Most modern windows systems use the ntfs file format, which os x can read, but not write to. Fwiw, mp4 videos should play on both osx and windows. This code will work perfectly on both windows or mac. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac apple. If you need to format external hard drive mac or windows, you may also consider the exfat files system. How to share an external hard drive between mac and windows. External data storage devices such as usb flash drives, external hard disk drives hdds, and solid state drives ssds provide one of the easiest ways to transfer files between separate computers without accessing the. To get started, its best to understand the most common file extensions and what they represent. In other words, if you have 100 files, each 3 kb, and you tar them together, you end up with one 300 kb file. Format usb flash drives to work with both mac and windows. However, os x and windows both can read and write to a format called fat32, which used to be used for windows all the way back into the msdos days. Common office for mac keyboard shortcuts office support. It is common for the last line of text not to be terminated with a crlf marker, and many text editors including notepad do not automatically insert one on the last line. About how to format external hard drives for both macs and windows pcs, and what is the best.
How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac laptop mag. Crossplatform file system file sharing between mac, windows. How to format internal and or external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers. Im filming an end of year school show to put on a usb flash drives for parents to take away, i wondered if anyone has experience of this and what video format they think would be most universal. Extensions are important because they tell your computer what icon to use for the. The format may be recommended as flac replacement for itunes. File formats also differ depending on your operating system and the version of quickbooks being used. What video format is most universal macrumors forums. Modern versions of windows cant be installed on a fat32 partition, so this partition will need to be separate from both your mac and windows system partitions. Common file system attributes on linux, mac and windows. May 29, 2018 two file systems compatible with mac and windows.
An open source, patent and royalty free compression format. The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac. Meanwhile, the ntfs system used by windows 10 supports large files, but this format. Use the exfat file system and never format your external.
External data storage devices such as usb flash drives, external hard disk drives hdds, and solid state drives ssds provide one of the easiest ways to transfer files between separate computers without accessing the internet. Format to ntfs, and use ntfs3g to readwrite on mac. It was introduced in unix system v, replaced the previously used a. What is currently the best file system to use for drives that are regularly accessed both reading and writing from both windows and os x on a single machine using bootcamp. Connect a usb to your windows machine and when it appears in the windows explorer, rightclick it and select format from the context menu. Ive had all kinds of problems with ntfs3g, going back and forth between windows, mac, and linux. Because a mac is a pc, it probably wont surprise you to learn that macs have more in common with windows based pcs than you might think. For example, your main company files qbw and backup data files qbb are totally different file types. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility posted by ant on march 11th, 2012 43 comments if you have an external hard drive or usb flash drive that youd like to use on both macs and windows pcs, choosing the right file system to format the drive can be confusing. Also wanted to know common attributes present across all three operating systems. If you keep your hard drives outofthebox ntfs format for all the reasons fat32. I either email or upload my files to my boss through vpn and our server at the office.
The best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac cnet. Which video format for viewing on mac and apple community. The m4v file format is a video container format developed by apple and is very similar to the mp4 format. Were going to take a look at these two factors as they relate to the most common file systems. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac. Mar 03, 2020 as you can see, exfat is the only file system that works with all versions of windows and macos and does not have any max filesize or partitionsize limits. Therefore, its perfect for a usb flash drive or external disk, especially when you need to save files more than 4gb in size. If you dont know the format, select the file and press commandi to open an info window. Disk utility on mac supports several file system formats. If none of your installed apps can open the file, search the internet or mac app store for apps that can play or convert the file. Ive heard that microsoft is upgrading to refs, and im worried about making a switch. In disk utility on your mac, you can format an external disk for a windows computer. Fat32 and exfat can be compatible with mac and windows and you can choose one after realizing their respective merits and defects based on your demands.
This was a few years ago, maybe its better now but it was sold as solid then and it wasnt. A vast majority of video production will be done on a mac or windows operating system, so we arent going to cover linux. Jul 22, 2019 heres how to correctly format the drive to work on both. My boss says he has to have the secretaries reformat almost all the legal documents i create in macbookpro word for mac when he opens them on his pc ms word, so he wants to buy me a windows machine for my home office. How to format a drive for mac and pc compatibility macyourself. The nt file system ntfs is the file system that modern windows versions use by default. Well, while this wasnt always the case, you can install the windows operating system on a mac.
One of the biggest concerns pc users migrating to mac have is that while the mac uses most common file formats such as mp3, doc, jpg, png, wav, pdf, etc. How to convert a macformatted drive to a windows drive. If you want to transfer files from a mac to windows pc and vice versa using an external portable hard drive then you have to have the external drive formatted in a file. Apparently, formatting the drive in windows with a block size smaller than 1024 bytes might work. File system formats available in disk utility on mac apple.
Below is a list of the most common file extensions, broken into. The easiest way to do that is hit cmd and the spacebar at the same time and type in disk utility to find the program. Your dvd player plays discs, you know this for sure. Format that new partition with that fat file system and youll be able to read and write to it from both windows and mac os x without any thirdparty software. It can be played back on windows xp and newer, mac os x, linux, android and ios and probably even windows phone. When youre reformatting a hard drive, windows will ask you what format to use.
Mac os x uses the hfs plus file system, while windows uses the ntfs file. Mac word formatting changes when sent to windows ms word. This topic discusses the formats for file paths that you can use on windows systems. Common file system between mac os mavericks and windows 7. How to format a flash drive to work on os x and windows. Format a disk for windows computers in disk utility on mac.
How to format external hard drives for mac and windows. Io namespace include a path parameter that lets you specify an absolute or relative path to a file system resource. Mar 12, 2018 fat32 is another option, but it limits file transfer to 4gb, so choose exfat when formatting your drive. Ntfs is the default file system for windows operating system and hfs for mac operating system. Some features and formatting might not be available if you save the workbook in the file format of an earlier version of excel or another spreadsheet program. Be careful using these instructions to ensure you are formatting the correct disk.
Formatting a disk or volume erases all the files on it. Audio data from compact disk may be stored in wav and other audio files via cd ripper software. Whats the difference between fat32, exfat, and ntfs. This document is provided to aid in the development of tools and applications for windows but is. If you only use a mac computer, you can format your thumb drive so it can work on windows systems. Native readwrite support under win7 and os x, and none of the file size limits of fat32. Change the file format for saving workbooks in excel for mac. How to format internal andor external drive to work properly on mac and windows computers. System files fileinfo the file extensions database. Some examples include system libraries, icons, themes, and device drivers.
However, you can format the drive to work with both windows and mac by. The quickest way is to search on spotlight and click the result under top hit. Developed by microsoft, this modern file system is optimized for situations where the ntfs file system is not a feasible solution, and the file size limit of the standard fat32 file system is unacceptable. Whether youre formatting an internal drive, external drive, usb flash drive. Sometimes, if your mac doesnt recognize a file type as something that one of its programs can handle, or if you want a specific file type to always open in a specific program, mac os x lion might need a little help from you. Now it is ntfs but back in the day the ntfs support was not stable under linux and i think it is not supported on a mac. There are hundreds of different file extensions and file types used with computers, and you can find a complete list on our computer files and file extensions page. How to format an external hard drive for mac and pc. Macyourself blog archive how to format a drive for mac and pc. How to identify common file formats in windows 10 file. War, which stands for web archive, brings together all the files that a javabased web application needsjava archives, html pages, xml files, and so onso the application can be run easily on a web server. Msdos and microsoft windows use a common text file format, with each line of text separated by a twocharacter combination. Select your external hard drive or usb flash drive from the list on the left.
The system files category includes files related to mac, windows, and linux operating systems. Be aware that formatting a drive deletes all of the files on it, so back up anything important before completing this step. In my experience, this is the only truly crossplatform file system that can bridge mac, linux, and. Files output by the system are also included in this category. I am looking for the some documentpresentation which will give me an idea about different file and directory attributes available on windows, mac and linux file system. Quickbooks desktop uses different types of files to store different types of data. Select your thumb drive in the disk utility window then click the erase tab. Using an external drive between mac and windows computers can be a hassle, since you constantly have to reformat it to fit which computer.
The extension is a three or fourletter abbreviation that signifies the file type. These files are referred to as portable executable pe and common object file format coff files, respectively. Under the external tab, highlight your flash drive. Generally used in conjunction with compressors such as gzip, bzip2, compress or xz to create. Dec 25, 2016 if you want to transfer files from a mac to windows pc and vice versa using an external portable hard drive then you have to have the external drive formatted in a file system both oss can read. This specification describes the structure of executable image files and object files under the windows family of operating systems. Jun 06, 2019 windows file names have two parts separated by a period.
File system formats available in disk utility on mac. Best file system for sharing between os x and windows. Crossplatform file system file sharing between mac. Lets take a look at what each one of the various formats actually is and how you can ensure your player will be able to play it. Heres how to correctly format the drive to work on both. File types and extensions used by quickbooks deskt. What are the most common file types and file extensions. My guess is an ms dos format drive with a flv or mpg version plus a.
Many of the shortcuts that use the ctrl key on a windows keyboard also work with the control key in office 2016 for mac. First and foremost, you need to decide which file system to use. But to make that decision, you need to understand the two major factors that can affect your file system choice. The primary difference is that m4v files may optionally be protected by drm copy protection. The common object file format coff is a format for executable, object code, and shared library computer files used on unix systems. How to format drive with compatible file system for mac and. Almost never seen on windows or mac os x, and extremely common on linux computers. File path formats on windows systems microsoft docs. This article will teach you how to format the usb flash drive so both mac s and pcs can read them.
Fat32 is another option, but it limits file transfer to 4gb, so choose exfat when formatting your drive. What filesystem for an external harddrive linuxmacwindows. How to share files between mac os x and windows with boot. After you specify the default file format, all new workbooks are saved in the selected file format unless you specify a different format in the save as dialog box when you save a workbook. The native windows file system is ntfs, which is only partially compatible with mac os x. Compact disk cd contains data in format like wav 16 bit 44. If you move a hard drive between the two operating systems, heres what you need to know. How to format a usb or external hdd so it works on both. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with windows and mac. Mar 22, 2012 the best ways to format an external drive for windows and mac.
If you have files larger than 4 gb and mostly share with windows pcs, choose ntfs. Here are common file types and extensions you may see in quickbooks desktop for windows and mac. The format might appear after the label kind, such as kind. This path is then passed to windows file system apis. What filesystem should i use for an external usb harddrive 500gb, with possibility to share with a mac and windows systems, for example at the office. How to format a hard drive for both windows and mac. You should go ahead and format your storage drive with exfat. If you want to make your drive compatible with mac and windows, you need to format it with a common file system for mac and windows. Click the erase button and the drive will start formatting. Jul 15, 2009 format a drive for mac os x and windows.
Dec 29, 2015 in this guide were using exfat instead of fat32, another filesystem that both windows and mac can read and write to, because fat32 has a maximum 4gb file size limit whereas exfat can work with. Ive been using ntfs so far, coming from a windows background. Fat32 works for both oses, but has a 4gb size limit per file, so it. How to assign a file type to an application in mac os x lion. At this point, most tar files are compressed using another program, often gzip, resulting in a file with the extension of. That said, if you are using both a pc and mac in the workflow, youll need to use a different format. However, it would be impossible for most people to memorize all file extensions and their associated programs. Disk utility will happily format your drives using it. If an audio or video file doesnt play on mac apple support.
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