#Exfat for windows and mac mac os

#Exfat for windows and mac mac os

Even if a Mac is running macOS High Sierra, if it has a hybrid or mechanical drive, the file system will be Mac OS Extended by default. The Mac OS Extended file system is also known as HFS Plus or HFS+, and is the default file system of all Macs from 1998 through now on Macs with mechanical or hybrid drives. Mac OS Extended: Best for mechanical drives or drives used with older macOS versions If you’re formatting a drive for use with a Mac with an SSD – and plan to use the drive with that Mac only – it may be wise to format it to work with APFS file systems as well. On new Macs, APFS is the default file system, as modern Macs all have SSD drives. APFS will still work on mechanical or hybrid drives, too. This move coincided with Mac moving to solid-state drives (SSD) on all hardware, as APFS is optimized for SSD storage solutions. What is APFSĪPFS is acronymous for “Apple File System,” first introduced with macOS High Sierra. There are three main file systems for the Mac environment, but your choice in which to use will depend on both the hardware you have available, and whether you intend to work with Windows machines at all. Types of a file systemīefore we get into things like ExFAT vs Mac OS extended, it’s important we define the file systems we’ll be discussing.

Here we’ll discuss all of the Mac formats for your file system, APFS vs Mac OS extended, the best format for external hard drive Mac may be using, ExFAT vs HFS+, and everything else you’ll need to know about macOS file systems. Depending on how you plan to use the partition – and with whom – your choice of the file type to use on your computer is a critical moment. When you need to do something like partition a drive, the type of file system you choose becomes extremely important. Many of us simply create, save, and backup files as needed without ever considering what file system type we’re using at all. Most of the time, you won’t bother to think about the file system your Mac uses. Make your Mac fast and secure with CleanMyMac X.