As we know, external hard drives are widely used to backup data or interchange files among different computers.
Well, is there an external hard drive that could be shared between Mac and Windows PC?
Of course, there is.
Further Reading
Both FAT32 and exFAT have advantages and disadvantages.
FAT32:FAT32 works with all versions of Windows, Mac OS, Linux, game consoles, etc.
However, single files on a FAT32 drive cant be larger than 4GB.
In addition, a FAT32 partition must be not more than 32GB if you create it in WindowsDisk Management.
Paragon NTFS for Mac is such a driver.
MiniTool Partition Wizard is one representative.
But, this solution is slower relatively.
And the automatically mounting NTFS partitions in read-write mode can be a security risk for your Mac computer.
Apples Experimental NTFS-Write Support
The Mac OS has an experimental support for writing to NTFS drives.
Usually, it is disabled by default and needs some messing around in the Mac terminal to enable it.
It doesnt work properly all the time and could lead to potential issues with your NTFS file system.
For example, it had corrupted data before.
Thus, we dont suggest using this tool and we believe it is disabled by this reason.
Then, we will introduce these three options for you in the following content.
It offers a 10-day free trial.
If you want to use it all the time, you better pay for it.
With it, you dont have to fiddle with terminal commands to mount partitions manually.
Additionally, it can mount partitions automatically and safely.
More importantly, it can code with the potential corruption.
All in all, it does its works well and gives you good users experience.
But it is less secure.
Thus, your Mac is in danger when using this driver.
This will be safer, but it’s crucial that you do more work.
you might go to google the steps and see how complex they are.
It is just for educational purposes, and it is available on Mac OS 10.12 Sierra.
Perhaps, it will be unstable forever.
Then, the drive can be used on both Mac and PC.
There should be some important data on the drive.
If you are a personal user, it’s possible for you to try its Professional Edition.
Step 1:Run MiniTool Partition Wizard
Download this software to your rig.
If there is more than one NTFS partition, convert all of them one by one.
At last, click Apply button to make the change executed.
Then, it’s possible for you to share external hard drive between Mac and PC.
However, if there is more than one NTFS partition, viewCopy Diskto get specific operations.
Firstly, it’s crucial that you delete the partition by using this software.
Just fire up the software to enter its main interface.
Then, choose the target partition and click Delete Partition from the left action pane.
After that, you should click Apply to keep this change.
Secondly, the target partition will become unallocated.
Here, you oughta choose that partition and choose Create Partition from the left action pane.
Thirdly, you will see a pop-out window.
Here, it’s possible for you to choose exFAT from the File System setting option.
After that, like choose OK.
Fourthly, you will go back to the main interface.
Then, just punch Apply to save these changes.
Of course, if you have a backup already, ignore this step.
Firstly, fire up the software to enter its main interface as follows.
After that, an unallocated space will be released.
Secondly, you could create one or more FAT32 partitions in unallocated space.
go for the unallocated space and choose Create Partition feature from the left side.
Then, you should choose FAT32 from the File System option in the pop-out window.
At last, click Apply button to make all changes performed.
As to size for each partition, it depends on your own demands.
By this way, you might easily format an external hard drive for Mac and Windows.
Then, opt for external hard drive and choose Delete All Partitions to create an unallocated space.
Here, grab the unallocated space and choose Create Partition feature from the left action pane.
Then, click OK to continue.
Now, you’re able to see a NTFS partition is created.
hey use the same way to create a FAT32 partition labeled with Mac.
At last, click Apply button to make all changes performed.
Step 2: Format the FAT32 Partition to HFS+ Partition on Mac
kindly go to Utilities Disk Utility.
Then, pick the external hard drive and click Partition tab on the top.
Finally, click Apply button to make all changes performed.
Bottom Line
Are you planning to format an external hard drive for Mac and PC?
If yes, now try one of our methods to make external hard drive compatible with Mac and PC.
