If mostly on your Mac then the same thing holds true. Then you just need to fix the issue on the Mac for the odd time you need to use the drive there. Which Computer Are You Planning To Use Your External Hard Drive Most On?īecause if your using your external hard drive mostly on your Windows PC. There are some questions to ask yourself before you go ahead. Before You Decide How You’re Going To Fix Your External Hard Drive For Mac And PC Without Losing Any Files Then you can check the drive’s properties if you’re not sure what file system it uses. To check, right click on the external hard drive. The faster SSD drives on a Mac may well use an APFS file system. Typically, an external hard drive that works on a Windows PC uses an NTFS file system.Īnd an external hard drive that works on a Mac is in HFS+ format. You’ll also see the file system referred to as the drive’s formatting. Your Mac read HFS+ (also known as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system, APFS (the apple file system), FAT32 and ExFAT file systems.Your Windows PC reads FAT32, NTFS and ExFAT file systems.Unless you started out with a file system that they both can read and write you’re going to run into problems.

The one your Windows PC writes on the drive by default and the one your Mac writes are different. There are different sorts of file systems. So, What Is The Issue? Why Doesn’t My External Hard Drive Just Work?Įach drive, whether internal, external, a hard drive or an ultra fast SSD has a file system on it.Ī file system is how your Windows PC or Mac stores and finds your documents on that drive. This allows you to have your documents set up so that both computers can use them without you loosing any data. Use a Hardware Solution – An extra external hard drive. It interprets what is on the external hard drive so that your Mac or PC can read and write to the drive.Ģ. Use a Software Solution – You get a piece of software that sits on your Mac.

Options For Having An External Hard Drive For Mac And PC Without Formattingġ.

And What Do You Do With The Spare External Hard Drive When You're Done?.

Options For Making An External Hard Drive For Mac And PC Without Formatting.

How Much Do You Want To Spend On The Problem? Which Computer Are You Planning To Use Your External Hard Drive Most On?

Before You Decide How You're Going To Fix Your External Hard Drive For Mac And PC Without Losing Any Files.

So, What Is The Issue? Why Doesn't My External Hard Drive Just Work?.

Options For Having An External Hard Drive For Mac And PC Without Formatting.

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