the default settings. The next time you plug in your drive, Time Machine will automatically set to work creating a backup.
Unless your drive is never going to leave your home or office, you should also consider its physical durability. Rugged, waterproof drives are a good option not just for surfers and BMX riders, as their marketing seems to suggest, but also for people who are carrying their drives to and from school or work, where they might occasionally get spilled on or dropped on the floor. (Check out our favorite rugged drives.)
Finally, you might want to consider how the drive will look when it's plugged into your Mac. Some drives come in a variety of colors. Many others feature copious amounts of aluminum and industrial-chic styling to match the design cues of your MacBook or iMac.
So, Which Drive Should I Buy for My Mac?
We've selected a host of our favorite drives up top; all were tested on both Windows and macOS systems. For more options, check out our main list of best external hard drives and our top picks for external SSDs.