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.
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Currently, hard drives for Windows PC are always formatted with NTFS, while hard disks for Mac are formatted with HFS+. However, when we connect a NTFS formatted disk to Mac, Mac OS X doesn't allow us to write files to the drive neither edit files, though it can read a NTFS drive.
You can format the drive on your Mac or Windows computer.
- On Windows, connect your thumb drive. Click Start File Explorer This PC. Right-click your flash drive and then select Format. In the File System list box, choose exFAT, type in a Volume Label.
- Dec 17, 2018 If your flash drive’s file system is MS-DOS or ExFAT you can use it as it is without further formatting. But if it is NTFS, format your flash drive to make it completely compatible with MacOS. How to format a flash drive on Mac? Disk Utility application in MacOS is the best option to format a flash drive on MacOS. You can launch this app in.
- Formatting a memory card, flash drive or device using a PC. How do I format my memory card, flash drive or device using a PC? NOTE: All SanDisk memory cards and flash drives come pre-formatted and do not need to be formatted out of the box. Memory cards are formatted with the following standards.
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.
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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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Posted by Admin to Bitlocker for Mac on March 16th, 2017
How can I encrypt a USB flash drive in Windows 7/8/10 and have it readable on macOS 10.13 High Sierra/10.12 Sierra/Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan?
Using TrueCrypt is not secure as it may contain unfixed security issues. TrueCrypt official site suggests users to migrate from TrueCrypt to Bitlocker, so up to now, Bitlocker is the best and secure way to encrypt data.
Although Microsoft only released Bitlocker for Windows, but with the help of M3 Bitlocker Loader for Mac, Bitlocker drive encryption is compatible with macOS and encryting USB flash drive with Bitlocker drive encryption can be easily done.
How to encrypt USB flash drive with Bitlocker on Mac?
Step 1: Insert USB flash drive into Mac computer.
Step 2: Download, install and launch M3 Bitlocker Loader for Mac.
Step 3: Click 'Encrypt' button in toolbar.
Step 4: Select the partition which you want to encrypt and click Encrypt.
Step 5: Enter the password.
Step 6: Save the recovery key.
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Step 7: Complete Bitlocker drive encryption.
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After encrypting USB flash drive with Bitlocker on Mac, we can use M3 Bitlocker Loader for Mac to open/access Bitlocker encrypted USB flash drive on macOS Catalina 10.15/Mojave 10.14/High Sierra 10.13/Sierra 10.12 and Mac OS X 10.11/10.10/10.9/10.8/10.7 Operating Systems.
Video tutorial:
How to encrypt USB flash drive with Bitlocker on Windows PC?
To enable BitLocker drive encryption on a USB flash drive, do the following:
Step 1: Insert a USB flash drive to a Windows computer where installed Windows 10 Professional/Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Professional/Enterprise, Windows 7 Ultimate/Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate/Enterprise, Windows Server 2008/2012, only these Windows editions support Bitlocker drive encryption. If you only have Windows 7/8/10 Home edition, please refer to: How to turn on Bitlocker drive encryption on Windows 7/8/10 Home edition?
Step 2: Format USB flash drive into FAT32/NTFS/exFAT file system. If there is data in USB flash drive, please go to step 3.
Step 3: Right click USB flash drive in My Computer or This PC and select 'Turn on Bitlocker'.
Step 4: On the 'Choose How You Want To Unlock This Drive' window, choose one or more for the following options, and then click Next:
'Use A Password To Unlock This Drive': Select this option if you want to be prompted for a password to unlock the drive. Passwords allow a drive to be unlocked in any location and to be shared with other people.
'Use My Smart Card To Unlock The Drive': Select this option if you want to use a smart card and enter the smart card PIN to unlock the drive. Because this feature requires a smart card reader, it is normally used to unlock a drive in the workplace and not for drives that might be used outside the workplace.
Step 5: On the 'How Do You Want To Store Your Recovery Key' window, click Save The Recovery Key To A File.
Step 6: In the 'Save BitLocker Recovery Key As' window, choose a storage location and then click Save.
Mac Format Thumb Drive
Step 7: On the 'Are You Ready To Encrypt This Drive' window, click Start Encrypting. Do not remove the USB flash drive until the encryption process is complete. How long the encryption process takes depends on the size of the drive and other factors.
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