The other is to format your drives with the exFAT file system. This file system can be read and written by both Mac and Windows with support for single files of up to 128 petabytes! Even better, it’s freely included in both operating systems. A drive can be formatted with exFAT using either a Windows or a Mac computer. To format the USB drive to FAT32, follow the next steps: Step 1. Connect the USB flash drive to your Mac computer. Go to Applications Utilities Double click and open Disk Utility. Select your USB flash drive on the sidebar, choose Erase. Rename the USB flash drive (optional). Choose the format as MS-DOS (FAT. Step 3: To perform a quick format, type in the following command “ Format-Volume -DriveLetter DRIVE-LETTER -FileSystem exFAT ”. Replace 'DRIVE-LETTER' with the drive letter allocated to your flash drive by the PC. For this example, the command looks like this, “ Format-Volume -DriveLetter D -FileSystem exFAT ”. Given that Mac computers are on the rise, your best option is to format the drive as exFAT. If there is a Windows XP user out there, they can download the plugin from Microsoft to allow an XP operating system to see the exFAT device without wanting to format it.
Since the PC and Mac are two different operating systems, they use different file systems. By default, Macs use HFS, while PCs use NTFS, which are not compatible with each other. If you plan on using an external drive with both Macs and PCs, you should format the disk with the exFAT file system instead.
You can format the drive on your Mac or Windows computer.
How to format a USB drive as exFAT on Mac
So how do you know if your USB drive is in the correct format? You do not need to do anything special on the 'Disk Utility' - simply insert the USB drive and open Finder. Right-click the drive icon in the Finder sidebar (or on the desktop) and select Get Info. You will see the drive's file system shown on the right “Format”.
Formatting a drive will erase it completely, so make sure you have everything backed up that you want to keep. To format a drive on a Mac, you'll need the built-in Disk Utility application.
Go to Open Disk Utility, which is located under Applications in the Finder menu. If you have a USB flash drive inserted in your Mac, you can see it under the External in the Disk Utility. Select your flash drive from the list. Go to the Erase tab. You will be asked to provide the disk name and then select the file system as exFAT.
Then select the default GUID Partition Map (GPT) scheme. Click the Erase button when you are done and the Disk Utility will format your disk with the settings you specified. This will erase all the files on the drive.
You're now done. Be sure to eject the disk before you remove it from your Mac.
How to format a USB flash drive as exFAT on Windows PC
There are several ways to format drive in Windows PC, you can do that in This PC or in Disk Management.
Note: If you have important data on your USB flash drive, you should backup your drive before formatting it.
Option 1: Format a USB drive as EexFAT in This PC.
Press Windows logo key + E to open File Explorer. Right-click on the drive you want to format, click on Format. Under File system box, select exFAT for this drive. Then click Start button to go on.
Option 2: Format a USB drive as EexFAT in Disk Management.
Press Win+X, then hit K key to open Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc).
Right-click on the drive you want to format, select Format to see the list of configurations including file system. Select exFAT for this drive. Then click OK button to go on.
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Note: Formatting your flash drive will remove all files or folders onthe drive, so make sure you back up your files before formatting yourdrive.
Windows:
Connect the USB flash drive to your computer.
Click “This PC”.
Right-click the flash drive’s icon. It’s beneath the “Devices and drives” heading in the middle of the page.
Click Format. This option is near the middle of the drop-down menu. Doing so opens the Format window.
Click the “File System” box. It’s below the “File System” heading near the top of the page. A drop-down menu will appear with the following options:
NTFS - The default Windows operating system format. If you’re using your drive as a secondary Windows drive, you’ll need to choose this option.
FAT32 - The most widely compatible format. Works with most computers and gaming consoles.
Note: exFAT format USB flash drives do not work with ClonerAlliance products.
Click a format option (FAT32 or NTFS). If you’ve formatted your drive before and you’re positive that it isn’t broken, you can also check the Quick Format box.
Click Start, and then click OK. Doing this will cause Windows to begin formatting your flash drive for you.
Click “OK” when prompted. Your flash drive has successfully been formatted.
Mac:
How To Format Exfat
Connect the USB flash drive to your Mac.
Note: Some Macs don’t have USB ports, so you’ll need to purchase an adapter.
Click “Go”. It’s a menu item in the top-left side of the menu bar.
If you don’t see Go, first click the Finder icon, which resembles a blue face in your Mac’s dock.
Click “Utilities”. This option is in the Go drop-down menu.
Exfat File Format
Double-click “Disk Utility”. You’ll likely find this option in the middle of the Utilities page.
Click your flash drive’s name. It’s on the far-left side of the Disk Utility window.
Click the “Erase” tab. This option is at the top of the Disk Utility window.
Format Flash Drive Mac Fat32
Click a format option.
Note: exFAT format USB flash drives do not work with ClonerAlliance products.
Exfat And Mac
Click Erase, then click Erase when prompted. This will begin the formatting process. Once the formatting is complete, you’ll see an icon for your flash drive appear on your Mac’s desktop.