Best Format Option For Mac External Drive

BestExternal Hard Drives for MaciMore2019

Format Hard Drive For Mac
Format For Mac External Drive
Best Format Option For Mac External Drive
Format External Drive Windows 10
Reformatting External Drive For Mac
Best Format For Mac External Drive
Format External Hard Drive Mac

When it comes to storing data, personal information, and essential documents, you can never save it in enough places. External hard drives are not only useful for storing data but are an excellent way to transport files from one location to another. When you take into account price, ease of use, and portability, the Seagate Backup Plus Slim is the most reliable hard drive you can carry around with you at all times.

Best Overall: Seagate Backup Plus Slim (2 TB)

– If you try to format an external USB device smaller than 32 GB, you will see all the options. – If you try to format and external USB device larger than 32 GB, you will only see NTFS and exFAT. Now that you know this, your final choice is much easier since you have to choose from a limited set. In order to format the system drive, you need to boot your system from another location since the system cannot be asked to delete itself. If you have a Mac from the pre-10.7 era and don't intend to upgrade to a newer system, you'll need your original installation DVD. I need to re-formated my WD 1TB external hard drive and was wondering what is the best file format to use (MS DOS FAT-32, Mac OS Extended Journalled etc) All I store on it are all my videos, tv shows, and back-ups of all my work, documents etc, but I don't use it with time machine.

If you want a reliable external hard drive that has a decent amount of storage, is super easy to carry around, and has a very affordable price tag, the Seagate Backup Plus Slim is the best option for most people. Formatted for Windows and Mac right out of the box, it's easy to carry all your important documents from desktop to laptop without missing a beat.

Ftp program for a mac. The Seagate Dashboard back up system is a fantastic simple tool that can let you schedule backups to ensure you never miss any critical files you need in case something terrible happens to your computer. You can set automatic backups daily, weekly, or monthly, and change the frequency whenever you want.

Seagate also throws in a one-year complimentary subscription to Mylio Create. This can help you wrangle your photo library if you don't already use some sort photo managing tool, and a two-month membership to Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan.

Pros:

Affordable
Great backup software
USB 3.0
Metal enclosure

Best Overall

Seagate Backup Plus Slim (2 TB)

Best Format Option For Mac External Drive

Reliable, portable, and affordable.

Don't worry about lengthy setups or formatting procedures, plug in the Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB which is formatted for Mac right out of the packaging.

Best USB-C hard drive: Samsung T5 Portable SSD (1 TB)

This small compact SSD drive from Samsung comes with both a USB-C to USB-C cable and a USB-C to USB-A, meaning it's perfect to use with your MacBook or Mac.

Its fast 540 MB/s read and write speeds are more than enough to transfer any file. And should be able to store all your photo and video files with ease thanks to its straightforward software. Plus, if you're worried about encryption, the Samsung T5 Portable SSD has you covered with an optional password to launch the drive, and AES 256-bit hardware encryption on all your files.

Pros:

USB-C
SSD
Super compact
AES 256-bit hardware encryption

Best USB-C

Samsung T5 Portable SSD (1 TB)

Format Hard Drive For Mac

Fast and encrypted

With 540 MB/s read and write speeds the Samsung T5 Portable SSD is fast enough for photographers and videographers to transport all their work.

Compatible with Time Machine right out of the box, the 8 TB storage capacity on the Western Digital My Book is perfect for people looking for a lot of stage at a reasonable price. It's USB 3.0 meaning it's easy to take advantage of its storage speed with fast transfer speeds.

While portability is not the Western Digital My Book's strong suit and it needs a separate power source, it does offer 256-AES encryption when you download its easy-to-use security software, ensuring all your important files and documents stay private.

If you're looking for a drive that has lots of space, os you don't have to have multiple as your storage needs grow, look no further.

Pros:

Lots of storage
256-AES encryption
Time Machine compatible

Best Capacity

Western Digital My Book (8TB)

Lots of storage for those who need it

Western Digital offers 256-AES encryption when you download its security software, meaning you can rest easy knowing your private information and personal data is safe.

Best Thunderbolt 3 Drive: LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt

LaCie hard drives have always been good for people on the go because of the rugged design. The LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt can withstand some dust, dirt, and even a tiny bit of water being splashed on it.

It's 7200 RPM Hard drive keeps things running smoothly. And the included USB-C cable — which supports Thunderbolt 3 — makes it perfect for MacBook and Mac users alike!

Cons:

Only 130MB/s

Best Thunderbolt 3 Drive

LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt

Rugged design with Thunderbolt 3

The LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt 3 is a favorite because it can withstand drops, dust, and even the occasional splash of water, making it easy to carry around!

Best for Legacy Hardware : G-Technology G-DRIVE USB 3.0 (4TB)

While Apple has been going the way of USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 for a while now, some of us still use older hardware and thus don't need hard drives that have USB-C connections. If you're still rocking USB-A or even a Thunderbolt 2 connection from your Mac, the G-Technology G-DRIVE USB 3.0 (4TB) is a perfect companion.

Its all-metal design is not only more durable than plastic hard drives, but it also looks stylish! Plus, it's 7200 RPM speed allows the G-Technology G-DRIVE USB 3.0 to achieve 195 MB/s read and write speeds. This makes it fast enough to transfer large video files quickly and efficiently.

Cons:

Needs to be reformatted for Windows

Best for legacy hardware

G-Technology G-DRIVE USB 3.0 (4TB)

Stylish and fast even on older computers

With 7200 RPM, this hard drive works hard and fast to get your files transferred quickly. Plus, it uses USB 3.0, and it even has a Thunderbolt 2 port.

The CalDigit Tuff does the best it can to live up to its name, giving you a hard drive that isn't as delicate as most. Its official IP rating is IP57, meaning it can be submerged in 3-feet of water for 30 mins and come out the other side functional. That's not all; this Thunderbolt 3 compatible drive can also withstand falling from about 4-feet high. We still don't suggest that you purposely abuse the CalDigit Tuff. Still, it's always good to have peace of mind when you're carrying your hard drive around.

Cons:

Only come in 2TB

Best rugged drive

CalDigit Tuff

Can withstand drops and water

Official rated IP57, the CalDigit Tuff can survive an accidental dip into the water and has a great price tag.

If you're used to dealing with giant file sizes and need a hard drive that can handle transfer data fast, the Samsung X5 is one of the fastest SSD's you'll find. Its read and write speeds are 2,800MB/s and 2,300MB/s respectively, and the entire body is made of metal, making it much hardier than plastic drives. Plus, The internal frame on the inside is shock resistant for drops from 2 meters. https://evercoins.weebly.com/download-sara-tool-for-mac.html.

This SSD comes with Thunderbolt 3 technology included. This you can take advantage of the fast speeds on your Mac or MacBook Pro, and it doesn't need any formatting, so it's plug and play!

Pros:

Format For Mac External Drive

2,800MB/s read speed
Shock resistant
Thunderbolt 3

Best fast drive

Samsung X5

Incredibly fast SSD

If you need blazing fast speeds for giant files, the Samsung X5 is a monster external SSD that can handle any workload.

Bottom line

The Seagate Backup Plus Slim is the most reliable hard drive you can carry around with you at all times. It is formatted for both Mac and Windows right out of the box, and its easy-to-use software can automatically do backups for you as often or as little as you want.

Seagate also throws in a one-year complimentary subscription to Mylio Create. This program can help you wrangle your photo library if you don't already use some photo managing tool. A two-month membership to Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography Plan means it's perfect for budding photographers as well.

Credits — The team that worked on this guide

Luke Filipowicz is an iMore staff writer who has been carrying around his Seagate Backup Plus Slim since his college days.

Lory Gil is the Managing Editor of iMore and an avid believer in having as many backups of your important files and documents as possible.

Rene Ritchie is the foremost authority on all things Apple and has insider knowledge about the goings-on at the biggest tech company in the world. When it comes to accessories for Mac, Rene has used them all.

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

Just In Case

Keep your Versa 2 protected on-the-go with these great cases

https://exclusiveclever125.weebly.com/mac-os-x-lion-download-apple.html. Sometimes when you travel you want to bring your sport/smartwatch in addition to your regular watch, but you don't want your Fitbit getting scratched in your purse or backpack. These are some of the best cases you can get to protect your Fitbit Versa 2 on your travels.

It can be tough transporting your videos and music to every device you use. How do you know your Mac, Xbox, and Windows PC can read your files? Read on to find your perfect USB drive solution.

If you want to share your files with the most devices and none of the files are larger than 4 GB, choose FAT32.
If you have files larger than 4 GB, but still want pretty good support across devices, choose exFAT.
If you have files larger than 4 GB and mostly share with Windows PCs, choose NTFS.
If you have files larger than 4 GB and mostly share with Macs, choose HFS+

File systems are the sort of thing that many computer users take for granted. The most common file systems are FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS on Windows, APFS and HFS+ on macOS, and EXT on Linux—though you may run into others on occasion. But it can be confusing understanding what devices and operating systems supports which file systems—especially when all you want to do is transfer some files or keep your collection readable by all the devices you use. So, let’s take a look at the major file systems and hopefully, you can figure out the best solution for formatting your USB drive.

Understanding File System Problems

Different file systems offer different ways of organizing data on a disk. Since only binary data is actually written to disks, the file systems provide a way to translate the physical recordings on a disk to the format read by an OS. Since these file systems are key to the operating system making sense of the data, an OS cannot read data off of a disk without support for the file system with which the disk is formatted. When you format a disk, the file system you choose essentially governs which devices can read or write to the disk.

Many businesses and households have multiple PCs of different types in their home—Windows, macOS, and Linux being the most common. And if you carry files to friends houses or when you travel, you never know what type of system you may want those files on. Because of this variety, you need to format portable disks so that they can move easily between the different operating systems you expect to use.

https://powerfulevolution140.weebly.com/enable-control-on-macos-for-teamviewer.html. But to make that decision, you need to understand the two major factors that can affect your file system choice: portability and file size limits. We’re going to take a look at these two factors as they relate to the most common file systems:

NTFS: The NT File System (NTFS) is the file system that modern Windows versions use by default.
HFS+: The Hierarchical File System (HFS+) is the file system modern macOS versions use by default.
APFS: The proprietary Apple file system developed as a replacement for HFS+, with a focus on flash drives, SSDs, and encryption. APFS was released with iOS 10.3 and macOS 10.13, and will become the mandatory file system for those operating systems.
FAT32: The File Allocation Table 32 (FAT32) was the standard Windows file system before NTFS.
exFAT: The extended File Allocation Table (exFAT) builds on FAT32 and offers a lightweight system without all the overhead of NTFS.
EXT 2, 3, & 4: The extended file system (EXT) was the first file system created specifically for the Linux kernel.

Portability

You might think that modern operating systems would natively support each other’s file system, but they largely do not. For example, macOS can read—but not write to—disks formatted with NTFS. For the most part, Windows will not even recognize disks formatted with APFS or HFS+.

Many distros of Linux (like Ubuntu) are prepared to deal with this file system problem. Moving files from one file system to another is a routine process for Linux—many modern distros natively support NFTS and HFS+ or can get support with a quick download of free software packages.

In addition to this, your home consoles (Xbox 360, Playstation 4) only provide limited support for certain filesystems, and only provide read access to the USB drives. In order to better understand the best filesystem for your needs, take a look at this helpful chart.

File System	Windows XP	Windows 7/8/10	macOS (10.6.4 and earlier)	macOS (10.6.5 and later)	Ubuntu Linux	Playstation 4	Xbox 360/One
NTFS	Yes	Yes	Read Only	Read Only	Yes	No	No/Yes
FAT32	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes/Yes
exFAT	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes (with ExFAT packages)	Yes (with MBR, not GUID)	No/Yes
HFS+	No	(read-only with Boot Camp)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
APFS	No	No	No	Yes (macOS 10.13 or greater)	No	No	No
EXT 2, 3, 4	No	Yes (with third-party software)	No	No	Yes	No	Yes

Keep in mind that this chart chose the native abilities of each OS to use these file systems. Windows and macOS both have downloads that can help them read unsupported formats, but we’re really focusing on native ability here.

The takeaway from this chart on portability is that FAT32 (having been around for so long) is supported on almost all devices. This makes it strong candidate for being the file system of choice for most USB drives, so long as you can live with FAT32’s file size limits—which we’ll go over next.

File and Volume Size Limits

FAT32 was developed many years ago, and was based on older FAT filesystems meant for DOS computers. The large disk sizes of today were only theoretical in those days, so it probably seemed ridiculous to the engineers that anyone would ever need a file larger than 4 GB. However, with today’s large file sizes of uncompressed and high-def video, many users are faced with that very challenge.

Today’s more modern file systems have upward limits that seem ridiculous by our modern standards, but one day may seem humdrum and ordinary. When stacked up against the competition, we see very quickly that FAT32 is showing its age in terms of file size limits.

File System	Individual File Size Limit	Single Volume Size Limit
NTFS	Greater than commercially available drives	16 EB
FAT32	Less than 4 GB	Less than 8 TB
exFAT	Greater than commercially available drives	64 ZB
HFS+	Greater than commercially available drives	8 EB
APFS	Greater than commercially available drives	16 EB
EXT 2, 3	16 GB (up to 2 TB on some systems)	32 TB
EXT 4	1 EB	16 TB

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Nissan pathfinder 2015 download. Every newer file system handily whips FAT32 in the file size department, allowing for sometimes ridiculously large files. And when you look at volume size limits, FAT32 still lets you format volumes up to 8 TB, which is more than enough for a USB drive. Other files systems allow volume sizes all the way up into the exobyte and zetabyte range.

Formatting a Drive

The process for formatting a drive is different depending on what system you’re using. Rather than detailing them all here, we’ll instead point you at a few handy guides on the subject:

Reformatting External Drive For Mac

The conclusion to draw from all this is that while FAT32 has its issues, it’s the best file system to use for most portable drives. FAT32 finds support on the most devices, allows volumes up to 8 TB, and file sizes up to 4 GB.

Best Format For Mac External Drive

If you need to transport files greater than 4 GB, you’ll need to take a closer look at your needs. If you only use Windows devices, NTFS is a good choice. If you only use macOS devices, HFS+ will work for you. And if you only use Linux devices, EXT is fine. And if you need support for more devices and bigger files, exFAT may fit the bill. exFAT is not supported on quite as many different devices as FAT32 is, but it comes close.

Format External Hard Drive Mac

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