I don't want FAT32 either, because of the 4GB restriction. The easiest way to do that is hit CMD and the spacebar at the same time and type in 'Disk. I'm on MacOs Catalina 10.15.6 and using a WD Elements 2TB USB 3.0 How to format an external drive in OS X 1. INFO: I have a MacBook Pro 2017 13' (no touch bar). I've heard APFS is best optimised for SSDs, but does it work well with HDDs? Are there any restrictions? Is there a better alternative that wouldn't cause the problems I mentioned above? I could not use First Aid to repair it when it wouldn't mount after being force ejected, and I had to use Windows to fix it. Sometimes I could not eject the drive because 'it was being used by a program', although it wasn't being used. Open Finder and select the Go menu at the top of the screen. If you need to exchange files (even occasionally) with a non-Windows system like a Mac or Linux box, then FAT32. (I checked in spotlight privacy settings and the drive was not excluded.) 3. If you need the drive for a Windows-only environment, NTFS is the best choice. Folders with color tags in this hdd wouldn't show up when I used the tag filter, it only showed folders from other drives. Not being able to view hdd's content when searching for files using spotlight or search within folders etc. Some of the problems I had with ExFAT were:ġ. Seagate internal drives are not preformatted and must be formatted before use.

If you are not sure which one is best for you the File System Format Comparisions highlights the main difference between file systems. So, at this point, I'm asking you what is the best format for an external HDD for use on Mac. If you need to use your drive on both Mac and PC then it’s best to format exFAT. Seagate Ultra Touch HDD Top 3 Best SSD external hard drive for Mac 1.

I had been having some problems with my new external hard drive using ExFAT.I realised I don't care if I can't use the drive with Windows, since I can just transfer the projects for Uni on my second hard drive to use them on the Uni's computer if needed. Top 3 Best HDD external hard drive for Mac 1.

Best hard drive format for mac