How to format a toshiba hard drive for mac and pc

Unmount your drive, then plug it back in. You can download it here: The other methods involve using 3rd party drivers such as: I tried using exFAT on a 32 gb USB drive and it worked on my mac and it worked on my pc but not on my philips smart tv.

This is a very useful article. One limitation is that it is not useful for Mac backups or for use as a Mac Boot Drive. This is complete crap. Thanks, pretty much well explained in a way. Appreciated your efforts! I want to transfer all the the files from my Windows formatted external hard to an exFat formatted external hard drive.

Great advice, worked like a charm. I just used on 2TB flash drive that worked poorly on mac. Thank you so much for this easy to follow and understand explanation. I have OS X Really appreciate how you explained everything in simple terms, so not only was I able to do the formatting, I also understand what I am doing and why.

I can now drag and drop files on to the new passport and they copy fast. Thanks a bunch. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. View Results.

The name itself was an accident, shouted by Frankie P. Find out more about us or send a friendly message. It's great to hear from people! Need some guidance? Browse our Archives.

Subscribe to our RSS feed. Follow our Twitter. Advertise with us. Submit an Apple-related tip or fix. Tell a friend to "Go MacYourself. Hardware Tips. Select your external hard drive or USB flash drive from the list on the left. Click on the Erase tab. Damian April 9th, , Multi operating system bliss!!

Helpful answers

Robin May 15th, , 7: Lacey May 31st, , 5: Goldie June 13th, , 7: Marvin Weide July 4th, , 6: Randy Samberg July 13th, , Stuart July 16th, , 6: Aby July 18th, , 4: Succesfully converted my hard drive to exFAT. Thanks a lot. Roger Watling July 19th, , 2: Tapan July 24th, , Rachid July 25th, , 6: AH August 26th, , 8: What to do?

John September 18th, , 8: Exfat is not reliable and stable. You will have issues down the road. Thomas Allbert September 30th, , 9: Mike November 1st, , 2: Musoro Samuel November 1st, , 5: Pietra November 13th, , Boris Bold November 15th, , 1: Good to see some options here rather than just FAT Be warned that exFAT can be slow. Kathleen December 5th, , 4: Ondrej March 11th, , 4: Susan June 14th, , 9: Roger September 9th, , 5: An September 14th, , Alex September 14th, , The best solution I found was: Method 1: So you need to activate it: Back in the terminal, type: Now you can do whatever you want with it in Mac OS X.

I hope this helps. Good luck! Thea October 3rd, , 3: Casper Jonathan October 12th, , 8: Arjun November 7th, , Harry November 28th, , 7: Caius January 19th, , Soop March 22nd, , 1: May 12th, , For example, you might want more storage for your Mac than you do for your PC.

Give your settings a final lookover and click Apply. Step 2: Plug the hard drive into your Windows PC. Open the Start menu and search for Disk Management.

Select the search result and the Disk Management utility will launch. In the left sidebar, you should see your hard drive and its partitions. Right-click the Windows partition and select Format. Click OK and complete the format process. With these three options you'll be able to take advantage of either platform's offerings, be it Time Machine support or security options. In the end, you may end up using FAT32 for its simplicity, but don't say I didn't warn you about the risks. How to set up Google's two-step verification: To better protect your digital life, specifically your Google account, turn on two-factor authentication for your Gmail account.

With a few minutes of setup time, your account will be much more secure -- with very little hassle. How to book an Uber or Lyft with Google Home: Use a Google Home and your phone to get the best ride. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy , which we encourage you to read.

Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion. Don't show this again. Computers The best ways to format an external drive for Windows and Mac Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with Windows and Mac. You can, but not out of the box. Here's a look at how the different HD format types function: The video and directions below will guide you through the process, but before you format your HD to FAT32, beware of these drawbacks: If your HD gets into the wrong hands, that person will be able to access your data. So, for example, if you want to store a 9GB movie, it will be impossible.

In general, FAT32 drives are more susceptible to disk errors. It's not a huge issue, but FAT32 is less efficient at storing files. Its large cluster sizes waste disk space, unlike the other HD storage formats. Now playing: Watch this: The best ways to format an external drive for Windows and Mac Sign in to comment Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. Next Article: