Table of Contents
Advertisement
Op onal Forma ng and Par
Your device is preformatted exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table) for compatibility with both Mac and
Windows computers.
Choosing a file system format
When choosing a file system format, consider whether compatibility or performance is more important in
your everyday use of the drive.
Compatibility—You need a cross-platform format because you connect your drive to both PCs and Macs.
Performance—You connect your drive with only one type of computer, so you can optimize file copy
performance by formatting the drive in the native file system for your computer operating system.
Compa bility with both Windows and Macs
exFAT is a lightweight file system compatible with all versions of Windows and modern versions of macOS.
If you use your drive with both PCs and Macs, format your drive in exFAT. While exFAT offers cross-
platform access to both computers, keep in mind the following:
exFAT is not compatible or recommended for built-in backup utilities such as File History (Windows) and
Time Machine (macOS). If you want to use one of these backup utilities, you should format the drive in
the native file system for the computer running the utility.
exFAT is not a journaled file system, which means it can be more susceptible to data corruption when
errors occur or the drive is not disconnected properly from the computer.
Op mized performance for Windows
NTFS (New Technology File System) is a proprietary journaling file system for Windows. macOS can read
NTFS volumes, but it can't natively write to them. This means your Mac can copy files from an NTFS-
formatted drive, but it can't add files to or remove files from the drive. If you need more versatility than this
one-way transfer with Macs, consider exFAT.
Op mized performance for macOS
Apple offers two proprietary file systems.
Mac OS Extended (also known as Heirarchical File System Plus or HFS+) is an Apple file system used since
1998 for mechanical and hybrid internal drives. macOS Sierra (version 10.12) and earlier use HFS+ by
oning
Advertisement
Table of Contents
